Another Mid-Major, another 5K seat arena

Hdog · Post by **Hdog** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:43 pm

http://samfordsports.cstv.com/view.gal? ... er_gallery

Brand new this year

Regards our new place, I hope the 5,500 figure is only for "fixed seating" and that at least some sort of SRO or portable seating could be added [i.e. note the fold up bleachers at the very top of Samford's new place].

FWIW, I like the looks and amenities of Gonzaga's new arena much better than Samford's. Hope we go that route with lot's of windows, open space, and the like...

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:56 pm

Nice to get some perspective.

I like Gonzaga's but wonder if that is "out of our league" price wise. I really like the Hope one that Grant posted- excellent old school fieldhouse feel to the outside and a nice inside as well.

FalconTurf · Post by **FalconTurf** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:25 pm

i would like this one (although Gonzaga is nicer) if the upstairs was permanent so the concrete could help the noise levels below. Has good use of the corners for seating on the floor. The seating leaks onto the court with no dividers to bring the fans very close to the game while you have the seperation of locker facilities a level below the lobby eliminating many crowd management issues. Nice, simple college arena.

Gonzaga, Samford, and Hope IMO seem to be excellent starting points.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:36 pm

I'm really not impressed by that design, largely for aesthetic reasons, I suppose. Functionally, it looks like a very workable facility, but it just does't seem to have an ounce of character to it.

Also, unless I just missed it in those pictures, I don't know how anyone can build a basketball facility anymore without at least a videoboard or two.

Falcon137 · Post by **Falcon137** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:37 pm

I liked it, had a big weight room to over look the court. It looked like a good basketball facility. What more does Samford need? They have to need for a 9k arena.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:38 am

Bleeding Orange wrote:I'm really not impressed by that design, largely for aesthetic reasons, I suppose. Functionally, it looks like a very workable facility, but it just does't seem to have an ounce of character to it.

Last night, they had a Samford-Jacksonville State game on ESPNU, and it didn't look much better on TV. It came off like a gym with modern seating.

The box score claims they had 1,427 there, but it looked pretty sparse.

We can do better. I'm not sure how, but I think we can do better than that.

Hdog · Post by **Hdog** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:23 am

The 2nd design feature retained from Anderson that I hope is strongly considered [in addition to close-to-the-floor seating] is some windows in the gym area. IMO, this cuts down on the feeling of being in a plain, boring "boxed-in" arena.

You could make a large walkway/concession area around the entire court at the very top levels that could have a wall of windows bringing in natural light. This also could serve as your SRO area.

It would be cool to read in the paper someday "BG men's basketball set another program attendance record last night, drawing a standing room only capacity crowd of 6,113" With Orr at the helm, those days are closer than we may think.....

bgmaggot00 · Post by **bgmaggot00** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:53 pm

My thoughts:

- I hope we can have some paintings of old white people in ours as well. That'd be sweet. OK, if I had that kind of cash to burn, I'd wan a darn painting of me as well. Maybe a sculpture too.

- The lobby looks like it's in a hotel leading to a ballroom, or concert hall, not an arena.

- Call me crazy, but I'd like the slope of the seating areas to be higher. I'm not looking for the White Sox's Comiskey Park Upper Deck, but a higher slope would be nice. Kind of the same issue with the Doyt.

ZuluWarrior · Post by **ZuluWarrior** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:32 pm

I've been to a similar gym in Florida. Florida Atlantic I think, although it was in Ft. Myers, so I'll check it, but these gyms are like the cookie cutter baseball/football stadiums of the 70's. If we go this route you will all HATE it and long for AA.

Anything new has to have some character. I think you could make it half convo and half AA somehow. Maybe a horseshoe like AA and the new arena at UVA and then a bleacher section on one side below the second level for the students ala AA and Cameron. We have to keep the bleachers and keep them on the court. That's what is truly special about AA.