Coaches boxes

[RandomGuy]

Wasn't there talk of the Dome having more underutilized, unutilized space than people are aware of? I could imagine a situation where that space is utilized, (concession prep?).

A rethinking of space could allow a little more. A lower profile on concession stands, restrooms? The perpendicular lines from concessions stop all traffic flow. Is it impossible to line up parallel?

 

[FrancoPizza]

And where’s all this money coming from right now? There is $118m right now. After the required roof replacement and ADA upgrades, how much is left? How much wall will that get done?

None of us are privy to the raw numbers and projections they use to make these decisions... but you make it sound like they are dirt poor emptying out the last few pennies in their piggy bank. These types of projects are financed based on projected revenues and they’re doing more than ok with ACC $. If we were stuck in the AAC like UConn you’d have a point.

 

[PhatOrange]

some of you guys sound like a bunch of prima donnas. good grief.

 

[Cusefan78]

None of us are privy to the raw numbers and projections they use to make these decisions... but you make it sound like they are dirt poor emptying out the last few pennies in their piggy bank. These types of projects are financed based on projected revenues and they’re doing more than ok with ACC $. If we were stuck in the AAC like UConn you’d have a point.

Bingo! If Syracuse cared about fan experience like they claim this would be done. To them this is a business and all they care about is maximizing money coming in and staying in. The roof is being done out of necessity not to improve our experience. If this was an experience thing it would have been retractable. Syracuse has always and I mean always done the least amount it has to do.

 

[storange]

That is a new, undocumented feature of the Cuse sports app. If you want in on the beta, let me know.

I also believe Dome security has a LIST of potential trouble makers that tend to sit the immediate area of the Visiting coaches box. I wont go into anymore details for I could incriminate myself,

 

[sutomcat]

I also believe Dome security has a LIST of potential trouble makers that tend to sit the immediate area of the Visiting coaches box. I wont go into anymore details for I could incriminate myself,

There is, no joke, a camera aimed directly at my seat. I call it the tomcat cam.

Either the security folks have me on their top 10 most dangerous fans list or someone has a crush.

 

[Bayside44]

Bingo! If Syracuse cared about fan experience like they claim this would be done. To them this is a business and all they care about is maximizing money coming in and staying in. The roof is being done out of necessity not to improve our experience. If this was an experience thing it would have been retractable. Syracuse has always and I mean always done the least amount it has to do.

?

Retractable roofs are built on stadiums that can handle the elements when they happen. It would be like putting a retractable roof over Maxwell Auditorium.

SU cares a great deal about fan experience (now). The powers that be get the parts of football they cannot control - 3.5 hour games - so they are working diligently on the parts they can.

 

[rrlbees]

Bingo! If Syracuse cared about fan experience like they claim this would be done. To them this is a business and all they care about is maximizing money coming in and staying in. The roof is being done out of necessity not to improve our experience. If this was an experience thing it would have been retractable. Syracuse has always and I mean always done the least amount it has to do.

They care enough about the fan experience that for 3 years they have had a council that includes SU officials and a couple dozen fans. Fans that are big donors, low donors, no donations, students, young, old. They are doing things the right way.

 

[storange]

It seems people here have never been to another college football stadium. With the exception of the newer NFL stadiums you are going to deal with narrow aisles, crowded concessions, heat and humidity, poor parking or long walks. The plan will do something with concession areas, they are getting air conditioning, they will have much more versatility with the led lighting. the sound system will be improved and it will still be the compact intimidating place it has always been when its packed and rocking. I have been to about a dozen away venues. BC, UVA, Wake, Pitt ( even at an NFL stadium) USF, Rutgers, UConn, NC state, Duke, Ga Tech, all deal with similar scenarios. The Dome is fine and these improvements will make it noticeably better.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Bingo! If Syracuse cared about fan experience like they claim this would be done. To them this is a business and all they care about is maximizing money coming in and staying in. The roof is being done out of necessity not to improve our experience. If this was an experience thing it would have been retractable. Syracuse has always and I mean always done the least amount it has to do.

I attended 21 Basketball games and 7 LAX games this season. I don't believe the roof would have been open for any of them.

 

[Bayside44]

It seems people here have never been to another college football stadium. With the exception of the newer NFL stadiums you are going to deal with narrow aisles, crowded concessions, heat and humidity, poor parking or long walks. The plan will do something with concession areas, they are getting air conditioning, they will have much more versatility with the led lighting. the sound system will be improved and it will still be the compact intimidating place it has always been when its packed and rocking. I have been to about a dozen away venues. BC, UVA, Wake, Pitt ( even at an NFL stadium) USF, Rutgers, UConn, NC state, Duke, Ga Tech, all deal with similar scenarios. The Dome is fine and these improvements will make it noticeably better.

Most of those places are erector sets that just sell mushy sandwiches and enormous sodas.

I agree that the coach's boxes should be more up to code, but expecting the Minneapolis dome is a bit much.

 

[721Comstock]

Bingo! If Syracuse cared about fan experience like they claim this would be done. To them this is a business and all they care about is maximizing money coming in and staying in. The roof is being done out of necessity not to improve our experience. If this was an experience thing it would have been retractable. Syracuse has always and I mean always done the least amount it has to do.

That's an absurd take.

A retractable roof would increase the cost like 5-fold.
Maybe even 10-fold, because the added weight of a retractable roof would then need that much more support structure, and there's a very defined, limited footprint for the Dome exterior to use.

It would probably be cheaper to install gold-plated troughs and individual BarcaLoungers than to do a retractable roof.
Which would be used for what? Maybe 3-4 games a year, tops?

 

[JeremyCuse]

I attended 21 Basketball games and 7 LAX games this season. I don't believe the roof would have been open for any of them.

Yup, SU might get 4 games a year where they could open a roof. NFL and MLB teams have had trouble trying to finance a retractable roof, its hundreds of millions of dollars for the roof alone. Would it be nice to open the roof for a late spring lax game, of course it would be and I could think of a few games the last few years where it would have been amazing. But it makes absolutely zero financial sense when your stadium is in Syracuse NY and not Tampa Florida.

 

[GoSU96]

Personally I hate the idea of refurbishing the dome given it's ever growing isolation and parking reduction. But they made that decision and with it comes real world restrictions on configuration and resources.

Access, configuration, and fan-friendliness doesn't prevent them from getting 35K plus for hoops. It's the not reason why they don't have 48K a game for football. A bad team with all the extraneous bells and whistles wouldn't result in crowds getting bigger. A really good team with the dome the way it is going to average its highest attendence in decades this upcoming season.

It doesn't make sense to drop $300M on the building in hopes attendance might grow from 40K to 46K a game.

 

[721Comstock]

Personally I hate the idea of refurbishing the dome given it's ever growing isolation and parking reduction. But they made that decision and with it comes real world restrictions on configuration and resources.

Access, configuration, and fan-friendliness doesn't prevent them from getting 35K plus for hoops. It's the not reason why they don't have 48K a game for football. A bad team with all the extraneous bells and whistles wouldn't result in crowds getting bigger. A really good team with the dome the way it is going to average its highest attendence in decades this upcoming season.

It doesn't make sense to drop $300M on the building in hopes attendance might grow from 40K to 46K a game.

A large part of that expenditure, is simply putting a new roof on it, so it CAN BE USED AT ALL.
The current Teflon roof has reached it's "use by" date, and is now a catastrophe waiting to happen.
There's no just replacing it with another, since they aren't made anymore - see: catastrophe.

And since the Dome is unique in terms of being on-campus, here we are:
Renovate the existing structure, add new roof to extend the lifespan of the space another 4-5 decades, and also add in other amenities as time and budget permit.

A shiny new Dome will only draw so many more people for so long.
A winning program in a shiny new Dome will draw a LOT more people.

 

[sutomcat]

Wasn't there talk of the Dome having more underutilized, unutilized space than people are aware of? I could imagine a situation where that space is utilized, (concession prep?).

A rethinking of space could allow a little more. A lower profile on concession stands, restrooms? The perpendicular lines from concessions stop all traffic flow. Is it impossible to line up parallel?

There has been talk about possibly re-purposing some of the rooms along the end zone concourses and using them to provide more concession options. That might be something that could happen over the summer.

Hope so.

 

[reedny]

Personally I hate the idea of refurbishing the dome given it's ever growing isolation and parking reduction. But they made that decision and with it comes real world restrictions on configuration and resources.

Access, configuration, and fan-friendliness doesn't prevent them from getting 35K plus for hoops. It's the not reason why they don't have 48K a game for football. A bad team with all the extraneous bells and whistles wouldn't result in crowds getting bigger. A really good team with the dome the way it is going to average its highest attendence in decades this upcoming season.

It doesn't make sense to drop $300M on the building in hopes attendance might grow from 40K to 46K a game.

I'm trying to make sense of this: 1) you don't like the Dome because it's isolated and parking's an issue; and 2) you also don't think the Dome needs to be renovated because attendance is solely dependent on the team's record. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but it seems like your suggestion is to do nothing.

As to 1), the only other option is a new stadium - which would cost half a B dollars and likely involve a public-private partnership with uncomfortable sacrifices on both sides. I can see why the U moved away from this option.

That leaves 2), renovation. But here again, the U's decision calculus makes sense. The roof is toast. So they're going to replace it with something safe, reasonably attractive (if ungainly) and translucent. That's half the projected cost, and it doesn't include lavish expenditures like retractable openings, etc... Same for the interior phases - there's no gold-plating.

Given that the Dome is a valuable capital asset that is almost 40 years old, periodic reinvestment is to be expected. The plan is to bring in new lighting, a center display that moves and maybe in a few years more comfortable seats, better access and more light and space. The budget seems commensurate with the age of the facility, the popularity of the U's sports teams and the available revenue.

Other P-5 teams - the ones we compete with for recruits - are literally throwing money at their facilities. So SU's proposal not only seems responsible, if anything, it's a little late and a little too conservative.

 

[RandomGuy]

BC Place's retractable roof went for well over $500 million, with increased maintenance expense, and up to $14 million a year in losses... Ohh. And it leaks sometimes.

What a cluster. And that doesn't account for blowing out all the support walls, for larger concourses.
While I greatly preferred the initial redesign, if this is what we need to do to be economically viable? Then so be it. I like being able to keep a great recruiting and coaching staff. I'd like to see us good for a long time, even if that means I need to stand up to let someone out, or plan my trips to the concourses, at lower volume times.

 

[All4SU]

Bingo! If Syracuse cared about fan experience like they claim this would be done. To them this is a business and all they care about is maximizing money coming in and staying in. The roof is being done out of necessity not to improve our experience. If this was an experience thing it would have been retractable. Syracuse has always and I mean always done the least amount it has to do.

True. There are a lot of college programs with retractable roofs on their stadium. We have a roof because we need one.

I take my wife out to dinner for our anniversary. I take her to a nice restaurant. Maybe buy her flowers. I want her to have a nice anniversary experience. I don’t need to take her to Paris just because someone thinks I should.

 

[GoSU96]

A large part of that expenditure, is simply putting a new roof on it, so it CAN BE USED AT ALL.
The current Teflon roof has reached it's "use by" date, and is now a catastrophe waiting to happen.
There's no just replacing it with another, since they aren't made anymore - see: catastrophe.

And since the Dome is unique in terms of being on-campus, here we are:
Renovate the existing structure, add new roof to extend the lifespan of the space another 4-5 decades, and also add in other amenities as time and budget permit.

A shiny new Dome will only draw so many more people for so long.
A winning program in a shiny new Dome will draw a LOT more people.

I don't have a problem with them spending money on what absolutely needs to be done. Bang for the buck investment that improves the experience makes a lot of sense for them.

If they have they money to blow out the walls and do a bunch of other stuff, that's fine, but I'm not going to kill them if they don't.

I'm trying to make sense of this: 1) you don't like the Dome because it's isolated and parking's an issue; and 2) you also don't think the Dome should be renovated because attendance is solely dependent on the team's record. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but it seems like your suggestion is to do nothing.

As to 1), the only other option is a new stadium - which would cost half a B dollars and likely involve a public-private partnership with uncomfortable sacrifices on both sides. I can see why the U moved away from this option.

That leaves 2). The U's decision calculus on this also makes sense. The roof is toast. So they're going to replace it with something safe, reasonably good looking (if ungainly) and translucent. That's half the projected cost, and it doesn't include lavish expenditures like retractable openings, etc... Same for the interior. There's no gold-plating. However, the plan has to reflect that the Dome is a capital asset that produces a LOT of revenue - but requires periodic reinvestment to retain its value.

The proposed changes are intended to bring in updated lighting, a center display that moves and maybe in a few years more comfortable seats, better access and more light and space. Nothing is out of line here.

Other ACC teams - the ones we compete with for recruits - are literally throwing money at their facilities. So SU's plan not only seems reasonable, if anything, it's a little too conservative.

I always preferred a new all purpose facility. That's not going to happen.

With that decision comes constraints and I'm not going to question or complain about what they do or don't do within those constraints. Some people seem to think those constraints don't exist.

 

[JeremyCuse]

True. There are a lot of college programs with retractable roofs on their stadium. We have a roof because we need one.

I take my wife out to dinner for our anniversary. I take her to a nice restaurant. Maybe buy her flowers. I want her to have a nice anniversary experience. I don’t need to take her to Paris just because someone thinks I should.

What college fball stadium has a retractable roof that is specifically a college stadium?

 

[RandomGuy]

True. There are a lot of college programs with retractable roofs on their stadium. We have a roof because we need one.
.

??? I'm not aware of any stadium - built for a college team, with a retractable roof. Lmk if I'm missing something.

in this piece, we are considered the Pinnacle of college domed stadiums-that were built for college.

College Football: Ranking Division I Indoor Stadiums

1. The pinnacle of indoor stadiums in college football, it is surprising to discover that the Carrier Dome is over 30 years old.
   The Carrier Dome is quite large. Despite the fact that it seats almost 50,000 under one roof, the Carrier Dome is not cramped or unpleasant. It still has great sightlines as well

"If all indoor college football stadiums were as well-executed as the Carrier Dome, there would probably be a lot more than nine of them."

 

[rrlbees]

What college fball stadium has a retractable roof that is specifically a college stadium?

I think he’s being facetious meaning they have retractable roofs that are left open all the time.

 

[All4SU]

What college fball stadium has a retractable roof that is specifically a college stadium?

None. It was sarcasm. I forgot to change the font.

 

[JeremyCuse]

None. It was sarcasm. I forgot to change the font.

LOL knowing you I thought so but you even had me unsure.