Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

http://bgsufalcons.cstv.com/ot/bgu-08-stroh-center.html

Good stuff here. Also includes some info about the Ice Arena Renovations.

Looking over the sight selection choices, I would have liked to see #7 chosen to sort of book end Perry Stadium with the Sebo Center and the Stroh Center. But 6 is good too.

I think number one connects to Anderson Arena and in the rendering it looks like the back end of AA at the far end of the court. Having the arena in the middle of campus can put more butts in seats, especially on those cold windy Tuesday nights when the fickle fans may not want to make their way to the football stadium.

Is spot #6 where they have decided to put it?

ZuluWarrior wrote:I think number one connects to Anderson Arena and in the rendering it looks like the back end of AA at the far end of the court. Having the arena in the middle of campus can put more butts in seats, especially on those cold windy Tuesday nights when the fickle fans may not want to make their way to the football stadium.

Unlike when I was at BG they run busses all over the place and out by the stadium seems to be the easiest bus drop off /pick up. There are no excuses when it comes to cold weather. Hide in the little shelter, wait for the bus and get dropped off near the door. Either you want to go or you don't.

falconman wrote:Is spot #6 where they have decided to put it?

Yes. That makes it pretty reasonable to walk to also. being right near the quads may actually help attendance.

The Niz wrote:

falconman wrote:Is spot #6 where they have decided to put it?

Yes. That makes it pretty reasonable to walk to also. being right near the quads may actually help attendance.

Yeah, that totally worked for Anderson, being right in the middle of campus and near the quads...

I know on the MAC message board some BG posters said that they were able to give feedback to the group deciding on what type of arena to build and so on. My question is can any of those people speak on what the general concensus of the group making these decisions to the pros and cons of each location? I think one of the locations is over the baseball field and I would think (having recently made stadium additions) that demolishing one facility to build another wouldn't be the most cost effective decision. (likewise with lot 6) I always thought lot 6 was one of the better maintained parking lots out by the stadium and it seems to me like it would be a waste of good event parking to build on top of it.

I also know some have been discussing what location would be best to get student attendance up. Is there any chance of seeing dormatories attached or adjacent to the Stroh Center, similar to what Akron is doing with their new football stadium? Just food for thought.

I don't know, I don't like putting it at location #6. That is an awful lot of parking to be removed, and that's where all of the quad residents park. As a result, they will have to move further out towards the stadium which could be a larger safety concern (since they would have to park in overflow on the opposide side of the stadium). Also, where are all the fans going to park? Will all of lot six but reserved for the stadium? In AA all the non-students could park by saddlemire and behind the health center, correct? This makes for a relatively short walk, and good use of two lots which aren't in use during the weekends and evenings. The parking out towards the stadium is for long-term parking. No commuter (except myself to protest the cost of parking permits) would park out there, so the lots will be full before the games even start. This will force a large portion of our fans (those who live in town) to either walk from the north end of the stadium or from the center of campus to get to the game. I think number 6 is my least favorite of all the site selections. Put me down for number 7, I think the way EMU has the stadium and arena put together really work. Then if it's too cold for the boosters, they can stay inside the entrance and watch the game. Add to that the solid store and better concessions, and you have a fine use for the arena during football season as well!

And the band can perform their "field house show" in a real venue that allows for spectators.

Radioactive Falcon wrote:I don't know, I don't like putting it at location #6. That is an awful lot of parking to be removed, and that's where all of the quad residents park. As a result, they will have to move further out towards the stadium which could be a larger safety concern (since they would have to park in overflow on the opposide side of the stadium). Also, where are all the fans going to park? Will all of lot six but reserved for the stadium? In AA all the non-students could park by saddlemire and behind the health center, correct? This makes for a relatively short walk, and good use of two lots which aren't in use during the weekends and evenings. The parking out towards the stadium is for long-term parking. No commuter (except myself to protest the cost of parking permits) would park out there, so the lots will be full before the games even start. This will force a large portion of our fans (those who live in town) to either walk from the north end of the stadium or from the center of campus to get to the game. I think number 6 is my least favorite of all the site selections. Put me down for number 7, I think the way EMU has the stadium and arena put together really work. Then if it's too cold for the boosters, they can stay inside the entrance and watch the game. Add to that the solid store and better concessions, and you have a fine use for the arena during football season as well!

Radioactive, you bring up many good points. When I look at the existing structure of campus and campus parking, location #7 seems to be the most logical. However, location #6 makes a lot of sense if we were to build a parking garage somewhere, maybe where lot 10 stands right now right between spot #7 and Wooster Street. A parking facility there would be able to service both the Stroh Center and Doyt Perry Stadium. Of course, you'd have to push the resident student cars out of lot 6.

I think what we should do is repave and expand lot 12 farther back from East Merry Street to offset the loss of lot 6. There's a lot of flat land that could be used for parking at the north end of lots 12, 5, and 3 that could help lessen the impact of building the Stroh Center on lot 6.

falconman wrote:Is spot #6 where they have decided to put it?

FWIW,
At the alumni "dinner" function after the women's game Greg Christopher specifically pointed to the parking lot EAST of the Mileti Ctr. (which is where we were) and said something to the effect, "The Stroh Ctr. will be right THERE" pointing to that lot.

Class of 61 wrote:

falconman wrote:Is spot #6 where they have decided to put it?

FWIW,
At the alumni "dinner" function after the women's game Greg Christopher specifically pointed to the parking lot EAST of the Mileti Ctr. (which is where we were) and said something to the effect, "The Stroh Ctr. will be right THERE" pointing to that lot.

So they've decided on a location already? I hope they chose well. As for parking I'm thinking some parking garages will have to be built anyway for people to not have a ridiculously long walk to the Stroh Center. I even had visions of a parking garage with a short indoor walkway to the arena to make it even completely awesome. It was just a fantasy though.

Any parking garage is going to add tremendous financial pressures to the building costs. The average parking garage is built for $15,000/ space vs. a parking lot which goes for $2,500/space.

Losing parking in lot 6...can anyone say BYE BYE intramural fields? At least half of them, it is the only place that makes sense.

By getting ride of most of lot 6 (the largest residential parking lot) they'll have to add something fairly large, and having it all the way behind the stadium wouldn't go over too well with the students themselves (sadly, most care about how far their car is when they want to go on a meijer run rather than the sports of BG)

Another possibility, not allowing first year students to have cars on campus. A lot of bigger schools do this, and it seems like a good possibility. Or just have X number of passes, and sell them based on seniority.

Anyhow, none of that matters as far as the Stroh center is concerned, should be awesome to come back and see as an Alum