Today’s Editor’s Note: Today’s temperature at noon will be around 90 degrees, so if you are planning to attend the groundbreaking ceremony, please dress in light colored, loose-fitting clothes. We’ll be in the bright sunshine, so sunscreen, a hat or a sun umbrella are a good idea. Our friends at Pepsi will have cold drinks — including bottled water–available for participants. Click the thumbnail photo to see a high resolution view of the basketball court being put in place at the Save Mart Center groundbreaking site.
One of Fresno’s famous longtime residents — the Bulldog mascot, Timeout — will lead Fresno State fans in breaking ground for his new “Doghouse” and Fresno’s next major landmark: the Save Mart Center.
The public is invited to attend the celebration on Tuesday, May 8, at 12:30 p.m. at the site of the Bulldogs’ future home on Shaw Avenue between Woodrow and Chestnut, just west of the new State Route 168 interchange. Free parking will be available and there is no charge for admission to the event. There will also be a pre-ceremony student parade to the site beginning at about noon.
California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed and members of the CSU Board of Trustees will join Fresno State President John D. Welty and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry along with a host of legislators, local officials, faculty, staff and students for the ceremonial first step in construction of what will be among the first major landmarks of the new millennium in the Valley.
Former Fresno newscaster John Wallace will serve as master of ceremonies for a celebration that won’t be your ordinary shovel-in-the-dirt groundbreaking, said Mark Aydelotte, assistant vice president of University Relations.
“This will be Central California’s premier sports and entertainment venue and we are planning a big event that will allow the community to participate in the start of this project,” Aydelotte said.
“The Save Mart Center will be the Valley’s calling card,” he added. “It will be a world-class venue for sports events, top-name family entertainment, cultural events and new educational ventures.”
He said a specially trained Timeout will play a major role in helping stake the foundation of his new Doghouse. The event will feature the Bulldog Band and the university’s spirit squad.
Arakel Arisian, president of the Associated Students, Inc. at Fresno State, will lead a parade of students from the Smittcamp Alumni House to the event, which will feature a special stage.
The students will claim their territory in establishing the Dog Pound, which will include 2,000 seats as part of the Legacy 2000 referendum they approved last fall for a student recreational center that will be part of the Save Mart Center’s West Complex.
Bleachers will be erected to provide seating at the groundbreaking site. Parking accommodations will be available in Lots C and V at the Smittcamp Alumni House, which is within walking distance of the groundbreaking site on the southeast side of the campus. (Parking is not allowed along Shaw Avenue). The Bulldog trolley will run between the parking lots and the site for those in need of assistance.
The university gained final approval for the Save Mart Center from the California State University Board of Trustees in March.
Construction of the Save Mart Center, which will serve as the home to the Fresno State Bulldogs and the vaunted Red Wave, will begin in earnest soon after the groundbreaking and is expected to be completed in 2003.
The adjacent West Complex will follow soon thereafter and include the new Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the high-tech Leon and Pete Peters Educational Research Center, athletic administrative offices and the student recreation center, among many other features.
