Check out what UD Arena was supposed to look like when it was first designed

The University of Dayton Arena is a great place to watch a basketball game.

It’s also a unique structure, not exactly one of a kind but not much like anything else in the country.

RELATED: Plans for UD Arena renovation unveiled

What if it didn’t have those famous wings, though?

Or no cramped corners.

Maybe a higher roof overhead?

Former Flyers coach Don Donoher shared some of the original plans for the arena from when it was built in 1969, including an explanation for why it is built into the ground.

It was nearly a roundhouse, but that would have cost too much.

RELATED: What’s new is old again at UD Arena

That’s hard to imagine after seeing a $72 million renovation plan that is 12 times more than that initial estimate almost 50 years ago, but it’s also a reminder of how times have changed.

Maybe that explains something else Donoher said last week: "The evaluation of Dayton basketball is an absolute miracle!"

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