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Future of Alumni Arena


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10 minutes ago, BrooklynBull said:

It creates problems.  The track becomes unusable because the bleachers would create blind spots on the track for officials.  That is the problem Nevada has with their track around the field.  The built stands over the track so that you run underneath the seats.  That may be nice for football but it prevents them from hosting meets.

If only UB had another track on campus...

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24 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

If only UB had another track on campus...

You referencing this? 

Never understood why Kunz wasn't maintained. If you see the red building on the top left, the roof has been caved in for about 4-5 years. Looks as if some construction supplies have been laying around for years close to it.

It was cool being in Hadley and hearing the band practice there though.

image.thumb.png.6407086f7d3ab527ac7a4894e31101bf.png

BTW, sorry this post went to the Stadium instead of Alumni. 

Edited by BullsFan14
Wrong there...
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My understanding is that the building of UB Stadium was funded in part due to landing the University International Games.  The track was necessary for the bid and state (and possibly Federal) funding was tied to it as being a host for the games.

Then when the games were over UB had to maintain the facility so they chose to prioritize the new facility since they didn't have the funding to alter it and they relegated Kunz to being an after thought.

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12 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

My understanding is that the building of UB Stadium was funded in part due to landing the University International Games.  The track was necessary for the bid and state (and possibly Federal) funding was tied to it as being a host for the games.

Then when the games were over UB had to maintain the facility so they chose to prioritize the new facility since they didn't have the funding to alter it and they relegated Kunz to being an after thought.

I believe you are accurate. Plus, what facilities are close to Kunz field that would make it convenient for any sports team to be housed there? All the equipment you would have to bring from Alumni.

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4 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

It creates problems.  The track becomes unusable because the bleachers would create blind spots on the track for officials.  That is the problem Nevada has with their track around the field.  The built stands over the track so that you run underneath the seats.  That may be nice for football but it prevents them from hosting meets.

Some googling suggests that they hadn't done meets at Nevada due to the lousy track surface and are hoping to resume. There was a mention of coaches not liking the track going under the seats, but that doesn't appear to be a show stopper.

https://www.rgj.com/story/sports/college/nevada/2016/03/30/pack-homing-new-400k-track-mackay-stadium/82429032/

 

And it's been a long time since I ran hs track, but even in hs, you had to place a crew around the track at times. I'm sure a d1 program could manage. 😉

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How did Alumni's future turn into "changing the football stadium"? Alumni has been full all season, whereas football is close to empty (very sadly) many times. Why are people clamoring on here for adding seats again? Let's pack the current facilities consistently, get several winning seasons in a row in both sports, and have some more people pony up some more $$ (too many people on this site saying they don't donate...every dollar helps!), then we can worry about adding seats. I'd be on board with some additional revenue from basketball seat prices going up (not ridiculously as to not scare people off who are finally filling the place), also can increase the "donation" (again, nothing crazy), but this will add to the current bottom line. I believe in our current AD and believe he will get the job done in due time. 1st step, let's get out there and support these teams down the stretch! 6 regular season games left, and all are important, both for the men and women! 

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The football stadium is too big and is horrible.  The track makes even the best seats being too far away to enjoy.

I would much rather have Albany or Stony Brook's Stadiums. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_P._LaValle_Stadium#/media/File:Kenneth_P_LaValle_Stadium.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ford_Field#/media/File:Bob_Ford_Field_-_Home_of_UAlbany_Football.jpg

I would rather be complaining that the stadium is too small than it is simply a horrible venue.  (Yes, I know they each as too small for FBS.  But they are simply better stadiums.  And they are designed to be expandable to the size UB would need.  They are other SUNY schools so it gives an idea of what is out there.)

Edited by dutchcountry7
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32 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

The football stadium is too big and is horrible.  The track makes even the best seats being too far away to enjoy.

I would much rather have Albany or Stony Brook's Stadiums. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_P._LaValle_Stadium#/media/File:Kenneth_P_LaValle_Stadium.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ford_Field#/media/File:Bob_Ford_Field_-_Home_of_UAlbany_Football.jpg

I would rather be complaining that the stadium is too small than it is simply a horrible venue.  (Yes, I know they each as too small for FBS.  But they are simply better stadiums.  And they are designed to be expandable to the size UB would need.  They are other SUNY schools so it gives an idea of what is out there.)

Attended Stony Brook for my first 2 undergrad years then transferred to UB, the stadium may look nice, however the largest seating area along the sideline is barebones but i agree nonetheless 

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2 hours ago, 961819 said:

This all belongs in a separate football stadium topic, this one was created to talk about the possibility of Alumni Arena and the basketball program as a whole

 

1 hour ago, skrabukes said:

How did Alumni's future turn into "changing the football stadium"? 

BECAUSE THIS IS AN INTERCONNECTED-LACK OF A COHESIVE MASTER PLAN PROBLEM!

White's plan was a) Uninspiring b) now 5 years old, and already primarily completed or abandoned so we are currently operating without a plan.

Ultimately I think White plan was more about getting the master plan on the resume of the AD than it was about making UB better.

Saying donate, without a plan is basically taxation without representation. Send your money, but we wont give you any information on how we'll spend it. No thanks. We need a real master plan.

Edited by bull_trojan
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6 hours ago, BullsFan14 said:

You referencing this? 

Never understood why Kunz wasn't maintained. If you see the red building on the top left, the roof has been caved in for about 4-5 years. Looks as if some construction supplies have been laying around for years close to it.

It was cool being in Hadley and hearing the band practice there though.

image.thumb.png.6407086f7d3ab527ac7a4894e31101bf.png

BTW, sorry this post went to the Stadium instead of Alumni. 

The band hotbox (old concession stand) was demolished over the summer. Unfortunately the local rodents will need to find a new place to shit.

The track is brand new and the turf no longer has the NY pee stain. The problem is that Kunz is used all the time by pick up soccer games and nobody really cares about treating the turf with care when the entire venue hasn’t been maintained in....forever. Broken windows theory.

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There were some parts of the track that were just completely missing. Look at the grey parts on the google maps near the north end zone.  The press box (filled with bird shit) was demolished a few years ago too. Currently the fencing is in bad shape, but that’s really it that needs to be replaced  

If there were some locker rooms/restrooms installed and field facilities installed (the old ones have been overrun by grass), it would be realistic to move T&F over. 

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6 minutes ago, rma said:

There were some parts of the track that were just completely missing. Look at the grey parts on the google maps near the north end zone.  The press box (filled with bird shit) was demolished a few years ago too. Currently the fencing is in bad shape, but that’s really it that needs to be replaced  

If there were some locker rooms/restrooms installed and field facilities installed (the old ones have been overrun by grass), it would be realistic to move T&F over. 

I don't see any jumping pits dug out in that photo. Without those, you can't move those teams in full. They already don't have indoor jumping pits, but should by next winter once the Fieldhouse is finished.

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If you blow out the south side and put a "200" level club over the baseline seats which would be non-ticketed social/SRO space that can be used to pack the building when demand calls for it, or can just be nice social space when demand is low, without making the arena feel empty.

Then blow out the East side and add a sideline club for the money'd.

Then you can free up some sideline seats for True blue, to hopefully up the energy level. Give those seats to students based on their loyalty points via the student marketing app. 

I think that solves all the problems.

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5 hours ago, bull_trojan said:

Saying donate, without a plan is basically taxation without representation. Send your money, but we wont give you any information on how we'll spend it. No thanks. We need a real master plan.

Place limitations on your gift as to how the money is to be used.  That way you know where your money is going.

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15 hours ago, bull_trojan said:

Ultimately I think White plan was more about getting the master plan on the resume of the AD than it was about making UB better. 

This is exactly the case.  Just like how he sold NYBI as a huge success when he went on interviews, despite it being a failure.  Now he markets UCF as the "Hometown Team" after learning from his failure.

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5 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

This is exactly the case.  Just like how he sold NYBI as a huge success when he went on interviews, despite it being a failure.  Now he markets UCF as the "Hometown Team" after learning from his failure.

I can't be mad at him for what he did. ADDW was speeding towards his goals, and we got better as we swam in his wake. 

I think he miscalculated on NYBI, but he accurately estimated that the UB base craved a plan.

We knew we needed a fieldhouse for 20  years, he created a plan and 5 years later we have one.

We have known we need a stadium solution for 20 years (track is fine truthers excluded), 20 years, no plan, no results.

Even with Alumni, we KNEW we'd be good this year, even if we don't beat Arizona, last year at this time we had won 2 of 3 MACs, we were molly-whopping the MAC, and everyone was coming back minus Wes. We should have had a "keep Oats & optimize the money from Alumni" plan unveiled last March.

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21 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Place limitations on your gift as to how the money is to be used.  That way you know where your money is going.

But does that really help?   Trojan goes new stadium.  RMA goes remove the track.  Squire goes track replacement.  MyBuffalo goes new tennis facility.  Xxx goes new softball field.  85 goes new basketball practice facility.  121 goes coaches salary endowment.  UB becomes rich, but no individual facility is built.  

Leadership needs to establish a priority. 

Or, the next AD, fake121, will declare executive emergency, and use the funds to build an indoor ski resort!

Edited by 121Merrimac
Added 85 & 121
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2 hours ago, 121Merrimac said:

But does that really help?   Trojan goes new stadium.  RMA goes remove the track.  Squire goes track replacement.  MyBuffalo goes new tennis facility.  Xxx goes new softball field.  85 goes new basketball practice facility.  121 goes coaches salary endowment.  UB becomes rich, but no individual facility is built.  

Leadership needs to establish a priority. 

Or, the next AD, fake121, will declare executive emergency, and use the funds to build an indoor ski resort!

Yea that’s along the lines about what I was thinking. Maybe ubfan can collaborate and make a vote for what everyone should donate for and we can do that for a while?

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8 hours ago, bull_trojan said:

I can't be mad at him for what he did... We knew we needed a fieldhouse for 20  years, he created a plan and 5 years later we have one... We have known we need a stadium solution for 20 years, 20 years (later), no plan, no results

Tough to expect the same results when they have the same starting point.  Stager them by 5 years, and I’m on board.

Again, leadership needs to establish priority. (Or, as you say, create a plan)

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