Plans to turn the 28-year-old Bon Secours Wellness Arena and its surrounding 12-acre campus into a full-fledged downtown entertainment district took a major step forward this past week, as Greenville's Design Review Board signed off on proposed exterior renovations and site improvements for the $282 million project. The approval clears a required municipal hurdle before any physical construction can begin on the arena known locally as The Well.
According to the City of Greenville
, the Design Review Board's sign-off means the modernization and surrounding campus transformation are now moving forward. The board granted a Certificate of Appropriateness on June 18 for the project, a formal step that had to happen before site work could proceed, as reported by
Upstate Business Journal
. The application, labeled CA 26-411, was submitted by project manager Mike Martinez of architectural firm LS3P.
A New Face on Church Street
The approved designs call for a new two-level main entrance lobby on the arena's west side, facing Church Street, with exterior elements drawing inspiration from Upstate South Carolina's natural landscape, per the same outlet's reporting. LS3P designed the layout specifically to better integrate the arena with downtown Greenville, rather than have it sit as an isolated structure along the corridor.
Behind that new facade, the renovation plans call for expanding the arena's concourse level by 27,898 square feet and adding another 18,621 square feet to the event level, the publication reported in a separate story. The event-level additions include two new loading docks, enlarged storage space, and roughly 18,000 square feet earmarked for dressing rooms and flexible backstage space — upgrades the research behind this project suggests are aimed squarely at luring bigger touring concerts and sporting events that currently skip mid-sized venues over loading dock and back-of-house limitations.
Who's Building It, and For How Much
Turner Construction was awarded the $282 million modernization contract and is leading a project team that also includes Greenville-based Caldwell Constructors along with design firms LS3P and Gensler, according to Construction Dive. Caldwell Constructors brings a local presence to the build, alongside design firms LS3P and Gensler.
The overall budget covers not just the 15,500-seat arena itself but its entire 12-acre campus, a scale that Greenville Journal has described as one of the largest civic capital projects in downtown Greenville's recent history. Beyond the arena upgrades, the campus master plan also includes a proposed 7,000-seat outdoor amphitheater with its own dedicated artist amenities and support facilities, though that amphitheater design will need to go through a separate municipal board review at a later date.
A Public Asset With Deep Local Ties
The arena is owned and operated by the Greenville Arena District, a political subdivision of South Carolina that traces its roots back to 1940, when it was created as the Greenville Memorial Auditorium District, according to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The district ran the old Memorial Auditorium before opening the current arena in 1998, which has since drawn more than 12 million visitors to its events.
Today the venue hosts more than 130 commercial events and around 600,000 attendees each year, generating an estimated $70 million in annual economic impact for the Greenville area, the arena's own account states. It also serves as the home ice for the ECHL's Greenville Swamp Rabbits, a minor league affiliate of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, and functions as an alternate home venue for Furman University's men's and women's basketball teams.
The arena has also hosted high-profile events that illustrate why city officials are investing so heavily in its future, including the NCAA tournament basketball games held there earlier this year and, more recently, the relocated Greenville Hispanic Heritage Festival.
What Comes Next
The Greenville Arena District first unveiled its master plan for the venue and campus transformation back in April 2025. A Greenville Journal report in April 2026 said it was still too early to say when construction would begin. More than a year of design refinement followed before this past summer's Design Review Board approval.
Even with the exterior architectural design now cleared for the main arena, the renovation is expected to occur in phases. Major traffic and safety concerns have been addressed, and the campus plan includes a proposed amphitheater.
