stadium date

[zippyrifle32]

jd came and spoke in one of my classes today about his personal coaching philosophy. after the lecture he answered questions and of course the stadium one came up. without hesitation he said fall 2009 they will open the new stadium by playing indiana (i believe, or some other school starting with an i).

[skip-zip]

Of course, that is what JD is being told. Sometimes people speak optimistically when telling a coach about those kinds of things, especially when they want to keep a coach excited about what lies ahead in terms of benefits for his program.I hope it's right. However, I have heard that our first home game, if the stadium is finished in 2009, would be Kentucky. Anyone else have any other information on this?

[Marty Simmons]

Where is the new stadium going to be located?

[Blue & Gold]

Between the new fieldhouse and Exchange St.

[timmyboy]

I also heard that it will be Kentucky that we are opening the 2009 season again in our new stadium.but we never know, things can change very quickly. Either way... it doesnt matter who we are playing as long as it is in our NEW stadium. Hopefully everything goes as scheduled and it is done in time for the start of the 09 season.

[zipsbandman]

He probably knows more than the average poster on this board so i'll take it as that, but man, 2009 seems very early considering we have yet to even break ground or even make an announcement. Look at all the crap that needs to be cleared out of there and then we have to build the thing.

[timsum1283]

Fall of '09 would be great. I'll be a freshman and start my college career off right.

[Zipsrifle]

OK, when is UA going to make a formal announcement? This has GOT to be the worst kept secret in Akron history. Come ON already!

[zippyrifle32]

Of course, that is what JD is being told. Sometimes people speak optimistically when telling a coach about those kinds of things, especially when they want to keep a coach excited about what lies ahead in terms of benefits for his program.

he did say that he thought the biggest reason they got the offices in the field house was because of winning the championship... but that was him talking about what winning brings to the school and other reason why it's important to have a successful team.

[skip-zip]

Again, I hope that happens. But 2 years seems like an optimistic timetable. As someone mentioned, we have to "clean all the junk out of that area". For those of you now familiar with the process, they have to negotiate land purchases with each individual property owner. Hopefully, that process is underway.If just one of them holds out, you can have significant delays. Believe me, I experienced this problem once first-hand when my company was expanding its offices.

[ZachTheZip]

Again, I hope that happens. But 2 years seems like an optimistic timetable. As someone mentioned, we have to "clean all the junk out of that area". For those of you now familiar with the process, they have to negotiate land purchases with each individual property owner. Hopefully, that process is underway.If just one of them holds out, you can have significant delays. Believe me, I experienced this problem once first-hand when my company was expanding its offices.

Believe me. They ARE holding out. They know the University wants the land, and they are waiting until they are offered the highest price possible. I have heard rumors of eminent domain being threatened, but I don't think the U can do that.I have noticed the U buying up other properties in the area, too. The most obvious ones being on Brown Street by the baseball fields across Exchange St. Does anyone know if those fields are even used anymore? If not, I can see that land being used for another new dorm, which would be nice.

[BirdZip]

I have heard rumors of eminent domain being threatened, but I don't think the U can do that.

Given some of the recent court decisions, I wouldn't be surprised if BW3 was able to use eminent domain to expand its parking lot (which, by the way, would be nice).

[timmyboy]

I have heard rumors of eminent domain being threatened, but I don't think the U can do that.

Couldnt the City of Akron take it through eminent domain, and then sell it back to the University. I know the law's changed last year saying what a city could and could not take, but i am not 100 % as to what they were changed to. Im going to look and find out how the laws were changed. I post what it says when i find it.

[RowdyZip]

I'm pretty sure that the university, as a state school, has the ability to use eminent domain, similar to how they used it to close the streets through campus. Odds are, such holdouts as Manny's and The Odd Corner are likely to go that route which will cost both time and money to the project. Perhaps the U could offer property on the south side of Exchange in addition to the property purchase price. If I was a business owner, I wouldnt want to be booted out of what will soon be an EXTREMELY busy bar scene across the street from a 30,000 seat stadium. There's a lot of money to be made in the future on Saturdays in Akron....

[timmyboy]

I'm pretty sure that the university, as a state school, has the ability to use eminent domain, similar to how they used it to close the streets through campus. Odds are, such holdouts as Manny's and The Odd Corner are likely to go that route which will cost both time and money to the project. Perhaps the U could offer property on the south side of Exchange in addition to the property purchase price. If I was a business owner, I wouldnt want to be booted out of what will soon be an EXTREMELY busy bar scene across the street from a 30,000 seat stadium. There's a lot of money to be made in the future on Saturdays in Akron....

your correct. The university could take it through eminent domain because it is a state university. That would be smart on the part of the university to offer them land on top of what they would offer for the property.

[skip-zip]

Good questions. I'm not sure how the law applies to this situation.

[GP1]

At this point, the University should just plan on building around any building remaining, give them no access to parking and tell the owners to go "F" themselves.There is plenty of room there now to build the stadium. Build it, drive these greedy bastards property value and businesses into the ground, and then buy the property at a discount. There should be no pussy footing around at this point. It's been long enough.

[timmyboy]

At this point, the University should just plan on building around any building remaining, give them no access to parking and tell the owners to go "F" themselves.There is plenty of room there now to build the stadium. Build it, drive these greedy bastards property value and businesses into the ground, and then buy the property at a discount. There should be no pussy footing around at this point. It's been long enough.

very well said... i couldnt agree more

[UA Fan]

All I know for sure is that if the U takes some properties by e/d the owners will run screaming bloody murder to the media which will in turn sensationalize the story for all the money they can make off it. Then UA will have another reason to be despised by those who already do...even though the economic development is the best thing that could happen for the city.

[Zipsrifle]

This is all because the University can't keep a secret. They should announce that the new stadium has been cancelled and that the RB will be undergoing $30 million in rennovations AND that the land U of A bought for the stadium will be turned into a sewage plant. Then they could get the land real cheap! THEN build the stadium there. Just need an elaborate hoax costing a little less than the premium the holdouts would receive.

[mcperp]

For those inclined, here's a good link that explains eminent domain in Ohio.http://ohioline.osu.edu/als-fact/1000.htmlObviously U of A is a public entity, but the athletic program (like many other universities' sports programs) is likely set up as a private non-profit corporation. This is done for a variety of reasons, but one of the consequences of this set up is the difficulty the public has in obtaining financial records of UA sports. Unfortunately a landowner threatened by eminent domain could make a case that since technically the football program is not a public entity, eminent domain in its usual applications would not apply.The U of A legal team is smart enough to make sure that the actual ownership of the stadium will be a public entity (the university itself, city of Akron, etc.), and don't be surprised if there is an academic component to the new stadium where students will take classes. I can't imagine a landowner winning an eminent domain case in the long run, but there's a real possibility that the legal wranglings may push the stadium opening until 2010 or 2011. I sure hope not.

[flipthezip]

Here are some items I have heard regarding the stadium and the properties.Yes there is some hold out from the bar owners. They are willing to move but want assistance with finding locations on the other side of Exchange St.The loss of dorm space is an immediate concern (losing 4 dorms), Solution - the purchase and renovation of the Quaker Square hotel. This deal is apparently very close to being finalized.Lastly, the stadium will be open for 2009 due to money earmarked from the state for the project needing to be spent by that deadline.

[skip-zip]

Holy Cow. Are you saying they are talking about turning the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Quaker Square into a dorm? I find that hard to believe.But if that does happen, people will be fighting over getting a room there. Is anyone else old enough to remember how everyone fought over rooms at Gallucci Hall back in the 80's? That was an old hotel, and was roomier than any other dorm on campus. And at one time, they still had the outdoor pool open. But...I can assure you that Galucci was nowhere near as nice as the Crowne Plaza....even without any renovation. And I'd be hard pressed to believe that they would renovate the Crowne Plaza just to turn it into a college dorm.I'd love to hear more about this.

[ZachTheZip]

They are already clearing space for the bars to move to, or (hopefully) finding a way to incorperate the bars into the structure itself.The U is buying up property along Brown Street just south of Exchange. I don't know if it for the bars or a dorm, but it is adjacent to the old baseball field, if you know where that is.

[zipsbandman]

Where the heck do you guys get all this info?? They're not kidding when they say this is going to be the biggest project in UA history. Why doesn't the University just keep Gallucci open because keep in mind the new exchange street dorm will be done very soon. That's like 450 extra beds right there.