Look at the lower west side. The suites and stands should line up on the s end, like it does on the n end. They have one section that appears to be demolished and another section that appears to have been minimally affected.
JT Plans
- Thread starter jaretac
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Look at the lower west side. The suites and stands should line up on the s end, like it does on the n end. They have one section that appears to be demolished and another section that appears to have been minimally affected.
Let me preface this by stating that I'm not structural engineer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently. However, would it even be remotely possible to add additional rows to the upper decks on both sides to increase capacity? Or perhaps add a 3rd deck on one side (or both eventually) as a way to expand? I'm sure it could be done, just a question of $$$ I suppose.
If you look at the lower deck, most of it is the gray which I assume means it's not being altered. If you look at the connections into the lower deck from the endzone, the last two sections would be altered to get the angle around the corner the way it's diagrammed.
I think they are building a maintenance facility under the stands and that will probably be access for their equipment.
I guess it'd be a good place for the cool I-State tarp thing like they have behind Cyclone Alley on the east side of Hilton...or advertising for $$$$
Some comments:
I for one don't mind the spaces in the corners. At first I was disappointed, but it does give the stadium a modern look...especially if that upper section has a steeper grade than the E and W upper sections. A LOT of stadiums have spaces like that. I would love if they would put some sort of walkway or catwalk connecting the upper deck endzone to the E and W upper decks. But I'm betting that there would be some liability issues there.
I have a hard time believing that the design work has went this far if they weren't actually planning on moving forward with it. If JP just wanted something to show to prospective donors, why go into this much detail? I have a feeling that some way, some how, the endzone work is going to start up after next season.
For people who don't think that this will look big-time, I disagree. It is hard to fathom what just filling in that endzone and putting permanent seats would do to the asthetics of the stadium, much less adding an upper level. This is going to look NICE and be a big seller to recruits.
Students, you may as well get used to the idea of moving to the endzone. I like the students where they are, but it's obvious that they are currently in seats that would fetch more donor dollars than lower level endzone. It sucks, but you can still affect a game there. The band will be directly across the field, so you should hear them just fine. This also separates the students a little from the general public...they won't mix with the donors in the concourse, which sometimes could be viewed as a good thing. A bad thing would be that they are right next to the visiting fans. That could be problematic.
I for one don't mind the spaces in the corners. At first I was disappointed, but it does give the stadium a modern look...especially if that upper section has a steeper grade than the E and W upper sections. A LOT of stadiums have spaces like that. I would love if they would put some sort of walkway or catwalk connecting the upper deck endzone to the E and W upper decks. But I'm betting that there would be some liability issues there.
I have a hard time believing that the design work has went this far if they weren't actually planning on moving forward with it. If JP just wanted something to show to prospective donors, why go into this much detail? I have a feeling that some way, some how, the endzone work is going to start up after next season.
For people who don't think that this will look big-time, I disagree. It is hard to fathom what just filling in that endzone and putting permanent seats would do to the asthetics of the stadium, much less adding an upper level. This is going to look NICE and be a big seller to recruits.
Students, you may as well get used to the idea of moving to the endzone. I like the students where they are, but it's obvious that they are currently in seats that would fetch more donor dollars than lower level endzone. It sucks, but you can still affect a game there. The band will be directly across the field, so you should hear them just fine. This also separates the students a little from the general public...they won't mix with the donors in the concourse, which sometimes could be viewed as a good thing. A bad thing would be that they are right next to the visiting fans. That could be problematic.
My dream facilities plan would be to expand the Jacobson Building both east and west over the current sidewalks. IMO the building looks too small in the endzone. They talk about a separate admin building down the line...why?? Just expand the Jake and kill two birds with one stone. And, there could be tunnels where the current sidewalks are.
My other thought is to enclose the north end, but only at a low level. Connect the east and west stands with new permanent stands the height of the current Jacobson balconey. The band would have permanent seats and there could be entryways for the team to run out of. This could be done pretty cheap and IMO it would look great.
What empty seats? If there were 20K unsold seats, Pollard could sell them for $10. Even if he only sold 15K of those, that's still $150,000. A game. You can't sell what you don't have. In my econ classes, we used to call that "opportunity cost".
Then there's the fact that with, say, a 70K stadium, you can drop ticket prices overall, and still make more money. I'm surprised some of you guys aren't all over that. Picking arbitrary numbers:
65K x $40=$2.6 mill.
50K x $50=$2.5 mill.
...per game. Not even considering sellouts. And that doesn't include parking, concessions or income from licensing, with that many more people donning Cyclone gear.
I could not agree more about almost everything except about them building the s end zone next year.
I don't think the S. end zone construction will start at the end of next year unless they get a huge 15-20 million donation, especially with the state of the economy and the way the team has been playing.
They are using the same company to design the entire JT renovations and they are just getting the plans together so they can move forward as soon as they have the money to do so. Ben Bruins has said that as soon as the plans are finalized (which they should be by now), his company could start work with about a 6 week notice.
JP said on a call in show a couple of months ago that 3 things would have to change in order to move ahead with their plans. 1st, the team will have to start playing better and in turn improve attendance. 2nd, the economy will have to improve. 3rd, they would have to have a very large donation to the athletic department.
I got ahold of some info awhile back that showed at the athletic departments current donation rate, they will not have the money to finish JT until 2011 without taking out another huge loan- that the AD is not able to safely do. I think they will get a couple of large donations, and will start construction after the 2010 season.
You're not counting the initial cost OR the fact that we haven't proven we can consistently sell 50k seats let alone 65k. I'd love it if there were demand for 65k and we just had the 75 million to build it. However in the real world that isn't the case.
I know my opinion isn't wanted here, but this is a pretty interesting thread. The same things happens at Iowa, and it is very noticeable on tv. It often seems like the upper 1/2 of the student section in the end zone is always empty, and it just looks bad. To me it seemed like Kinnick was a more imposing place to visit when the visiting team had to come on the field right underneath the students in north end zone. It's an interesting idea to put all the students at one end of the field (Maryland does it), but everyone has to show up to pull it off - at least aesthetically.
Agree totally. The Jake looks way too small as it stands today. Your ideas are great!
Yeah that was my first thought... putting the students with in throwing range of the visitors is a bad idea
I was asked about this 2 years ago... and I don't like it one bit. But as you pointed out... better get used to it because of the $$$ :sad:
On a side note... maybe that'll change when the students beat the hell out of the cheap bleachers they intend to put out there
I've seen that argument a lot, but never quite bought into it. Yes we're an engineering school, but it's not like this will be a student project. I highly doubt any Civil or Structural Engineering professors will be working on this in their free time. RDG (that designed this) is an independent firm that could be hired by Iowa State University of Science and Technology or the Maharishi School of Enlightenment and it wouldn't make a difference.
That is exactly what I thought, however, I do think our designs should reflect good engineering; but it's not like we are going to get free services from our students/professors.
Why don't we demolish the Jake and the Olsen and bowl the north end zone- just the lower level. Then above the north end zone place a jumbo screen/scoreboard and build new football offices/ lockers where the Olsen building is currently sitting, and connect it to the stadium. It would put our capacity near 60k, and will completely enclose the stadium.
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So are these plans a for sure? would they be done by next football season or are these just proposals? Cuz that south endzone looks pretty nice
I agree with that too - a completely enclosed stadium, with a lower level all the way around, is superior to a second deck on the south side and nothing on the north.
The Jake being where it is really limits stadium design possibilities.
Good post, and you're exactly right. I grew up in Iowa City. I wasn't a Hawk fan, and didn't attend sporting events, but I do remember occasionally going to a game or watching them on TV back when the students and visiting team were both in the north end zone; that was some scary stuff. Even as a collegiate football player accustomed to going into a hostile road environment, that had to have scared the bejesus out of a lot of people.
I've noticed the appearance of the UI student section ever since they got moved, and especially since the renovation, which is just another reason why it would be a bad idea to move our students. Appearances are huge for getting a program more TV time; TV networks don't want to show something that doesn't get people fired up to watch college football on their network every weekend, and student sections are a HUGE part of that. Students are Cyclone fans, too- we have DAMN good attendance considering the weather and our record. Relocating us to an area that promotes the appearance of sparse attendance is just a bad idea on so many levels. If JP is honestly that worried about the potential lost revenue of those seats, then he can add cupholders and cushy pads to the south endzone and charge some extra money for them. Not everything can be about money all the time, and you'd be surprised at the number of variables that don't seem to affect money that actually do.
Another idea - lop off the southern part of the Jacobsen and build a new facility there that includes additional permanent seating as well as new office space for the athletic building.