Supervisors approve construction contract for indoor arena at Virginia Center

Construction will begin soon on Henrico County’s new indoor arena and convocation center at Virginia Center Commons in Glen Allen.

The county’s board of supervisors Dec. 14 voted unanimously to enter into a $39.8-million comprehensive agreement with Rebkee Co., which will build the arena. The county previously signed three earlier agreements that outlined earlier phases of the project, which in total will be capped at a maximum cost of $50 million.

Construction work will begin early next year and is expected to be completed by September 2023, according to Henrico Recreation and Parks Director Neil Luther. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the process several times; officials initially had hoped to have the arena completed by next summer.

The county owns the nearly 25-acre site at VCC where the arena will be built. On Tuesday, supervisors also agreed to convey just more than an acre of county land at the site to Shamin VCC, LLC and VCC Partners LLC (two groups that own about 28 adjacent acres they intend to develop) in exchange for about half an acre of land from those two groups.

The move was procedural in nature, designed merely to adjust boundary lines now that site plans exist for the arena, Luther said.

Once completed, the arena will include 12 basketball courts convertible to 24 volleyball courts; team rooms; and other elements. Four of the courts will be convertible to a 4,500-seat convocation center. County officials expect that the facility will attract local, regional and national indoor sports tournaments, in addition to providing recreational space for county residents and leagues.

Henrico County Public Schools also intends to host all county high school graduations at the facility beginning in 2024.