Spudorange
Walk On
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2011
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I went to Wednesday evening's presentation about the proposed IPF. I'm doing most of this from memory as I forgot to bring a pen with me. (Note to all of you cub reporters out there...always carry a writing utensil.) There were only about six common folk and eight S.U. people. The only football type to note was Chris Gedney. I was told that there were about 50 people at last night's meeting.
The presentation was made by Steve Schroeder, Assistant Director for Planning. He's a really nice guy who said to call if you have any questions. The 10 page 11x17 handout contained pretty much the same stuff as has been distributed previously.
The following concerns were raised by the public last night:
- Increased runoff since Meadowbrook brook runs under the Lampe athletic complex
- Simulated crowd noise at early morning practices
- Lights and noise from Coyne Field
- Availability of outdoor track to public
The biggest delay may come from Meadowbrook brook. It currently cuts underneath where the IPF would be located. They are looking at the possibility of re-routing it. At the least, the 50-60 year old metal piping will be replaced with precast concrete. There will also be some type of holding basin to accommodate surges in run-off. A potential delay could come if the Army Corp of Engineers becomes involved. Simulated crowd noise at early A.M. practices will be addressed by moving those practices inside to the IPF. The new IPF, at 79', will hopefully block much of the light/noise bleeding over to Meadowbrook Drive. The new track stadium, which will be built behind the S.U. offices at the back of Skytop, will be open to the public. (They only laughed when I asked if it would have to be moved when they build the new football stadium.)
As far as the timeline for the IPF, they began the approval process about a month ago. As it will be a pre-engineered building it will only take four months to have an enclosed structure. They sound confidant that it will be finished by March or the beginning of April.
As per the four part plan that people have been talking about, they had to do the same thing for the (city/county?) planning board when they built the Melo center. The parts include the IPF, an expansion of the (Stevenson?) learning center at Manley, some small build out at Manley, and another little thing I should have taken notes on. The siting of the IPF also took into consideration keeping a distance from the Meadowbrook neighbors as not to be so close as to bother them, not to lose parking (something like 1184 spaces dictated by the size of Manley), and not have to build a massive retaining wall like they did for the Melo center.
The inside height of the IPF will be about 65', about 15-20' lower than Manley. Two considerations are that the IPF will fit in better with the profile of the area, and that the building costs rise exponentially with increased height. They have done studies regarding the inside lighting...balancing the amount of natural light from the translucent panels versus the issue of glare. They are considering the use of radiant floor heating, although it has never been done on this scale before. Steve Schroeder said that the "44 Plaza" is still in the discussion stages. He said that it was his personal favorite option and that the media on Tuesday evening may have misinterpreted that as being the final plan. I think that the concept is still wide open, so if you have any ideas there is still plenty of time for campaigning.
Respectfully submitted this 10th day of July, 2013
Spud Orange
The presentation was made by Steve Schroeder, Assistant Director for Planning. He's a really nice guy who said to call if you have any questions. The 10 page 11x17 handout contained pretty much the same stuff as has been distributed previously.
The following concerns were raised by the public last night:
- Increased runoff since Meadowbrook brook runs under the Lampe athletic complex
- Simulated crowd noise at early morning practices
- Lights and noise from Coyne Field
- Availability of outdoor track to public
The biggest delay may come from Meadowbrook brook. It currently cuts underneath where the IPF would be located. They are looking at the possibility of re-routing it. At the least, the 50-60 year old metal piping will be replaced with precast concrete. There will also be some type of holding basin to accommodate surges in run-off. A potential delay could come if the Army Corp of Engineers becomes involved. Simulated crowd noise at early A.M. practices will be addressed by moving those practices inside to the IPF. The new IPF, at 79', will hopefully block much of the light/noise bleeding over to Meadowbrook Drive. The new track stadium, which will be built behind the S.U. offices at the back of Skytop, will be open to the public. (They only laughed when I asked if it would have to be moved when they build the new football stadium.)
As far as the timeline for the IPF, they began the approval process about a month ago. As it will be a pre-engineered building it will only take four months to have an enclosed structure. They sound confidant that it will be finished by March or the beginning of April.
As per the four part plan that people have been talking about, they had to do the same thing for the (city/county?) planning board when they built the Melo center. The parts include the IPF, an expansion of the (Stevenson?) learning center at Manley, some small build out at Manley, and another little thing I should have taken notes on. The siting of the IPF also took into consideration keeping a distance from the Meadowbrook neighbors as not to be so close as to bother them, not to lose parking (something like 1184 spaces dictated by the size of Manley), and not have to build a massive retaining wall like they did for the Melo center.
The inside height of the IPF will be about 65', about 15-20' lower than Manley. Two considerations are that the IPF will fit in better with the profile of the area, and that the building costs rise exponentially with increased height. They have done studies regarding the inside lighting...balancing the amount of natural light from the translucent panels versus the issue of glare. They are considering the use of radiant floor heating, although it has never been done on this scale before. Steve Schroeder said that the "44 Plaza" is still in the discussion stages. He said that it was his personal favorite option and that the media on Tuesday evening may have misinterpreted that as being the final plan. I think that the concept is still wide open, so if you have any ideas there is still plenty of time for campaigning.
Respectfully submitted this 10th day of July, 2013
Spud Orange
