News: Updating Lounge & Weight Room

[ZachTheZip]

What was the determining factor in making the upgrades for the soccer team??

Capacity issues. Also, not having the field flood so badly that we're forced to move a NCAA tournament home game to Illinois.

[Doug Snyder]

What was the determining factor in making the upgrades for the soccer team??

Capacity issues. Also, not having the field flood so badly that we're forced to move a NCAA tournament home game to Illinois.

Those issues have been around for a while. For some reason I seem to remember the expedited upgrades were made due to the success of the soccer program and to keep coach Porter from leaving.

Zach....now that many of the soccer players have left, will you be advocating getting rid of the soccer coach too??

[Doug Snyder]

Miami built a new hockey arena. The old one was functional but needed to be replaced at some point. The fact that Miami is one of the nation’s premier hockey programs came in to play when deciding if and when a new arena would be built.

The decision to build an arena is more based on the ultimate direction a program wants to go. But sometimes opportunities present themselves and upgrades or new projects are expedited. I think this occurs because administrations know that the timing is right for fund raising. As Zach noted....the soccer field had limitations. But the reason why the upgrades where completed last summer was because of the success of the soccer program. So...what I am trying to say is that although current success is not the primary determinate, it plays a huge part in the decision when to act on plans that may already be in place.

[akzipper]

To me renovations to the JAR do not mean they are not building a new arena. If a new arena is ever built, the teams would most likely still use the JAR for practices and camps. So these additions to me are kind of irrelevant to the new arena discussion. Just like the football team uses the fieldhouse for offices and training center, the basketball teams would use the JAR.

[g-mann17]

To me renovations to the JAR do not mean they are not building a new arena. If a new arena is ever built, the teams would most likely still use the JAR for practices and camps. So these additions to me are kind of irrelevant to the new arena discussion. Just like the football team uses the fieldhouse for offices and training center, the basketball teams would use the JAR.

Bingo...

Oh and check this out when you get a chance (around 3:08).

University Park Master Plan

It was shown at the UPA luncheon on Wednesday.

[Blue & Gold]

To me renovations to the JAR do not mean they are not building a new arena. If a new arena is ever built, the teams would most likely still use the JAR for practices and camps. So these additions to me are kind of irrelevant to the new arena discussion. Just like the football team uses the fieldhouse for offices and training center, the basketball teams would use the JAR.

Bingo...

Oh and check this out when you get a chance (around 3:08).

University Park Master Plan

It was shown at the UPA luncheon on Wednesday.

I also was thrilled to see the rendering. We haven't heard much about an arena lately, but it's still obviously a huge blip on the radar of both the city and university.

[g-mann17]

I also was thrilled to see the rendering. We haven't heard much about an arena lately, but it's still obviously a huge blip on the radar of both the city and university.

And it stands out from the other renderings. I think this shows major intent by UPA, UA, the city and the Downtown Akron Partnership. It is really the only named building in the whole master plan.

[zip37]

Musta missed IT.!

[Dave in Green]

Too bad it's such a pain in the rump video to watch. First you have to sit through a long commercial. Then you have to fight off a pop-up commercial in the middle of the video. The worst part is not being able to click back to an earlier point and watch the few seconds on the arena more than once.

By the time I got through with all this, I had forgotten what they called it and wasn't about to sit through a whole rerun. The only thing that stuck with me was that the arena magically popped up right next to Canal Park, immediately adjacent to the north side of the baseball field.

If you blinked, you missed it.

[ZachTheZip]

Too bad it's such a pain in the rump video to watch. First you have to sit through a long commercial. Then you have to fight off a pop-up commercial in the middle of the video. The worst part is not being able to click back to an earlier point and watch the few seconds on the arena more than once.

By the time I got through with all this, I had forgotten what they called it and wasn't about to sit through a whole rerun. The only thing that stuck with me was that the arena magically popped up right next to Canal Park, immediately adjacent to the north side of the baseball field.

If you blinked, you missed it.

Maybe you need to find a better browser. I had no pop-up, and could click back to any point in time in the video and watch whatever part I want as many times as I want.

[Dave in Green]

Thanks, Zach. You convinced me to go back and try again. This time the opening commercial was shorter, there was no pop-up ad, and I was able to stop and backup the video. It sure was a hot mess the first time I tried to view it. I have no idea why my computer and that video were not making nice the first time.

Anyway, upon closer examination, the wording for the arena section was: Main/Canal District: A world-class multipurpose arena.

Also, I was able to see more clearly this time that the arena pops up not on the north side of Canal Park, but on the east side toward the UA campus, immediately across Main Street from the baseball field. Looking at an aerial view of that area, there are currently surface parking lots and a couple of small buildings on the proposed site. So it's about 3 blocks from campus, and well connected by the enclosed walkway over the railroad tracks just south of University Ave.