City of Akron Arena?

[userduders]

http://www.osborn-eng.com/sports_akron_arena.html

[mccracken]

That's not going to happen... they'd have to tear down the oldest building in the city for that (Kaiser Building) and it's got historical building protection.

[ZippyRulz]

http://www.osborn-eng.com/sports_akron_arena.html

Looks like a great plan -- I want it.

[ziptrumpet87]

so how old are these plans?"That's not going to happen... they'd have to tear down the oldest building in the city for that (Kaiser Building) and it's got historical building protection."could the building be moved? I thought the oldest bldg was the old house by the ABJ.

[ziptrumpet87]

That's not going to happen... they'd have to tear down the oldest building in the city for that (Kaiser Building) and it's got historical building protection.

I didn't find it here: http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplace...mit/state4.htmlbut the old Portage Hotel was on the list and it doesn't exist now (a Summa building is there now).I did find that it was built in 1877. Other than being old, what's its significance?The other buildings on the proposed site appear to date from 1916 and 1956.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Dambrot mentioned a downtown arena at this summer's golf outing. He said "I don't want to discuss it. We need to fill up the JAR. Next question."His reply led me to believe the downtown arena ain't no where near a reality. The improvements coming to the JAR will be in the locker rooms and the coaches offices. Other things, such as seating, will be improved too. But it will take time.I look for a new arena in 5-8 years. No sooner.

[ZachTheZip]

Dambrot mentioned a downtown arena at this summer's golf outing. He said "I don't want to discuss it. We need to fill up the JAR. Next question."

Dambrot is right. Why would we invest in a 10,000 seat arena when we never fill a 5,500 seater? I'm planning to show up to every game I possibly can, both Men's and Women's. The better attendance we have, the better our chances are of replacing the JAR.

[grice]

Dambrot mentioned a downtown arena at this summer's golf outing. He said "I don't want to discuss it. We need to fill up the JAR. Next question."

Dambrot is right. Why would we invest in a 10,000 seat arena when we never fill a 5,500 seater? I'm planning to show up to every game I possibly can, both Men's and Women's. The better attendance we have, the better our chances are of replacing the JAR.

This arena concept is being led by the city. The city looks to feature UA basketball and a minor league hockey team. A new hotel on site to replace the Crowne Plaza at Quaker Square could also be added.

[ZippyRulz]

It seems to me that a lot of people aren't thrilled about going to watch basketball at the JAR because the JAR is not very thrilling whereas going to watch a game at a first class facility in an entertainment district is much more fun. Build it and they will come. You need the facilities to recruit the players and coaches to win the games to draw the fans to increase the revenue and exposure to grow the program...you'll see it happen soon with Infocision but it ain't happening with the JAR.

[zipboy]

I agree we need to fill the JAR up, but I also don't see us selling 5500 every game. When Akron is not playing, if there is a good MAC game, I would go watch Can't play whoever more, but I hate that arena. My back is killling me at halftime. If we got average attendance to 4500 or so, I don't see it getting past that for an average. We need work to get it to 4500 and that would include several sellouts, but even if we were top 20, I don't see every game as a sellout. I do see us averaging 7K or so in a new arena.

[mccracken]

Correction- oldest commercial building; there are houses that predate it. And age is really its only significance.There's one other bad thing here though- the rest of this area is currently gravel parking that takes the Aeros game traffic, now we'll have two stadiums with less parking nearby. People could park at the Opportunity deck, but I think some people would be put off by having to walk that far.

[ziptrumpet87]

what's wrong with parking in the Polsky deck?hard to see the design plan from their images... maybe there's a deck built in also

[ziptrumpet87]

Dambrot mentioned a downtown arena at this summer's golf outing. He said "I don't want to discuss it. We need to fill up the JAR. Next question."

Dambrot is right. Why would we invest in a 10,000 seat arena when we never fill a 5,500 seater? I'm planning to show up to every game I possibly can, both Men's and Women's. The better attendance we have, the better our chances are of replacing the JAR.

This arena concept is being led by the city. The city looks to feature UA basketball and a minor league hockey team. A new hotel on site to replace the Crowne Plaza at Quaker Square could also be added.

is this part of the deal too?Akron Energy?

[mccracken]

what's wrong with parking in the Polsky deck?hard to see the design plan from their images... maybe there's a deck built in also

Yeah you could, although it isn't real close either... and that's assuming the U would allow it for that use at non university events. There's some surface level parking that's between Polsky and where the arena would be (although a little too close to Mangos) but it's still a little far compared to what's across the street right now.If they have any sense at all, they'd put a deck in that, although it wouldn't be terribly big. That's one of the handy things about downtown, a lot of the buildings that got dilapidated were knocked down for parking, so it's usually plentiful.

[g-mann17]

what's wrong with parking in the Polsky deck?hard to see the design plan from their images... maybe there's a deck built in also

Yeah you could, although it isn't real close either... and that's assuming the U would allow it for that use at non university events. There's some surface level parking that's between Polsky and where the arena would be (although a little too close to Mangos) but it's still a little far compared to what's across the street right now.If they have any sense at all, they'd put a deck in that, although it wouldn't be terribly big. That's one of the handy things about downtown, a lot of the buildings that got dilapidated were knocked down for parking, so it's usually plentiful.

Every Aeros game that I have went to, and a lot of the times that I visit the downtown bars, I park in the Polsky Deck, right next to a cruiser. It's the most secure parking area there is. It's one block away from the Aeros stadium. The U has always allowed it to be used for Aeros games (they make profit from charging to park). I really am starting to doubt your knowledge of the Akron area.

[skip-zip]

I'll repeat again what I've been saying all along.1) We're lacking the NEED for a new arena because we don't sell enough tickets.2) The JAR is only about 25 years old, and is still in great condition.These two factors alone possibly put us a decade or two away from making a new basketball arena a reality.

[g-mann17]

I'll repeat again what I've been saying all along.1) We're lacking the NEED for a new arena because we don't sell enough tickets.2) The JAR is only about 25 years old, and is still in great condition.These two factors alone possibly put us a decade or two away from making a new basketball arena a reality.

I'll repeat:1) The city of Akron desires a downtown Arena, they would be footing most of the bill for the development2) We do NEED a new arena because it helps with recruiting, and it's the only way to assure games against the likes of Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, OSU being played at home. 3) If the city of Akron is willing to do this with in the next 3-5 years (which is highly plausible) then the University should be doing everything in it's power to help with it.The three reasons are good enough for me to support a new ArenaThink about it, we have state of the art facilities for golf, football, soccer, track. Why shouldn't we have state of the art facilities for the winningest team on campus?

[mccracken]

Every Aeros game that I have went to, and a lot of the times that I visit the downtown bars, I park in the Polsky Deck, right next to a cruiser. It's the most secure parking area there is. It's one block away from the Aeros stadium. The U has always allowed it to be used for Aeros games (they make profit from charging to park). I really am starting to doubt your knowledge of the Akron area.

Are you still mad about the plasma center thread? Geez........I know where the deck is at, but why walk the extra distance? (And I'm talking about Canal Park here, the arena would be across the street from Polsky) But also, think of the Polsky deck design- the lower level has its own entrance on High, and all of the other levels use another, which is back on Broadway- they'd have to try and usher traffic to two different enterances.It seems to me, though, that they could avoid a lot of headaches by putting it closer to 76/77. Here's my idea- put it at the corner of Broadway and Bartges. There's a huge piece of empty land there, that's larger than the proposed site. It doesn't have roads on all four sides, and it's right across the street from Opportunity parking deck. I'll give you that it's further from the bars, but that would at least keep the people trying to get to the bars (and not the arena) and the arena people that aren't heading to the bars, from being packed into the same space.

[g-mann17]

Are you still mad about the plasma center thread? Geez........I know where the deck is at, but why walk the extra distance? (And I'm talking about Canal Park here, the arena would be across the street from Polsky) But also, think of the Polsky deck design- the lower level has its own entrance on High, and all of the other levels use another, which is back on Broadway- they'd have to try and usher traffic to two different enterances.

It's one block, about 100 yards at most from the polsky deck to Canal Park. That is not a big deal.Have you ever been downtown for the 4th? 40 thousand plus. I think the city infrastructure can handle that every day. The idea is to make an area where things are going on all the time. The area you referenced is flagged for commercial office/research expansion.

[Zip Watcher]

I must say I agree with arguments on both sides of the issue .. but generally come down in favor of this downtown arena concept. Some general thoughts:- Regardless of current attendance, improving the JAR has merits, both short term and long term. Short term, continuing to improve facilities for ALL teams remains on the task list for Mack & company. There are some things that can be done to improve fan experience and such also .. and not all of them are enormous capital projects. In the long term, the JAR will remain the home of Zips volleyball, likely women's hoops and other events. So it needs to become & remain a grade A 5500 seat facility. It can be that.- The downtown arena concept is intriguing because it offers the potential for getting a bigger home for the Zips without UA having to accomplish the project entirely on its own. In fact, a commitment from the U will help the city / county perhaps take the driver's seat on the project .. minimizing the funds required from UA (minimizing .. not eliminating). The city wins because it provides a year round venue in Summit county that hasn't existed since the Colloseum was blown up. The local businesses get more stable since their foot traffic won't be as dependent just on baseball game nights as it may be now. Done correctly, it can really be a win, win, win scenario.The chicken vs. the egg dissmissal (we don't need an arena until we're bursting at the seams) only goes so far for me. We only have to look as far as Jacob's field to see a case where the ingredients were there for a successful move w/o first having long term sustained success on the field. Hart & company had laid the groundwork and had an improving club prior to opening the Jake in 1994. The novelty of the new stadium combined with the product on the field came together to throw things over the top. The table was set .. and the stadium helped close the deal with the fans .. who then jumped on board entirely. The Zips hoops team is fast ascending the ranks of D1. Relatively speaking, they're way ahead of where the Tribe was in 1993/94. The teams ascent is certainly happening faster than the attendance. Waiting for the attendance demand to exceed the JAR might be waiting too long. Now we do have a huge capital project underway, and that should remain the top priority. But I disagree with the sentiment that KD needs 3 sweet 16's to justify thinking & planning for the future. If the local government interests are looking to pursue something soon .. the U should be a part of it .. even just as committing to be a tenant.Regarding size .. I think that's a good size (10k) .. I wouldn't go any bigger than 12. Some monster national powers in college hoops do quite well with smaller gyms (Duke for example) .. so there's no reason to bite off more than that. A top-class 10-12k seat arena will translate to any future conference affiliation for the Zips. It won't freeze them out of a jump up in the long term. It just needs to be a great facility.Regarding location .. that spot seems ideal to me. It's sandwiched right between downtown and the U. It's walkable from the U .. and close to downtown businesses. Any handwringing about parking is wasted energy in my mind, as that can be solved easily w/ a well placed garage or 2 (or expansion of existing garages) .. parking is a non-issue in this conversation for me.Bottom line for me is that when KD & the Zips blow the lid off this program (and they WILL), we'll need to at least have formulated a plan for the future that the fans can understand. That will overcome any dislike for the current facility.Get 'em on Zips fans!!!

[zipsbandman]

I agree with ZipWatcher. We should not put the weight entirely on KD's shoulders if we want to build a first class hoops program. In my opinion, getting to the tournament every year is an unreasonable expectation given the conference we play in. Unless we were to do that, we will never see a full house at the JAR. Play a nice shiny arena downtown and all of a sudden you have a venue smack in the middle of downtown Akron with all the bars and restaurants. Not to mention the gameday experience for the fans is improved (yes, I hate some of the views in the JAR). Recruiting would skyrocket.This is an advantage that very few schools in the MAC have, and that is the ability to establish partnerships with the city and large companies. A new football stadium, a new arena, brand new practice facilities, we're talkin a new soccer stadium even, etc...... That is unheard of in this conference. I say exploit this as much as possible.

[scottditzen]

Put me in the column for favoring the new arena. I hate how the JAR is configured with the lines for the ticket windows blocking the front enterance!!! Who is the idiot Can't grad who designed that place? The bleachers are awfully uncomfortable and sightlines suck. However the court does look photogenic on ESPN/Fox Sports, which lesson is, don't believe anything you see on t.v.THe new arena can avoid the "Cleveland State problem" by being smaller and of a more intimate design than the Convo Center. Build it the right way, in the right place, and the U and the city have a win-win situation.

[mccracken]

Have you ever been downtown for the 4th? 40 thousand plus. I think the city infrastructure can handle that every day.

I don't... eek... I don't even like the thought of that. I don't know about the area around Polsky, but The area of E Market, MLK Blvd, Main, etc. is about an hour or more traffic jam to get back out. It's a total zoo. Of course, for a couple of years they've had Main closed down by the Civic for the festival, so that would help a little. What would be better about the Polsky deck for this purpose would be if they'd put the entrance on Broadway, and the exit on High, so people could pull straight in off of the expressway, and leave going in its direction.That's one nice thing about JAR- parking gets messy when there's something big there, but at least it's right off of Rte 8.Hey, maybe a parking deck off of the innerbelt... people might actually use it...

[GP1]

My back is killling me at halftime.

That's funny. A renovation would include two actions by UofA.1. Seats everywhere. It is exceedingly uncomfortable to sit without your back supported for two hours. At least you can recline at the Rubber Bowl because it is half empty (one of the few benefits of playing there). This will cause smaller crowds though, but they don't sell out anyhow. It could also drive sell outs. Once they sell out, they can raise prices which is a good thing for the Athletic Department if they can hold the prices.2. Assigned seating for everyone. It is a pain in the you know what to sit in GA during a crowded game...which is why I no longer sat in those seats. I'm sure I am not the only person who would not attend because of the discomfort.I would like a new BB stadium though. Although I would never see a game there.

[UAZipster0305]

It seems the links to the Akron Arena and new on-campus soccer stadium/complex have been taken down! Did anyone archive the pics? If so, please post here for everyone else's enjoyment.