Football Stadium

[zen]

i like the work zen! but you bring up a good point that many fraturnity houses would be torn down and would ruin the greek villiage concept. with that said i think if you swap the parking area out and put the stadium there that would work and looks like what the university is planning on doing......the only other thing they'll have to do is add some major parking lots...aside from that the plan looks like a winner!GO ZIPS! :macc:

Good point. Perhaps it is better to put the stadium a bit more south.Then all you would have to do is get rid of nash and maybe reroute spicer somehow.I was looking at the area east of brown (as mentioned in the start of the thread) and I can't see how that would work out.

[gozips19]

that area would be a bit small...and the school already has a concept for that area drawn up for playing feilds for students......but i think you are on to something and nash is only about 6 houses and the school has bought (i think) half of the property on exchange so it should work.....now if we can only figure out that damn parking situation!GO ZIPS!

[zen]

that area would be a bit small...and the school already has a concept for that area drawn up for playing feilds for students......but i think you are on to something and nash is only about 6 houses and the school has bought (i think) half of the property on exchange so it should work.....now if we can only figure out that damn parking situation!GO ZIPS!

this one leaves less room for parking, but allows for the greek village.The nice thing about it is that it requires the University to aquire only a couple dozen residential lots. It will have a much easier time getting the frats, because they will agree to it as they may participate in the greek villiage project.It may, however require them to work on reclaiming the property on exchange street, which is prime real estate that the owners may not part with easily, but I'm sure they can handle it.

[zen]

this is it. I'm done with concepts now.(hope I didn't annoy anyone)

[UADavid]

Very good work. Looks great.

[bobbyake]

25,000 is too small. With a stadium in downtown Akron, you would expect attendance to go up at least 40% or more for every game. If Akron can continue winning, 25,000 would be lower than the average amount Akron could bring in per game. Who cares if we sell out every game, selling out a 25,000 stadium is nothing to brag about. It has to be bigger. 35,000 at least. If the stadium is anything less than 35,000, you might as well forget about the Big East. There's not a chance. Make it 35,000 or more, I think 45,000 would be idea. and it will fill up eventually.25,000 limits this program to always being a Mid-major program. You can't grow into something big thinking small.

[zipper]

zen, I could be wrong, but I'd think your scale is wrong. A stadium and parking would take up ALL the space from Union to Spicer, and Vine to Exchange. At least that's the plan. Maybe it's because the U is going to add other buildings to the stadium. I heard dorms, support services, etc.

[ziptrumpet87]

They just started doing something on the SE corner of Carroll and Spicer. On the way home from watching the Zips trounce Buffalo I noticed a construction fence had gone up, the house that was there was gone and the dirt was all over the place. Any idea what's going in there?

[zen]

They just started doing something on the SE corner of Carroll and Spicer. On the way home from watching the Zips trounce Buffalo I noticed a construction fence had gone up, the house that was there was gone and the dirt was all over the place. Any idea what's going in there?

photoshop isn't made for precision work, but I matched the scales from the aerials between Syracuse and Akron, so it whould be relatively close. The graphics were just for concept only, a margin of error is okay in this respect. If you are going to spend 100M or more building a new stadium and parking decks, moving spicer street over an extra 4meters isn't a major issue as long as the intersection at exchange remains viable.I picked their dome partially because a dome would be awesome, but also because it is a facility that supports other sports and classrooms with a 49K capacity for football. Because of that, it means that footprint may be somewhat smaller for a less ambitious project.

[ToledoRockets]

I think you guys are missing the point of a smaller stadium. You need to create a demand for tickets as well. Even the most successful programs in the MAC are only averaging about 23,000 fans a game. I think your administrators are looking to build a 20-28,000 seat stadium that is expandable for the future. To this point, you have no idea how many more fans are going to come to your games if it is on campus. You are guessing it will be a lot more but it is only a guess. You guys talk about how you can be drawing tons of people for your games because of how many alumni are in the area and how you have a large population base.The problem with that theory is that those people do not live on campus anyway. If they were going to be coming to games, they would already be coming to games because the drive from campus would have been a moot point since they do not live on campus. The advantage to an on campus facility is the students. Then again, you are just guessing at how many students will come to the game.Your school has not shown that they can support a football program yet. Yes, you had 14-15,000 fans go to the bowl game. You also only brought about 7,000 fans to the MAC Championship game.We have had the largest home games in MAC history at about 36,000 fans in a stadium that technically only seats 26,000. There were people everywhere. If we had a 45,000 seat stadium, it would have been 75% full and that is the all-time MAC record. even Marshall, as much as we all hated them, had the best fan support in the MAC and they were only drawing 25,000.The last thing you want is to build this huge stadium with all the expenses of keeping it up and the thing be only half full. As it stands right now, in a MAC Championship season, you averaged 10,000. Say you theoretically get double the students to come and you are now looking at about 14,000 as I am assuming that about 4,000 students make up the 10,000 fans.A mediocre opponent at the Glass Bowl (Buffalo) will get us about 19,000 and about 10,000 of that is the student section. A great opponent will get us 30,000+ and it is still only about 10,000 students. Once you get the students to the game, they will come regardless. It is the fans in the community that come to watch good games and those are the people that do not live on campus already and should already be going to the games.So, point being, the attendance will go up, but not much unless you can have a tradition of winning and a good fan base. I have said before that 13-11 over the last two years is not a tradition of winning. You are assuming that these numbers will go up, but my arguement is that you guys do not want to end up like Western. They thought they were going to light the world on fire after making it to the MAC Championship game back in like 1999. Dumped all this money into their program and the support and the wins never came.

[ziptrumpet87]

Back in the days of coach Dennison Akron had draws of 30k+. My freshmen year there were 36k for the season opener. There is a tradition here, but it has been slumbering. Some have boycotted the team because of the way things were handled when Faust was hired. It was hoped when Owens was hired that they would help draw the local fans back including some from Stark Co. since he was the old Massillon coach. I believe that people will return to a new stadium - dome or not - when it is built.GO ZIPS!!!

[UADavid]

I think you guys are missing the point of a smaller stadium. You need to create a demand for tickets as well. Even the most successful programs in the MAC are only averaging about 23,000 fans a game. I think your administrators are looking to build a 20-28,000 seat stadium that is expandable for the future

This is the most lucid rational thought you have posted on ZipsNATION. Congratulations! :macc:

[bobbyake]

You don't understand what it's like driving to the rubber bowl. It's in bfe. A campus in downtown Akron would easily double the attendance. It might also pull fans from Cleveland and other area towns because of the great location downtown. Having the stadium downtown and on campus will make the games better overall experience.And last years attendance was hurt by having the Can't State game on Thanksgiving. The weather was horrible. It was so bad that I had to leave at half-time. They should have made the Can't game the second home game of the year. The first will always get a good attendance so it's pointless to waste the Can't game as the first. But if Akron played Can't on there second home game, you would have seen an attendance of at least 20,000+. Wasn't it around 30,000 in 2003??

[zen]

Yeah, I think toledo doesn't understand some of the underlying issues here, besides just the fact that the rubber bowl is out in BFE.All of this is built on the fact that Akron is going to build a genuine football program. Granted, bad luck is always a factor, but for the most part, you build a new on-campus stadium and couple that with success, and you can finally tap into a regional market that is arguably the heart of football in the United States and not a bad media market to boot (definately a larger market then all the other MAC teams). Cleveland has CSU. *twirls finger* No offense, but they aren't competition. Akron Zips Football barely gets mention from the media around here. Break into those BCS ranking just one freaking week, and your little 22K stadium will be an insult for years to come.Right now, Zips football hasn't even scratched the regional market appeal (let alone actually tap it). Believe it or not Highschool football is bigger (which is one part of why I said this region is arguably the heart of football), but aside from various alumni, people in this region are Buckeye bandwagoners (to which I make no criticism) because of Ohio State's success. Now, I dont' mean to sound delusional. I recognize that joe-dogpound from parma isn't going to be quick to put on blue&gold and drive down I-77 on saturdays just because Akron Zips football starts getting covered by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Cleveland Media Market (north east ohio, at which, you can say Akron is the epicenter) is ranked as the 16th largest media market in the Nation (in terms of dollars) and potentially larger then that in region-wide population, which could bode well more in regards to TV and merchandize increases, rather than butts in the seats. But this school has a lot of alumni that probably also happen to be football nuts who just don't think about their college alma mater in the same way think about the Browns and even their old High Schools. That can change.There is a tendancy for front-running and bandwagon phenomenon in this market, but that happens in other sports more than football. This region is football crazy. It doesn't take extreme imagination to envision a successful collegiate football program in this region to capture the imagination of people from Avon Lake out to Palmyra, from Mentor out past Medina. From the northcoast down past Canton.Having the vision to build up the program is the first step and perhaps the hardest, but that ball is definately rolling. Getting to a bowl game is next (winning it would help more, but that's football). Granted the MotorCity bowl is not the Fiesta Bowl or the Rose bowl. I will definately give you that. That's why I said breaking into the BCS, even if it's just for one week would do amazing things. It would change the perception of Akron for a long time regionally and be one of the final keys to breaking into a new teir of recruiting success.

[bobbyake]

Zen I agree. Building a small stadium is a bad idea and slows this programs growth.Why are people thinking small. Think big! If Akron can't fill a 35,000+ stadium, we all know the high school playoffs will. There's money to be made. Big concerts, lease it during the off-season to a pro sport like soccer. Remeber this, no one wants Akron to continue to be the Akron we're used to. We all would like to see Akron jump to a BCS conference. And we all would love to see Akron become a big time program. If Pitt and Louisville can do it, so can Akron.Aren't you guys tired of taking Akron to the National Championship in EA Sport's NCAA Football and only being able to seat 33,000. It barely gives a home field advantage.

[UADavid]

Zen I agree. Building a small stadium is a bad idea and slows this programs growth.Why are people thinking small. Think big!

I appreciate your enthusiasm but the critical factor that you don't take into account enough is COST. This project will be very costly and will have to be built using private funding. No student fees. That then would indicate that the plan will need to be flexible. By flexible I mean that the construction will need to be done in stages. We start with a 25,000 seat stadium designed with the 35-45,000 seats the University may need in the future. I don't want to see the new stadium ruined because they need to start trimming this and that from the project for budgetary reasons. That is one reason why the JAR is what it is.When Canal Park was built, they left provisions for more seating capacity in case the team became a AAA affiliate. This is the same course that UA should follow so that a move to a larger conference, if needed, could be addressed.

[bobbyake]

Money is a factor. Well, what about money from the city, county, or state. I would vote for a sin tax in a heart beat if it was for the stadium.

[UADavid]

How many times do you plan on voting? ;-) :macc:

[Sloopy]

Open air 35K plush with room to expand, 60 million, 2010, Wallaroo/Joey & Brown Street all gone with new dorms built as part of project - done

[Dale Carnegie]

35k sounds like a good base to start with. The new stadium shouldn't be smaller than the rubber bowl.

[KeeprOFtheHous]

i have read many of the replys and some sounds good other sa re rediculous. First off for all who wonder the 20 million raised is not the budget, those who are thinking so need to go back to finance class. The average university requires that 68% be raised before and construction or biding even goes out. So that would put the stadium budget around 40-45 mill. As for a dome this is OHIO Sac-Up Football is an outdoor sport. if you cant handle it go watch the game from a tv. As for the size i agree 20 is small 25-30 is perfect. with the capability of expansion. Akron is not near anything larger. if one game a year fills it then its fine. Wait till we4 have constant 25k+ games then we should discuss going bigger. if a game is sold out then akron as a product gains value!!!!!!!! if the stadium is too big then the ticket value will never raise and that is where the $$$$$$ ultimately comes. i think people should just relax. there is much to go into the stadium. it is in the middle of a city. not an easy task to build with out hidden costs. lets just support the team gain even a bigger Roo following and repeat this years accolades if that happens then the roos will be

[bobbyake]

As for a dome this is OHIO Sac-Up Football is an outdoor sport. if you cant handle it go watch the game from a tv.

Just because this is Ohio doesn't mean we should rule out a dome. If you remember the Can't State game, I don't see how you couldn't want one. a dome would be something different to Ohio which is a good thing for this state with so many scared of change. Football is football no matter where it's played. A dome might cost more but it would make more money in the long run. More fans would go to a game in a dome than an stadium. A dome would excel the growth of this program a lot faster. But I agree that it probably won't happen because of the costs.

[gozips19]

unless you know some rich uncles that need to get rid of some money a dome is too expensive..... we need to make this the nicest looking stadium in the mac and with the money we have to spend 30k seats makes sense. i just hope it has lots of press boxes, and jumbo screen, a on site medical facility, amost others all top of the line stuff!GO ZIPS!

[fear the brown roo]

i am totally down with the new stadium and love it but since when is 7 miles from campus make a place out in bfe? low attendance is from the shitty teams faust and owens gave us. the rubber bowl has nothing to do with poor showings of fans. if the rubber bowl is the reason no one shows up for games, massillon v. mckinnley wouldn't sell out. every time st. iggy comes to the bowl it's a sell out. yes, a new stadium is needed but i promise you crowds of 1000, like against liberty a few years ago, :macc: if there are no wins. cleveland browns stadium had a lot of orange seats on tv this year because that team is an embarrasment. as long as jd is here, we'll be fine but if we don't get a good coach after he moves on to a bigger school, no stadium is going to help us. by the way, if jd would happen to stay with us for the long haul, no doubt in my mind that stadium would be called jd brookhart field twenty years from now. stay with us jd!!!!!

[gozips19]

7 mi. is too far for students.... they want to drink and walk over to the game and walk home if they want...not all students have cars and the bus system, while nice, isn't what the students want and that is easy accessGO ZIPS!