Inside The Stroh

[TG1996]

Yeah, we knew you were old for a long time. I'm new to this being old thing.

Beat me to that softball.... though it's more fun when it comes from his better half... or, rather, fourth.

[Falcon Fanatic]

Yeah, we knew you were old for a long time. I'm new to this being old thing.

Beat me to that softball.... though it's more fun when it comes from his better half... or, rather, fourth.

[BGSU33]

I got a very thorough tour of the Stroh Center with a small group last week and it was very interesting to see and hear the different comments from all concerning our new arena. There were lots of comments from all, some that I agreed with, some that I did not. That said, here are my pros and cons from my tour.

The Pros:
- The video board: From the size to the clarity, to the framing edges with the logos, this thing looked great. They had it turned on for us to see. I love it. I wish the Doyt had something like it as well.
- Practice court: Looked great, and is something even many larger schools are without. I liked how it was almost identical to the arena floor, and also liked how the one corner had windows to keep it from feeling so boxed in.
- The floor: Looks great with the logos and coloring. Without a doubt the best looking design we have ever had from all the remade floors I have seen over the years. I also enjoyed seeing some color back in “the paint.”
- The concessions and restrooms: Very nicely located and spread out, nice availability. I also liked how the ones on the north side still allowed a view of the court.
- Arena graphics and finishing touches: I was very impressed with the graphic design of the concourses from the concession stands to the pennant design for the restrooms. Very nice job.
- The upper concourse: I liked how you can walk all the way around the arena from the same level (you have to go up and down a few steps on the west side but you can still make your way all the way around it). You can also still see the court from most of the way around the arena except for most of the south side because it is blocked because of the Anderson Club. On this side of the arena, you can’t see the court from the concession stands but they made a wall of windows down the concourse hallway which is very nice.
- Locker rooms and coaches offices: Looked very nice, great locations. Also nice to see extra locker rooms aside from just the team ones.
- The Falcon statue and plaza: Nice touch when entering the facility. Also looked great at night with the light shining on it.
- The team store: Nice to have something like this on site. Nice location for it as well.
- The Anderson Club: Great view, nice layout, nice area for those who will be in it to enjoy.
- Ticket office: good location, more space too.
- Modern basketball stantions: I’ll miss those old-school polls from AA, but I was nice to see modern basketball stantions in this place too.

The Cons:
- Some (not all, some) of the exterior design: This was pointing out by a passenger in the car as we pulled in, but it almost has the appearance of a movie theatre more than an arena or convocation center from straight on. The words “It looks like a Regal Cinema” were actually used. I did like the look of it from Wooster Street from the side. I also think they could have broken up some of the vast amount of solid white with maybe some brick or something. There is a little brick in parts (like about three to four feet at the bottom) in sections but there are others portions (like along the north side exterior) where it could have benefited from something along these lines.
- Seating sections 106 & 112: These seats are facing straight ahead into the seating sections behind the east basket. Sections 106 & 112 are well past the baseline but yet aren’t angled. Sections 106 & 107 and sections 111 & 112 meet at a 45-degree angle. Sections 107 & 111 (behind the east basket section) are at least positioned straight ahead facing the floor, but I am not sure why they designed an edged-corner and didn’t turn the section of seats in this area of the arena? Look at almost any arena that has seating in the corners and the seats and sections are angled. Not sure why these are not??? Yes, you can turn yourself in the seat and look, but if you are seated in these seats, you will have a straight on view of the east seating section and not the court.
- Capacity: It’s so small. This is a topic that has been beaten to death, and the place has been built so what we have is what we’ve got, but an additional 1,000 seats or so spread throughout the arena wouldn’t have hurt. The place seems even smaller than Anderson Arena in several ways.
- No escalators: I do not mean this for me or for many others, but I am telling you right now we are going to field complaints for not having at least a small up-and-down unit next to the large stairs that we do have on the east side of the facility. Since most of the seats of the arena will be accessed by going to the top level then going down, it’s going to come up, mark my words. Yes, there in an elevator, but looking at the layout and accessibility makes you wonder why an escalator unit wasn’t put in (aside from cost).
- Empty space on the east side: There is almost too much empty space on the east side. From the lower level area on the ground level, to the upper level east concourse, it’s so open and seems like a lot of unused space. I am aware much of the open space feeling is because of the stairs and you can’t do anything with the space above that. But when you step back and look at where the arena area starts on the east side compared to where the east side of the building begins, there is a lot of empty or unused space here.
- Lack of more landscaping: Yes there was some landscaping added around the arena, and what was added looked very nice. But it would be nice to see more trees in the parking lots islands or something to break up how it looks like the arena grew out of a parking lot.

All in all, I really did like the place. It’s still not fair to put a final stamp on it without having seen at least one basketball game in it first, so I am very excited to get a chance to do so soon. Without a doubt I it is far better in so many ways than what we had before (as much as loved AA). That said, I am not ready to declare it the “home run” that I have heard our athletic department use to describe it as either. I came away feeling as if it is more of a double that we stretched into a triple. I wasn’t as wowed by the place as I was hoping to be and as others have been, but to be fair, I have been in a lot of other venues (new and old) across the country to compare it to so I understand why. In short, I just didn’t get the same feeling I did for say, Akron’s new football stadium (newest in the MAC) compared to the rest of the MAC as I did the Stroh Center (newest in the MAC) compared to the rest of the MAC. But while this topic is very subjective, the Stroh Center without a doubt is a very nice addition to our campus in many ways.

[factman]

33-
We pretty much agree on everything. I do think the graphics need to be improved on the west end (video board end) and the only compalints I have heard from coaches etc is that the walls are too close in the practice area and they can't set up more baskets for their practice as they did in Anderson and also that the team area is too small for multiple and mixed teams at one time. It is still a heck of an improvement over Anderson, but.......
don't you wonder why the architechs and people in charge didn't think of some of these things?

[VDub26Falcon]

Three words: Gregg Brandon's Fault.

[BGSU33]

33-
We pretty much agree on everything. I do think the graphics need to be improved on the west end (video board end) and the only compalints I have heard from coaches etc is that the walls are too close in the practice area and they can't set up more baskets for their practice as they did in Anderson and also that the team area is too small for multiple and mixed teams at one time. It is still a heck of an improvement over Anderson, but.......
don't you wonder why the architechs and people in charge didn't think of some of these things?

Good point about that west wall. You are right, after seeing a nice overall look throughout, there is a lot of white space on that side. I am guessing the feeling was with the video board on that side they wanted to keep it less cluttered, but I could go for a little of the graphics they used everywhere else there as well. Interesting info about the practice area and also the team area. What area are you actually referring with the "team area?"

[factman]

The team lounge that is used by all of the teams.

[ZiggyZoomba]

I love the Stroh Center and every thing about it.

That's all.

[Lord_Byron]

I love the Stroh Center and every thing about it.

That's all.

And as a result, I have a new signature line. . .

[ZiggyZoomba]

And as a result, I have a new signature line. . .

Nice!

[Hdog]

Good job on the banners :

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fb ... =1&theater

[Redwingtom]

Ich...the bottom should have been rounded instead of pointed.

[transfer2BGSU]

Ich...the bottom should have been rounded instead of pointed.

????

Rounded?

They got the banners right.

[Redwingtom]

end sarcasm

[OSUFALCON]

Tom Boy is a funny guy! The Tigers winning is making his big head bigger!