Kangaroo Craig Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Here is the link the the Beacon Story regarding the new stadium. The conceptual design is the same one that we saw last year."The new drawings would enhance the conceptual design that HNTB did for UA last year at a cost of $100,000."http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/15570977.htm"The stadium would include 25,000 seats, expandable to 30,000 by adding seats on the end zones, and 20 loges, expandable to 30." This sounds like it is going to be the same mistake all over again with the JAR arena. They are going to build something without considering any long term vision. IF UA is ever going to consider a move to a higher conference, a stadium that is expandable only to 30K is not acceptable. It really wouldn't cost much more to design it so that it could be expandable to say 40 or even 50K. Memo ot UA -- Do it right. Don't waste your money on something that you will not want in 20 years. HAVE SOME LONG TERM VISION. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 That was disappointing. Where was the story located, front page of section....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeeprOFtheHous Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Between the Rubber Bowl's traffic jams and parking on grassy fields that get muddy in inclement weather, ``using it is really silly when you think about it,'' he said.This is from the beacon,Who ever this kid is is an idiot, have you ever been to a big time school????parking in grassy fields getn dirty, All part of the sat. aluring of a big time coolege fb game. and TRAFFIC if there was actually traffic for the zips games that would be great, it would mean there were people actually there. I hope it goes through!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziptrumpet87 Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 The article was on the front page, bottom left (I actually bought one today!), then the story continued on pg A9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Between the Rubber Bowl's traffic jams and parking on grassy fields that get muddy in inclement weather, ``using it is really silly when you think about it,'' he said. Ummm...that describes about 70% of the parking at Penn State 3 weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 All in all, this "announcement" is a yawner. Until I see a final design, with a cost and a construction deadline I am not even considering getting excited about the stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips88 Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 All in all, this "announcement" is a yawner. Until I see a final design, with a cost and a construction deadline I am not even considering getting excited about the stadium. Same here. Pie in the sky right now. Wake me up if something with a little more substance comes along ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgm405 Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Between the Rubber Bowl's traffic jams and parking on grassy fields that get muddy in inclement weather, ``using it is really silly when you think about it,'' he said.This is from the beacon,Who ever this kid is is an idiot, have you ever been to a big time school????parking in grassy fields getn dirty, All part of the sat. aluring of a big time coolege fb game. and TRAFFIC if there was actually traffic for the zips games that would be great, it would mean there were people actually there. I hope it goes through!!!!First of all, the "kid" is not an idiot...he's actually a really good friend of mine. Second, he was simply noting that with the way things are set up, that there was only one road to leave on from that huge area and was discussing the problems that created. He then mentioned that this problem was made even worse when the weather was bad. I really don't see anything that is inaccurate about those remarks, do you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kangaroo Craig Posted September 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Between the Rubber Bowl's traffic jams and parking on grassy fields that get muddy in inclement weather, ``using it is really silly when you think about it,'' he said.This is from the beacon,Who ever this kid is is an idiot, have you ever been to a big time school????parking in grassy fields getn dirty, All part of the sat. aluring of a big time coolege fb game. and TRAFFIC if there was actually traffic for the zips games that would be great, it would mean there were people actually there. I hope it goes through!!!!First of all, the "kid" is not an idiot...he's actually a really good friend of mine. Second, he was simply noting that with the way things are set up, that there was only one road to leave on from that huge area and was discussing the problems that created. He then mentioned that this problem was made even worse when the weather was bad. I really don't see anything that is inaccurate about those remarks, do you?I can vouch for him too. He is a high quality individual. I can say that because we are fraternity brothers. Although I graduated during the 1980's, I did meet him at a founders day event back in May. He is highly regarded among his brothers. Good, smart kid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 If your writing about a NEW stadium, why even focus on the negatives of the Rubber Bowl? Who cares?Get me excited about the details of whats to come. The article could have been fun and exciting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgm405 Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 If your writing about a NEW stadium, why even focus on the negatives of the Rubber Bowl? Who cares?Get me excited about the details of whats to come. The article could have been fun and exciting... To show people the reason for wanting the new stadium...??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipseuph Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 I really wish Akron with stick with the Bowl thing. to me the two big bleachers with seates in the endzones is just a glorafied high school stadium, a Bowl on the other hand says "College" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsbandman Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 More of the same.... :zzz:And that view in the Beacon does NOT look impressive. It makes me think JAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goo redhawks Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 This is ludicrous. I'm sorry but I'll take Yager over that any day of the week. The place looks incredibly small time. Maybe your administration is preparing for the inevidable and scaling down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipsrifle Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Like others have said here before, it would be nice to build this stadium with class! We have a clean sheet here....not many other schools get this chance. They have to upgrade an existing facility. I would hate to see us throw something together that is inexpensive, but looks like Doyt Perry at BG. I would like to see something keeping with the industrial past of Akron. NOT something that looks like a spaceship (Oregon). Someone else said something to the effect of "The Camden Yards of College Football"..... I like that. As for the size, I have no problem starting out at 25,000. In the 11 years I've been watching Zips games, I think one had more than 25,000 people at the game. The important point is that the plan should allow for future expansion to double that (50,000). We are hoping this program goes "Big Time" aren't we? I know this stuff costs money, something that UA isn't as blessed as other schools to have. This administrations has done an excellent job so far, and if past experience is any indications, the stadium will be excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyake Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 25,000 is a joke if your trying to build a winning tradition. That's like saying, "we'll have a couple good seasons, and then we'll be an average school so we don't have to worry about growth in 5 years." If Akron wins the MAC this year, next year, and the following, 25,000 is going to be too small and then your going to be in a situation where you have to spend more money to expand. More money than you would have to spend if you just built it to at lest 35,000 to start out with... They should be thinking 35,000 unless they don't have Akron winning and it's growth on the agenda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozips19 Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 i am as upset as the rest of you but i really think this is coming down to money. based on comments in the paper over the past 3-5 yrs. and seeing what the admin. has done in that time i am not worried about a poor product but it sounds like they'll have a hard time raising more than 60 mill. in the time frame they have set. one thing to keep in mind. in 5-10 yrs after the stadium is built the university can look at student funds again for the expansion. like most of you on this board i will wait until we see the final plans but this is what it sounds like to me....also nick is a good guy! go chi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you am i Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 the rubber bowl is the biggest stadium in the mac at 31,000. everyone else is in the 24-30,000 range. i'm not 100% sure, but i think that most c-usa schools are in the 30-40,000 range and big east stadiums are 40,000+ , with maybe an exception or two. the artist's rendering is bland, but this is obviously the stadium in its earliest conception and the final result is likely to be significantly different. it does look high school-ish, though. please - let's not build fawcett stadium-north.that said, the design firm looks like a quality outfit, so i'm still hopeful this will turn out well. it sounds like the time-frame is being pushed back quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyake Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 I hope it's nothing like that sketch i saw in the ABJ. It looks like a jumbo high school stadium. After Canal Park, I figured we would get something that makes the community proud of. 25,000 is just way too small, if they're going to spend 112million, they better figure out how they can get at least 35,000 in there. With the stadium being ON CAMPUS, and in DOWNTOWN, you have to expect attedance will go up. If they plan on winning in the future, why make it 25,000?? Some people feel 25,000 is sufficient, that's because your thinking about the present and the past Rubber Bowl experiences. This is going to be nothing similar to the Rubber Bowl, it's on campus and in downtown Akron. I'm willing to bet that every game will sell out at 30,000 or more for the first year. Think about 2 to 10 years from now. 25,000 expandable to 30,000 is limiting yourself. Your putting a CAP on your growth. This is division 1 college football, there's a lot of room for growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentZip Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 A couple of points (or more if the coffee kicks in):From any school's point of view it is about revenue, not seats. If there is a huge clamor for Zip football tickets after the stadium is built, they will simply raise ticket prices. Any entertainment business would rather have 25-30,000 seats always full than 40,000 seats almost half empty. That many empty seats translates into an inability to raise prices.For all of the talk about "let's be more like the 'BIG BOYS'", I'll bet there will be just as much of a revolt (or more) when ticket prices approach what others are charging. Prices at the Rubber Bowl are rock bottom. I'd be willing to bet that there are high school programs in Ohio that generate more football revenue at home than we do.Looking into my crystal ball, I don't see free student tickets in the future either. You can look about 120 miles south to see what students pay for tickets when a popular attraction is put on the field every week. What happens there when a student doesn't want to pay for their tickets? Another student or alum steps into line to take their place.As mentioned by others, if it is that obvious to us that we don't want a high school type stadium with bleachers for the main stands, I'm sure the administration and the architects will agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerofx Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 The stadium renderings do look small time. Look at what Central Florida is doing. I'd say this is a model for Akron. UCF plays in an off campus staudium and is a school that was primarily a commuter college. They have invested in the University as a whole to make it more of a traditional campus (like Akron). The picture below is what they are building on campus to completetr the transformation.UCF's stadium says big time college not glorified high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerofx Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 second picture... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyake Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 UCF is also in Orlando, didn't disney donate money for the project? But that means little, Akron has Goodyear, First Energy, and a couple big Cleveland companies like Myers (AkroMills in Akron), National City, etc... I really like UCF's idea. To be honest with you, I'd rather have an exact copy of the rubber bowl build in downtown Akron instead of one of those 2 sided (high school) stadiums. A bowl looks a lot better. I don't want to see another DIX stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roodi Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 I'm glad to see the stadium plan is progressing....won't exactly be warming our arsses on the new seats next season, but at least the plan is underway.I'm too lazy to make specific references to your comments, but I have to give a blanket agreement to most of what I've heard. The plans seems to be on the understated side. Consideirng th size of the U of A, the size of the city of Akron and the surrounding area, I would have bet the plan would be for a stadium with an initial capacity of 40,000 (yes, in a bowl configuration!) with the potential to expand to 50,000. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was OSU's stadium or crowd. I saw a documentary on the construction of Ohio stadium. At the time (1930s), many people thought it was crazy to build such a big place. It took almost 15 years before the crowds showed up in full force. The stadium size corresponded to the aspirations of the football program. Love the Buckeyes or hate them, they made the right decisions. If U of A confines themselves to a minor league vision of the stadium (25,000 seats ), I'm afraid that will set the limitations for the future development of top-20 D-I football in Akron (There is room for another consistent winner, I beleive).I have to say as well that I'm less than impressed with the firm hired to do the plans. If I'm right, this is the same firm that renovated Ohio Stadium. If so, no thanks. This company took one of college football's nicest stadiums and turned it into something between a prison and a GM plant. The new clashed with the old. There is a distinct industrial look to it that I personally find unappealing and out of character with Columbus. However, it may be that the OSU suits forced them to take such steps against the better judgement of the designers....don't know.There...and I didn't mention that school down I-76..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsfan4life Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 If the are going to build a new stadium build it right. Make it big enough that this growth of students and other fans will be able to fit into it after an expansion when we do hit it big. And if people are complaing about traffic at a zips game maybe they should go more often because there is definately more than one road to the rubber bowl. Plus traffic is something thats going to happen if we ever make it big anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.