A bronze statue of the late Roy Hofheinz will be enshrined outside of the new basketball arena. Construction of the venue is set to start following the 2016-17 season. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

The family of former Harris County Judge Roy Hofheinz and the University of Houston have reached an agreement in regards to removing the family’s namesake from the looming new basketball arena.

“I’m pleased that we can work together to honor Judge Hofheinz’s spirit of innovation and passion for development, while commemorating his indelible mark on the University,” Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Hunter Yurachek stated in a press release.

Last month, the family of the late Roy Hofheinz filed a petition with Harris County that would necessitate the university to keep the family’s name on the new arena since the upgrade was considered a renovation, and the original structure would not be completely destroyed.

Although being called a “renovation,” the $60 million project will be a complete overhaul of the current arena, and with it the naming rights are also set to change.

In agreement with the Hofheinz family, the University of Houston will file a request with the city of Houston to have a section of Holman street, which runs south of the pavilion, renamed to honor the former UH alumnus and Houston mayor from 1953 to 1955.

“One of his first acts as mayor was to order that the hateful signs ‘whites only’ be painted over in every public facility,” said John Raley of Raley & Bowick, the representative for the Hofheinz family. “That kind of moral leadership at a really important time spared Houston the racial unrest that other cities faced.”

In addition to renaming Holman Street, the university will enshrine Hofheinz with a bronze statue located in a plaza with his namesake outside of the new arena. A portion of the UH Athletics/Alumni Center will be dedicated to him to highlight his accomplishments and service to the city.

Raley confirmed that the Hofheinz family felt the agreement fulfilled their want for “Judge Hofheinz to be remembered and for people to know who he was.”

In 1969, Hofheinz’s donation of $1.5 million helped fund the original arena.

“We know our father, Judge Roy Hofheinz, would want the athletic program at the University of Houston to prosper,” Fred Hofheinz, the son of Roy said via press release. “So we know he would support this move which will bring the basketball arena, which bore his name for 47 years, into the 21st century.”

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“UPDATE: UH and Hofheinz family settle naming dispute” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar