The 88-year-old home of the Michigan hockey team will soon be getting a $14 million facelift after the University’s Board of Regents unanimously approved the renovations to Yost Ice Arena at their monthly meeting Thursday.

Built in 1923, Yost Ice Arena has a capacity of 6,603 and the Michigan hockey team moved into the facility in 1973. In addition to replacing all of the arena’s bleachers, the renovation plans call for increased handicapped accessible seating areas as well as for more premium seats to be added on the west side of the building where the press box is currently located.

A new press box will also be built on the west side of the arena and the concourses will be upgraded with additional concession stands. New exterior windows and improved lighting will also be added to “create a more inviting atmosphere,” an Athletic Department press release said.

The project is slated to begin after the 2011-2012 hockey season and the renovations will be completed in time for the 2012-2013 season. The regents will vote on schematic designs of the renovations at a later, undisclosed date.

Additionally, new scoreboards with nine, center hung, LED video screens will be installed at Yost in time for next season, as approved by the regents in January. They’re part of a $20 million project to replace scoreboards at Yost, Michigan Stadium and Crisler Arena.

“Our goal is to set a new, higher standard for our fans' viewing experience and the game day atmosphere we create in our venues. These boards will be an important first step in achieving that goal,” Athletic Director Dave Brandon said in a Jan. 20 press release.

$33.5 million in construction approved

In addition to the Yost Ice Arena renovations, three individual construction projects totaling $33.5 million were each approved unanimously by the regents.

The regents voted on and passed the authorization of contracts for an addition to the Institute for Social Research, of which they approved the schematic design last July for the $23 million addition.

A four level, 44,700 gross square foot addition, will be added to the building on Thompson Street in addition to the 2,700 square feet of the current facility that will be renovated. The project is expected to be finished in spring 2013.

Also approved was a 5,200 square foot renovation to laboratory space in the Medical Science Unit II building. The sixth-floor renovation is slated to cost $2 million and will be finished by spring 2012.

The University Hospital’s patient food kitchen will also be expanded as the hospital changes to a “room service” style of food delivery. The $8.5 million, 13,000 square, foot kitchen renovations are slated to be completed by winter 2013.

“Ora has a 13,000 square foot kitchen she would like built,” Timothy Slottow, the University’s vice president and chief financial officer, joked about Ora Pescovitz, the University’s executive vice president for medical affairs.

Lawsuit against former Daily editors dismissed, report reveals

A report presented to the regents describing all litigation involving the University detailed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against former Michigan Daily editors by LSA senior Julie Rowe.

Rowe, a former Daily news editor who resigned in March 2009 after top editors said she plagiarized, filed a lawsuit in February 2010 against then Editor-in-Chief Gary Graca, then Managing Editor Courtney Ratkowiak and then Managing News Editor Jacob Smilovitz.

In the litigation report, Suellyn Scarnecchia, the University’s vice president and general counsel, wrote that Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Archie Brown dismissed the case against the former editors.

Rowe also filed suits against the University and The Michigan Daily. Both suits were previously dismissed.