SAN JOSE — A new San Jose State University athletics center is poised to be a key building block for an emerging “family entertainment district” near the city’s downtown, a top SJSU official says.
The $70 million Spartan Athletics Center, which seamlessly connects to CEFCU Stadium, has been officially unveiled and has the potential to be a game-changer for SJSU sports programs — as well as be an economic building block for the area.
“The future is now,” SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said during a ribbon-cutting event for Spartan Athletics Center. “We are very excited about this.”
The direct impact of the 55,000-square-foot athletics complex is evident.
The state-of-the-art facilities can be used to entice skilled athletes, provide best-in-class training and meeting facilities for Spartans sports and be a top-notch place to host alumni and donor events.
Yet for Charlie Faas, SJSU’s vice president for administration and finance and the head of the university’s real estate endeavors, the potential goes well beyond the obvious benefits.
The new Spartan Athletics Center can be a crucial piece of an emerging economic mosaic in this part of San Jose near the corner of South 10 Street and East Alma Avenue, in the view of the SJSU official.
“The vision I have is that this area can be San Jose’s family entertainment zone,” Faas said in an interview with this news organization after the ribbon cutting. “This center is a huge building block for that.”
The new athletics complex can team up with other key activity hubs in the area, according to Faas.
Along with the SJSU Spartans football, soccer and basketball teams, the San Jose Giants minor league baseball club and the San Jose Barracuda hockey team both play home games in the immediate vicinity.
Sharks Ice, Excite Stadium, Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, History Park, Japanese Friendship Garden, Kelley Park, Viet Museum and a disc-throwing golf course are also nearby.
“This whole area is a place where you can take your family for a day of entertainment and not have to spend a lot of money,” Faas said. “That’s why this really is a family entertainment district.”
The ultra-modern facilities within the Spartan Athletics Center appear to have made a good impression on the athletes who frequent the new complex.
“This is an amazing facility,” said Jennah Loggins, a member of the women’s soccer team. “It’s a space that feels like home.”
The facilities have opened at a time when three of the men’s teams made history for San Jose State University.
The 2022-23 season marked the first time the SJSU men’s basketball, football and baseball teams made the postseason in the same year. The San Jose State baseball team won its first-ever Mountain West Conference championship.
Faas believes success will fuel additional success. He maintains that the new athletics center will be a prime catalyst for more victories, postseason appearances, revenue and people in the area.
More postseason success and heightened exposure also potentially could help the university’s sports teams to draw more people into the “family entertainment zone” in San Jose.
“For decades we did nothing and we found out that if you do nothing, you get nothing,” Faas said. “Now we are doing something and we are having success. This can build on itself.”