Stadium renovation or construction plans down the road

[LowryFalcon]

I got my wife to agree to check out the WKU campus along with the stadium on our way back from Nashville on our HONEYMOON! I am always up for checking out other school campuses and thought WKU has great facilities and campus!

[BillyLP]

Wake Forest has done an incredible job with their stadium, BB&T Field, also. I believe it sits no more than 33k but it just has seating on two sides with the athletic offices at one end. They have a grassy hill at the other end they sell as family seating and have built an extremely impressive tower on the "home" side that I believe ran them about $45 million. Just this year they installed a HUGE new scoreboard that really ties everything together and closes off the stadium. I was down there when they played Notre Dame this season and with that atmosphere you would never guess there were only 35,000 people there.

[LowryFalcon]

Also on another note, I thought I was told that although the Doyt was originally designed to add an upper deck that the beams lacked the support needed to do such a thing now. Hence IMHO, I believe we would have to build new stands on both sides. I agree there should be NO metal stands at all. Doing something like WKU has would be great. I would like to see the falcon club area removed ASAP and maybe move it to the press box or something. We could put a little hill on the south end zone for extra seating in the grass (love that idea) and heck why dont we take dirt from the east side of the stadium to build up the hill and create a pond (where we removed the dirt) with nice landscape to add to the entrance to the stadium. 2 birds with one stone! Also instead of planting Oak trees which although when fully grown look great but take FOREVER to grow we put in some kind of tree that grows fast all over the area to add foliage and scenery to the area! This would make things look so much nicer around the stadium. On the way back from the women's basketball game the other day my wife (who is a plant expert) pointed out that all the trees planted on campus lately have been either oaks or sycamore's which take almost 80-100 years to fully grow. Looks like im starting to rant now so I will just leave it at that! haha!

[BillyLP]

Here are some images from the WF stadium I mentioned before...

[Dayons_Den]

Wake's stadium seating areas are very similar to the Doyt. That said I'd prefer something along the lines of WKU's rebuild.

[MarkL]

I like the Doyt. Some renovations are needed, sure, but I don't see why building a new stadium is even being discussed.

[Dayons_Den]

I like the Doyt. Some renovations are needed, sure, but I don't see why building a new stadium is even being discussed.

Lack of expected fan amenities, narrow entrance tunnels, a new building that doesn't match the rest of the facade, a literally crumbling super structure, an a lifespan that is quickly dwindling.

If you wait to fix your car until it breaks down you might end up getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. Certainly the Doyt is serviceable and we've done some nice detailing and paint cover ups but it would be silly not to explore and think about the future.

[Tech83]

Tech83...you can build a "tower" and not have it be all private boxes. My brother has seats in Michigan's new tower. They have a sort of inside common lounge on his level with specific, numbered outside seats.
If we built something like that under a shorter row of boxes for donors and the Pres...maybe even under the press row and then sold the game seats at a premium, I think it could work...kind of a club level. I'd pay a pretty heavy premium to keep my wife and Laurel from complaining about the cold all the time while I watched the game in peace.

That's a great idea verses trying to do luxury boxes. I like that kinda of thinking - definitely "out-of-the box". And I be there also with Mrs. Tech who could mingle and watch the game is comfort.

I think it would be great to also have a flat/standing area with concession/picnic tables - maybe at the end zone. Sort of a party deck.

[MarkL]

Aren't the foundation and framework solid? I know there's been some concrete cracking but as far as I can tell this is repairable. If not, people wouldn't build stadiums out of concrete. Unless it's way worse than I believe it is, I just don't see how a new stadium can be justified at all. I've heard a complaint about narrow entrance tunnels once ... and that was when a wall of students was rushing to get into the stadium in 2008 against Minnesota. Other than that I've never heard this complaint. The Sebo Center does not in fact match the rest of the stadium perfectly and I understand that, but if a new stadium is justified off of aesthetics I think the fans and alums would have a problem. (And I LOVE the Sebo Center design!) The complaints I see listed just don't add up to a new stadium to me, especially when attendance is low and the university isn't exactly rolling in dough. I would be all in favor of fixing the concrete cracks and explore turning the south open space into a bowl, if attendance spikes and keeps high.

Now if the stadium really is in dire condition or is headed that way, somebody please correct me.

[Dayons_Den]

My point was that the stadium is certainly not in a dire need of repair, but that we should proactively be coming up with plans rather than reacting slowly or as was the case with Anderson Arena unbearably slow.

[BGSU33]

I like the Doyt. Some renovations are needed, sure, but I don't see why building a new stadium is even being discussed.

Listen to Ask the AD. GC brought this topic up last year, and the athletic master plan also shows work must be done. It's going to happen, it's just a matter of when, not if.

[BGSU33]

Wake Forest has done an incredible job with their stadium, BB&T Field, also. I believe it sits no more than 33k but it just has seating on two sides with the athletic offices at one end. They have a grassy hill at the other end they sell as family seating and have built an extremely impressive tower on the "home" side that I believe ran them about $45 million. Just this year they installed a HUGE new scoreboard that really ties everything together and closes off the stadium. I was down there when they played Notre Dame this season and with that atmosphere you would never guess there were only 35,000 people there.

I agree very much with your post. When I worked at Virginia I was at Wake Forest several times. Watching them transform that place was very nice to see. I also suggested a grassy hill in the south end zone at BG years ago and a couple schools such as Ball State and Ohio both put versions of them in and I think they looked pretty cool. Virginia has a much larger one and it is very popular, obviously, as is the one at Clemson.

[BGDrew]

Is everyone forgetting a slab of concrete literally fell off the stadium a few years ago? We have one of the poorest stadiums in the league. It shouldn't take the whole first quarter to find your seat because the aisles and tunnels are too narrow.

[factman]

Get there a little earlier!

[jg4242]

Yeah, less complaining about crowded tunnels, more getting to the Doyt in time to see the FMB getting down with it for pregame....