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UA to Renovate the JAR


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The "A-Roo" is also associated with our one and only national championship...

...one and only team National Championship. I believe it is also associated with our individual National Championships, in rifle and track & field, as well.

"losing period in our Athletic Department"??? - Sorry Zippy5, I don't get that.

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In this day and age, I'm just glad the Zips didn't do anything ridiculous. You see crazy colored floors like black and purple, weird blue and red turf, courts that look like a beach, courts with gigantic logos, skylines, etc. They all look awful. Teams go to such great lengths to stand out it gets embarrassing.

I wouldn't mind blue painted keys or baselines, but it seems they are keeping it simple.

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...one and only team National Championship. I believe it is also associated with our individual National Championships, in rifle and track & field, as well.

"losing period in our Athletic Department"??? - Sorry Zippy5, I don't get that.

Like it or not football is the most visible. Football has stunk.
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Like it or not football is the most visible. Football has stunk.

Like it or not, football's stinking has/had nothing to do with the "A-Roo" logo. Football went to it's only D-1 bowl with the A-Roo, as Zach pointed out. We all know why football sunk to its lowest point, and no logo change could cover that stench. Akron made one change toward fixing it; perhaps the other needed change will occur this Fall with a simple contract expiration. No action required.

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Scott. I love the thought. It really is the right "idea". The reality is the problem.

The whole "work, live, play" thing has not yet been proven that it will ever work in a city like Akron. We have a new downtown that's developed in the last couple of decades, for sure. But, after the initial Baseball Stadium with Restaurants generated the start of some excitement 20 years ago, we haven't made much progress. Many of those restaurants or bars have changed hands several times. They've been trying to sell the old Vault for years. The condo complex on Spicer ended up having to be turned into rentals. I think many units at Northside might still be unsold? And the supporting infrastructure of gas stations and grocery stores has still yet to materialize.

Would private investment see great opportunity if we proposed a basketball arena "complex" for a college team that draws 3,000 people on 15 out of the 365 days in a year?

Everything would have to wrap around the arena, and until Akron Basketball raises it's profile, the people here overwhelmingly will see this as a major waste of money for a basketball team that not enough people care about. The situation in Cowlumbus was certainly dramatically different.

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Right on the city/campus border has always made the most sense to me. But a true downtown arena has to be about much more than Zips basketball. The focus on Zips basketball is what killed the proposed city arena. Any future plan needs major tenants that appeal to a greater percentage of the voting public.

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True Dave. The challenge is that the voters will see it as a basketball arena with the Zips as the primary user, since that's the meat of the project. Not sure if making it part of a huge project diminishes that. And even if it does, it adds considerable cost. It's a tough sell to the other 95% of Summit County that couldn't care less about the Zips.

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True Dave. The challenge is that the voters will see it as a basketball arena with the Zips as the primary user, since that's the meat of the project. Not sure if making it part of a huge project diminishes that. And even if it does, it adds considerable cost. It's a tough sell to the other 95% of Summit County that couldn't care less about the Zips.

I'd be 100% against building anything that would be used by Can't State, Ohio State, etc. Even if it was an arena built to support a larger city or town, the fact that it would be used by a team I dislike, would make me oppose the plan. Have to think people in the Akron area would feel the same way. They see it as an Akron Zips arena and nothing more. Can't say I'd blame them.

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Right on the city/campus border has always made the most sense to me. But a true downtown arena has to be about much more than Zips basketball. The focus on Zips basketball is what killed the proposed city arena. Any future plan needs major tenants that appeal to a greater percentage of the voting public.

Right. To do it right, it has to be a truly multi-use facility, and a marketing campaign showing a wide variety of uses for it. Concerts, shows, minor league sports, and college basketball (not necessarily the Akron Zips, for the reasons stated above). Being one of the largest cities in the country that has no real TV stations, that's not going to be an easy sell.

I still think a joint effort between the U and the city to build on the edge of campus (along multi-lane E. Market or E Exchange) would be best. And an easier sell to the public. You already have the parking infrastructure (with the U collecting the fees), the U gets looks and more people see it's not just a community college... But we've beat that horse to death on other threads.

Right now I'm just breathing a sigh of relief that Scarborough Fair decided not to (I MEAN "never said he would") rename the whole university.

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The floor looks nice.... that said, I am not a fan of the "Z" logo. I feel that if you are going to use an identifying letter, it should be that of the school , and not the nickname or mascot.

I can't tell from the photos, but I'm guessing the "Z" logo is in either black or silver since those colors have nothing to do with the school, but are apparently now the "in" colors?

On a side note, word from several of the B1G schools is they like what the Zips have done. Maybe we se a "B" on the floor in Cbus, a "W" in Ann Arbor, an "H" in Bloomington, etc?

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Thanks for taking the time to post. I think it looks nice!

floor1.jpg

floor2.jpg

I like it. Thank goodness it is not like Oregons court (I think)

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