a) The south end of the horseshoe
had to be renovated/razed. The facilities were very, very poor and there was a dire need for the weight room and locker rooms. The negligence here is in the architecture of the resulting Wardlaw Building not using the full expanse of the site and not integrating with the general form of the building. It needn't have touched the existing stands (read on) but a better job of incorporating seating, suites and amenities for the fans should've been included. Probably similar to what you're recommending in the latest design.
b) As we've discussed on the CUSA board the renovations wouldn't touch the west grandstands due to costs and the necissity to bring that section into ADA compliance if any renovations were doen to that structure. For that same reason none of the new stands will ever match the slope of the incline found at Clemson (regrettably). True the new north stands could've been designed to better match the west stands, but once Tech began this effort their greatest concerns were marrying the new north stands to the Edge Building and the east stands.
c) On my computer I have an image saved from some alumni groups website detailing how the building was supposed to look after the original renovations of the late 80's/early 90's (Will try to find on the web). A smaller north stands would've been added in with an indoor training center immediately behind that (where the Heisman Gym was). Incorporating some of the same field shifts and east stand renovations that did occur the stadium would be fully enclosed and seat between 50k and 55k. However it was after the south stands were taken down that Tech learned of the potential costs for renovating the west stands and essentially began from scratch. I remember a news article suggesting the expansion would eventually happen after the initial reductions had ramped season ticket demand. Alas, the remaining facility still had poor facilities, worn benches, seats behind poles... and then Bill Lewis arrived.
The resulting expansions came at the urging of George O 'Leary, who, however, left while the design was still being ironed out and thus Tech lost it's most vocal champion of getting the look right. I suspect that's one reason the final design was cost concious and not "one for the ages." After all, these latest changes were for renovating the old moreso than expanding the facility.
What I gleaned from all the conversations from the AD, coaches, etc after the expansion was complete:
- Tech is vested in staying at Bobby Dodd for some time, and barring a major change in fan interest will be working around the existing structure for some time.
- No further expansions will be done until the demand for season tickets and/or suites surpasses a certain threshold, but one rule of thumb another GM has mentioned was to have the next best expansion roughly designed and then do it when demand for extra seating is more than what that expansion would provide.
- Structurally it would be possible to expand above the east stands but it would likely necessitate closing 1 or both lanes of Techwood and, for access reasons, would best be served by doing tower suites to minimize the crowds at those access points.
- For bulk expansion Tech would be better served by moving the Wardlaw facilities and building a (near) mirror image of the north stands on the south side. Since the north stands are approx. 15k, building such stands plus something more on the east side would bring Bobby Dodd close to 70k. Anything more beyond that and you begin to impact surrounding structures and run into overcrowding issues along roads, parking, etc.
- I'd love to have a more unified structure (a la Boone Pickens), even if the interior is somewhat disjointed. The exterior of the east stands is sparse enough to remind me of a prison. Alas, Bobby Dodd's renovations started late in the game that such visions would require substantial $. Right now I'd simply love to have them fill the joint now and hope for a next round of changes that could improve the overall character even further.