At the October 1974 meeting of the UT Athletics Board, the results of a $25,000 study to assess the feasibility of roofing Neyland Stadium to provide a basketball venue were presented. The architects proposed achieving a 27,000-seat basketball venue at the south end of the stadium and replacing the north end bleachers with a 4,500-seat movable grandstand with box seats, which would be rolled across the football field to the south horseshoe to provide the north end of the basketball venue. A double-membrane fabric roof (life expectancy: 10 years) attached to cables in the stadium would cover the basketball area. The consultants said the arena could be constructed with the stadium in its present form or could be constructed after completing double-decking the north stands. The cost of the arena without the stadium addition would be about $7 million; with the additional decking, the cost would be $11,121,242. The arena was not proposed to be air-conditioned, although heat provided through UT’s steam system was proposed.
The arena would be assembled at the end of each football season, with two weeks required for the conversion. December’s basketball games would continue to be played in Stokely Athletics Center. Both the portable basketball floor and the fabric roof would be stored within the movable grandstand. The architects suggested a raise in basketball ticket prices, from $4 to $4.87 or $5 for general admission, to fund the project.
UT President Ed Boling said that the upper deck could be completed by 1976 and the arena built by 1977. The Student Coordinating Council unanimously opposed the proposal. In January 1975 student leaders from 25 colleges and universities throughout the state, participating in the Tennessee Intercollegiate Legislature, voted unanimously in favor of a resolution opposing the encapsulation. The 120 student representatives called the stadium proposal a “drastic and extravagant waste of funds.” Also in January, Athletic Director Bob Woodruff, citing a worsening economy and the uncertainty of ticket sales, declared the proposal dead—at least for 1975.