New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center will receive funds to renovate the arena’s locker rooms and build two new areas underneath the rink. (Photo courtesy of the University of New Hampshire)

Gov. Chris Sununu's proposed $8 million state investment in the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center will be used to renovate the arena's locker rooms and build two new areas underneath the rink, UNH Director of Athletics Allison Rich told the Union Leader in Manchester.

She explained that the money, along with an added $8 million the university is looking to raise through private donations, will be used to renovate the home and visiting locker rooms for the men's and women's hockey teams and to build both a new study and strength and conditioning area for student-athletes on the Durham campus.

The study and nutrition area will provide a place for student-athletes to do their course work and grab a healthy snack in between film sessions or practices, Rich said in speaking with the Manchester news source.

The Whittemore Center's new strength and conditioning area will be open to all student-athletes, but it will be most convenient for ice hockey and field hockey players, she noted. Players on those squads spend most of their time in or around the Whittemore Center but currently must cross the street to the field house to use its strength and conditioning area, she said.

"We consider ourselves to be the front porch of the university and a lot of people hear about the university first through athletics," Rich explained, "so we try to make everybody proud — our community, our alumni, our donors — in terms of what we are doing. We are excited to move forward with this project."

UNH men's hockey Coach Mike Souza said he cannot put into words how helpful these upgrades will be for his program, especially from a recruiting standpoint.

"I think you got a firsthand experience of what our facility, our fan base is like over the weekend," Souza said after UNH's scoreless tie with rival Maine on Feb. 18, the second of two sellout overtime home games against the Black Bears. "But we have fallen behind our competitors in what we have to offer our student-athletes in the back of the house, so to speak. For me, it is about recruitment, retention and development. In order to do those things, we need to make the necessary upgrades, and I am just so grateful for Gov. Sununu's willingness to help us."

The arena's HVAC and sound systems also will be updated using entirely university funds, Rich added.

No timetable for completing the arena's HVAC and locker room renovations and building the strength and conditioning and study areas has yet been announced, but she said the university will begin the work as soon as it can.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reported that the Whittemore Center's sound system is scheduled to be updated this spring following the end of the Wildcats' hockey season. It was set to be renovated when the university shrunk the rink surface last offseason but was delayed due to supply chain issues.

UNH will have invested a total of approximately $13 million between decreasing the rink and updating the glass and boards in 2022, and updating the sound and HVAC systems, Rich explained.

The Whittemore Center rink hosted its first game on Nov. 10, 1995, when UNH beat Boston University, 6-5.

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