Stroh Center To Seat 4,700???

MacGuy · Post by **MacGuy** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:56 am

From BG News:

"This $36 million convocation center, which will be called the Stroh Center, will seat 4,700 people and will be the new home of women's volleyball, as well as men and woman's basketball programs."

Post by **ZiggyZoomba** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:08 am

I honestly don't think it's set in stone yet... I believe what's been said is 5000 or "around 5000." We'll see.

Whether it's 4700, 5000 or 5300 though, I can't wait to see the final plans!!! Not just of the arena, but of the FACILITY which will be so much more than just a place to play/watch ball.

Globetrotter · Post by **Globetrotter** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:16 am

Doesnt that seem a little small???

Post by **ZiggyZoomba** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:27 am

Globetrotter wrote:Doesnt that seem a little small???

Doesn't what seem a little small? 4700?? A little small for what? What's the difference between 4700 & 5000? Would 5500 seem "a little big?"

I just don't understand the importance of a number. I want a facility that gives us the best home-court advantage in the MAC and maybe beyond. I don't give a damn whether it's 4700 or 5000 or 10000. I want great lighting... I want great sound... I want the players to have amazing locker rooms, I want the coaches to have the technology to scout, recruit, study and recap at their disposal. I want restroomS, I want concessions, I want video, I want the HISTORY of BGSU athletics to be displayed in all its glory (my GOD I can't wait for that)... I want EXACTLY what I know the Stroh Center is going to be. I don't care how many seats it has.

Sorry... got a little riled up there... sick of all the second-guessing over piddly stuff. You want 300 more seats? Explain to me why.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:31 am

Globetrotter wrote:Doesnt that seem a little small???

No, no it doesn't.

We have NEVER shown the ability to consistently get 4000 people into a basketball arena. Even our best years our attendance is in the 3500 or so average range. There just isn't a need for a basketball arena to seat 7000+ people at Bowling Green. I would much rather they build it at a smaller capacity and keep the atmosphere than make it larger and hope we someday get to attendance figures we've never seen before. If we eventually get to the point where 4700 is consistently sold out, so much the better. It creates demand for tickets and could help fuel the craze, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon. I think Orr has the program moving in the right direction, but even if we're consistently at the top of the MAC, I'm not sure that we need more than 5000 seats for basketball.

Now if you're talking about it seeming a bit small for non-basketball uses, I'm sure they have plans to allow more seating for events like graduations, etc.

Post by **ZiggyZoomba** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:56 am

hammb wrote:It creates demand for tickets and could help fuel the craze, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon.

Give it 3 years....

VDub26Falcon · Post by **VDub26Falcon** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:19 am

I hope they go with 4500 instead of 4700!!! I love the intimacy of AA, fans on the floor, noise bouncing off the walls, all that great stuff that makes AA a true home court advantage (When players aren't transferring out).

tiznow · Post by **tiznow** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:55 pm

Worthen Arena at Ball State holds around 10,000. The three times that I have seen BG play BSU, they were lucky to have 3,000. It doesn't give much of a homecourt advantage.

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:12 pm

If they have anything other than 4.673 seats, they might as well not build the arena at all.

Seriously, Hammb is right. Small, intimate and full is the right thing. We shouldn't make EMU's mistake and build a huge arena that's empty most of the time.

Falconboy · Post by **Falconboy** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:19 pm

Its must my humble opinion but I think the Stroh should be no less than 5k. I think 5500-6k is more than ample. I simply don't want us building for what we've had in the past but build for bigger things in the future. Hopefully having nicer facility and slightly larger seating wise will help us in enticing the bigger programs to come here. Yeah, 7k and up is way too much but I believe 6k is an excellent compromise.

BleedOrange · Post by **BleedOrange** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:30 pm

hammb wrote:
Globetrotter wrote:Doesnt that seem a little small???
No, no it doesn't.

We have NEVER shown the ability to consistently get 4000 people into a basketball arena. Even our best years our attendance is in the 3500 or so average range. There just isn't a need for a basketball arena to seat 7000+ people at Bowling Green. I would much rather they build it at a smaller capacity and keep the atmosphere than make it larger and hope we someday get to attendance figures we've never seen before. If we eventually get to the point where 4700 is consistently sold out, so much the better. It creates demand for tickets and could help fuel the craze, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon. I think Orr has the program moving in the right direction, but even if we're consistently at the top of the MAC, I'm not sure that we need more than 5000 seats for basketball.

Now if you're talking about it seeming a bit small for non-basketball uses, I'm sure they have plans to allow more seating for events like graduations, etc.

I'm so bored with this debate and the futility of it that I can actually resist your bait.

Globetrotter · Post by **Globetrotter** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:15 pm

Where did I say it had to be 5000? I thought we would build something in the 8000 range to hopefully grow into. That seems more forward thinking.

I like all the things you said, intimacy, home court advantage, good lighting. Are these impossible in an arena that houses 8000 as opposed to 45000? I don't see how. Sections can creatively and acoustically be masked.

What if we do grow? I thought one of the major reasons for moving was the size of the venue. We don't seem to be solving that.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:22 pm

Globetrotter wrote: What if we do grow? I thought one of the major reasons for moving was the size of the venue. We don't seem to be solving that.

Size of the venue is not in the top million reasons for moving to a new arena. I'd venture to guess it ranks even below "Dan Dakich says the floor is too hard" as a reason to move out of Anderson.

BGSU33 · Post by **BGSU33** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:41 pm

Like many of you, I too want an arena that is going to give us the top place to play and call home in the MAC, which is why with this new project on the board for BG, we’ve got to make sure we get it right. I feel very confident we’re going accomplish this with the locker rooms, concessions, restrooms, the actual design of the arena, etc. But like some of you, I too have my reservations about the smaller capacity numbers I’ve seen tossed around. The thing we need to make sure of when we build this place in terms of capacity is, we have to keep in mind that this facility is going to carry into the future. This is our shot to do it and get it right. This is our venue for the future, not to serve our past. While our history has given us numbers to fall back on and compare (in terms of past seasons of attendance), I feel those numbers should serve as strong guidelines but I don’t want to see us handcuff ourselves with those figures for the next 30-40 years when we build it. I do agree we do not need a large place, I don’t see any need for anything around 8,000-10,000. Personally, I’d like to see something in terms of a capacity around 5,500 minimum and 7,000 max. I think we could still retain an intimate feeling with a capacity in that range with the new arena designs that feature higher seating on the sidelines and fewer rows behind the baskets. I also hope we don’t design our tunnel at half court like we did at AA which takes away prime seating (of all places to put an exit/entrance for an arena)!

A couple weeks ago, I was at Bucknell and saw their newer (opened in 2003) basketball arena (Sojka Pavilion, capacity 4,000). I must say, while the building was nice and larger than their old building Davis Gym (1,100), I really disliked the actual arena playing area. The exterior was nice, as were the concourses, concessions, the open flowing areas, etc., but the arena lacked any sort of theme IMO, it just felt like a big room. Honestly, it reminded me a little bit of the feeling of the venue set up at the SeaGate Center (minus the open feeling) for the MAC Tournament back in the mid to late 1990’s. Not good. I was very disappointed from that standpoint. On our master plan for the athletic facilities, I like the looks of the design shown at Northern Iowa. I also like the looks of Gonzaga’s newer building as well. I’d like to see us do something more along those lines than a bland actual playing area.

falconfan1 · Post by **falconfan1** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:10 pm

I am predicting that nearly everyone will be happy with the Stroh Center. This building is being carefully designed with our needs in mind- not to get in a "race' with somebody else. We will have home court advantage, a beautiful building inside and out, a building built within the budget we can afford (very important), room for the folks that want to be there for games, concerts and graduation (hammb's and ZZ's history of attendance is reasonable) and a wonderful addition to our campus and campus entrance area.

Our time to support this building is coming and I hope we can put this building right over the top after the very solid foundational gifts.

Go Falcons!