New Akron Arena

[Blue & Gold]

Fellas, the point of this thread is supposed to be how big the arena should be, not where it should be.

[Jake]

Fellas, the point of this thread is supposed to be how big the arena should be, not where it should be.

sorry, you're right. If I were to change my vote from 12K, it would be 15K. I realize filling it for b ball may be a long shot at least for a while, but UA could justify it with some dynamite shows that aren't feasable for Thomas Hall. Also, we need to buid for the future and 15K would seem reasonable in that vein.

[Spin]

soccer? why would the soccer team practice/play soccer next to the soccer field and not in it? Besides, a football field does not accomodate a soccer game very well.

To practice on the natural turf at the soccer stadium would put a lot of wear and tear on it. It's tough enough to keep grass on it all fall, without the daily soccer practices. And you don't want artificial turf in a soccer stadium.They're using it every day, I'm in Shrank a lot.

[bandzip]

Also, can someone tell me why UA still needs the football practice field on Jackson Field next to Shrank Hall when we have the Stile Field House and now InfoCision on campus? Maybe, I'm missing something, but it seems such a waste of precious space for the campus.

Marching band, intermurals, soccer and other teams on occasion.

soccer? why would the soccer team practice/play soccer next to the soccer field and not in it? Besides, a football field does not accomodate a soccer game very well. Marching Band can practice in Info. Also, that photo of the marching band that you posted looks like they are playing in the Field House. So, there are two resources for the band not counting the practice football field. And maybe I'm not on campus enough but I've never seen intramurals and other teams including soccer on the football practice field. Outside of marching band and varsity football practice, that piece of land seems pretty unused.

If the soccer field can't be in good enough shape for a NCAA playoff game with a week to get it ready and never practicing on it what makes you think it's a good idea for them to practice on it everyday? Practicing on turf obviously isn't hurting their game at all. Football practices are right before and overlapping band rehearsal and they're in the Info unless it's cold or rainy out in which case they take the field house. The fieldhouse it's usually taken over by indoor track and field with the softball or baseball team hitting around in the net batting cages. On Fridays when there is an away game the band has the opportunity to use fieldhouse if it's crappy weather out. If it's not raining we almost ALWAYS take Shrank because the fans going in the fieldhouse are loud and it's very hard to hear instructions. It's also near impossible to work on music in that space because it echoes forever making it extremely difficult to hear details of what's going on.

[lance99]

I voted for 10k.You have to be careful with going more than that because you start pulling form other venues (Civic, E.J Thomas)and so on. The other option is totally rebuilding the JAR. I understand that they (and I mean the city) want something to draw people downtown that is not the Civic and the bars. If they do it right it will be a win-win for Akron and the city.

[GP1]

8,000 will be enough. Not too big, not too small.I'm very hesitant to get in bed with the City of Akron. If the choice is play in the JAR or co-op an arena with the City.....I say play in the JAR and kick around some other ideas.If all they can afford is 6,500 seats, then do that. First things first, the soccer team has EARNED a new stadium before anyone else gets one.

[Roo]

You have to look at the events that this place could hold...look at the Wolstein for CSU, they never come close to filling that thing at capacity, even with Ohio State and North Carolina visiting, but they get huge concerts weekly, WWE, NCAA Tourney games and many other events. What venue is in Akron to bring that kind of attention to the city???I think this is an opportunity that the city CANNOT afford to turn down. This is a perfect project for a city in the economic downturn, this is a money maker!!! Can somebody find numbers on how much these events bring in for the city??? That is something Id be very curious about. I am sure an arena would pay itself off rather quickly if they can pull events in and I am sure the cost to goto to the Q or the Wolstein would be much higher than what Akron could offer.In that aspect, I think we should target a 10-12k arena. That is a little less than the Wolstein, as it holds 14-15k I believe. With that size of a venue, you can realistically see trade shows, expos, wrestling, MMA, concerts, circus, monster truck etc.We would have to find a way to curtain off or block a good portion of the seats to make it seem as if the place is full for basketball games like CSU does.People are dreaming if they think Akron is ever going to be good enough to fill an arena with 8k, it's just not going to happen. Gonzaga is a basketball powerhouse and they seat 6k in a brand new facility. We cant even get a decent crowd to fill the very small JAR. A lot of that has to do with poor scheduling, but people aren't going to come to support the Zips regardless of success (See the empty JAR now despite consecutive 20+ winning seasons with Akron homegrown players) or facility (see the poor attendance at the Info).I think shooting for 5-6k for basketball is a reach, but attainable with the right schedule. But to help get the city to foot part of the bill, then this arena needs to be in the 10+12k range.