Bren Center Will Open on Thursday With Ceremonies

The Bren Events Center--the second largest indoor arena in Orange County--will open next Thursday in Irvine, with ceremonies beginning at 6:15 p.m.

The center’s inaugural sports event, a basketball game between the UC Irvine Anteaters and Utah State University, will begin at 7:35 p.m.

The center, named for Donald L. Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co., is the new combination gymnasium and auditorium for UCI. The 78,400-square-foot facility will seat 6,000 people, making it second in size in the county only to the 7,433-seat Anaheim Convention Center.

The $15-million center will open on schedule, despite a financial shortfall that occurred early in 1986. The building, when planned in 1982, was budgeted to cost $11.5 million. But by last spring, the actual cost was determined to be $15 million. To cover the shortfall, UCI sought additional donations.

Increased student enrollment also brought in more money to complete the building: $23 student fees, approved by a student vote in 1982, are being used to retire part of the loans for the building.