UTICA  — The Nexus Center — the newest power player in downtown Utica — has entered into a partnership with Utica University, and will now be known as the Utica University Nexus Center.   

On Thursday, March 2, in front of Utica University students, staff, faculty and members of the Board of Trustees; Carl Annese, chair of the Upper Mohawk Valley Auditorium Authority, announced the partnership in the lobby of the center. The partnership will last for 10 years with a five-year renewal option. The investment costs $150,000, which is entirely donor funded. 

The Utica University Nexus Center is a multi-use sports and recreation complex which opened in November 2022. The complex is home to the Utica University women’s hockey team, and sports management students have the opportunity to study inside the building, with the third floor comprising classrooms, study spaces and faculty offices for the students to gain hands-on experience.   

Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, who was in attendance at the naming ceremony, helped secure funding for a grant to outfit the third floor of the complex. Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr.; Rob Esche, president of the Mohawk Valley Garden and the Utica Comets’ AHL team; State Sen. Joseph A. Griffo; a representative from Assemblyman Brian Miller’s office; and Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri attended the event as well.  

Utica University President Laura Casamento said the complex will serve as a living laboratory for students, who will gain hands-on experience in operating a sports venue. 

“This investment further demonstrates the University’s commitment to a project we’re already very closely associated with, one that will greatly benefit our students, both athletically and academically,” Casamento said.  

The university will also host large-scale gymnastics, wrestling and e-sports competitions that cannot be supported in the campus’ sports facilities, at the Nexus Center. 

Casamento highlighted the athletics teams’ accomplishments this past year, with the men’s basketball team earning an NCAA tournament selection, the hockey teams competing in the UCHC championships and the football team making it to the NCAA tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16.  

Casamento said this partnership is an opportunity to market Utica University in a way that the university has not been able to before, with the complex attracting nearly 400,000 students and their parents annually. 

Picente said that as a graduate of Utica University and a representative of Oneida County, he is proud of the county’s relationship with the university, which is commemorated by this new partnership.  

“It really is fitting, and it really is something that we envisioned, as we were building Nexus, as we were entering a new phase of the sports and entertainment district, that Utica University would be front and center,” Picente said.