Stadium expansion

[UAalum72]

Unh just announced a 25mil renovation plans....

Where was this announced?

http://unhwildcats.com/releases/athleticcomplex

[UA'08]

Unh just announced a 25mil renovation plans....

Where was this announced?

http://unhwildcats.com/releases/athleticcomplex

Thanks. Not a fan of the large track around the field.

[Clickclack]

Unh just announced a 25mil renovation plans....

Where was this announced?

 

http://www.unhwildcats.com/releases/athleticcomplex

[Clickclack]

Unh just announced a 25mil renovation plans....

Where was this announced?

http://unhwildcats.c...athleticcomplex

Thanks. Not a fan of the large track around the field.

 

Sorry...didn't realize I wasn't on the last page so didn't see the earlier post.

[Clickclack]

The other thing that everyone seems to be missing is our stadium has in actuality a very small capacity. Sure it says 8,500, but if I remember correctly, at least 3500 of that is either temporarily bleachers or berm seating.

 

There's no way we are going to keep renting temp bleachers at $150k a year.

 

My personal opinion is that we'll see a $10-12m expansion in 2 years. Likely to include east side permanent stands that bring total capacity to 12,000-14,000 with an end zone building housing academic support, athletic training, locker rooms and coaches offices. The building is very much needed. Our training and coaching facilities are not up to DI standards.

 

We should be ok at 12,000-14,000 capacity for to rest of this decade unless some landscape changes happen in FBS that require us to put up or get relegated.

 

This would be a very nice and sensible approach. 12k or 14k would be more then enough for a long while. More then the additional capacity we need the meeting space and offices etc.

[BestDaneSinceHamlet]

Goes to show you that other than sefcu how far ahead of most mid majors our facilities are. Separate t and f. Lacrosse. Field hockey. Etc.

[Dane96]

The other thing that everyone seems to be missing is our stadium has in actuality a very small capacity. Sure it says 8,500, but if I remember correctly, at least 3500 of that is either temporarily bleachers or berm seating.

 

There's no way we are going to keep renting temp bleachers at $150k a year.

 

My personal opinion is that we'll see a $10-12m expansion in 2 years. Likely to include east side permanent stands that bring total capacity to 12,000-14,000 with an end zone building housing academic support, athletic training, locker rooms and coaches offices. The building is very much needed. Our training and coaching facilities are not up to DI standards.

 

We should be ok at 12,000-14,000 capacity for to rest of this decade unless some landscape changes happen in FBS that require us to put up or get relegated.

 

This would be a very nice and sensible approach. 12k or 14k would be more then enough for a long while. More then the additional capacity we need the meeting space and offices etc.

 

Yes, and as we discussed the other day, moving some of the offices and facilities out of both the old gym and the SEFCU will free up use for additional spaces. For example, they can make the athletic training room slightly smaller in the SEFCU or dedicate it to the sports closest to SEFCU (Softball, Hoops, T&F, etc.) The athletic administration offices could move to the new building as well, dependent on space, freeing up fantastic coaching offices for those Coaches (especially M&W basketball) that are more on par with our DI brethren.

 

Finally, you free up locker space at the Old Gym that the football team used. You can use that for dedicated T&F. Also, lax and soccer could move to the new building, again freeing up additional space.

 

There are so many permutations for what can be done with ONE facility...that would help out EVERY sport. You build the endzone facility, you put up a permanent East Side, and with the berm, you have that 12,000-14,000 number. You add on the lower deck onto the endzone facility, you get to likely 16,000. That would be ideal. The biggest expense would be the endzone facility.

[olddog71]

One argument missing from the Times Union opinion is the avearge annual cost of maintaining a football stadium at UA. I think that replacing a stadium only every 40-plust years is not an extravagant expense. Add to the cost of building the brand new stadium the annual cost of maintenance of it, then the total cost would be only a small fraction of the cost compared to the total cost at other schools which make major renovations and complete remakes. UA's football facilities would seem to be quite a bargain.

[UAalum72]

A study in contrast:

 

SDSU beat writer Terry Vandrovec tweets:

JUST IN: South Dakota Senate approves proposed $60-65M @SDSUFootball stadium by 34-0 vote with 1 excused. Next stop: House Appropriations.

[BestDaneSinceHamlet]

I'm going to imagine that the state government of South Dakota has a significant less overhead budget than the state of NY

[Dane96]

They are also sitting on a gold mine of finances right now!!! Oil in N and S. Dakota is insane.

[BestDaneSinceHamlet]

I mean less overhead to spend on other things and more on fancy stadiums

[Dane96]

I got that...but the facts are, it's a massive gold rush of cash in N and S. Dakota. Some of the highest wages in the nation. It's remarkable.

[jpg_91]

I know this is only mildly related to expansion but has anyone heard anything about the stadium hosting any spring or summer concerts? I'd love that to happen just to see what kind of acts it can attract at this size and then comparing it to what venues that hold 12k+ are getting this year.