Name change approved for Holt Arena
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – On Tuesday, the Idaho State Board of Education approved a name change for Holt Arena.
Idaho Central Credit Union has committed to a capital gift of $6 million which includes naming Holt Arena for the next 12 years.
While planning is underway to continually honor the venue’s past, the new name of the arena is the ICCU Dome.
“This type of commitment is paramount to elevating our performance as a Division I athletic program,” ISU’s Director of Athletics Pauline Thiros said. “Successful programs share the common thread of communities and organizations willing to champion them in a significant way. ICCU has come forward to lead as a champion of our student-athletes and our coaches, and their support will make a tremendous impact as we upgrade facilities, develop more competitive and strategic schedules, and expand our program budget to meet more of the needs of a championship program.”
Originally named the ASISU Minidome, this legendary building opened over 50 years ago in 1970. The 1990s saw the structure renamed Holt Arena, honoring former Athletic Director Milton “Dubby” Holt who conceived the idea, and gained support of the student body, who levied an additional fee on their registration to support its construction. The newly coined ICCU Dome is the oldest enclosed stadium on a college campus in the United States, and the second-oldest in the nation overall. Only the Houston Astrodome in Texas, completed in 1965, predates it.
Thiros believes Dubby Holt would embrace the opportunity for the facility he conceptualized to further propel success for Bengal Athletics.
“I had the pleasure of calling Dubby my friend,” she said. “He was shrewd in his business sense, had great passion behind his vision for Idaho State Athletics, and was deeply committed to utilizing every avenue available to build the program. I know that today, he would be delighted and proud to see this renewed investment in the facility, and in the student athletes. Dubby will always be the architect of the Dome, and I look forward to unveiling plans to honor him on site in the near future.”
Carolyn O’Connor, great niece of Dubby Holt, said her uncle supported any endeavors that supported student athletes.
“We loved seeing Uncle Dub’s name on the arena, but he was the ultimate business mind, and he was all about supporting the student athletes,” she said. “As an AD, Dubby was deeply committed to being on the cutting edge of developing resources to support his Bengals. That is what he did when he built the Dome with the students of ASISU, and he would be very pleased to see that ISU Athletics is still benefiting from the work he did so many years ago.”
