(11-09-2012 10:05 AM)bearcatfan Wrote: I'm no architect or facility planner, but here is what I would start with.
They need to think outside the box.
Short term -
1. Tear down the old concessions/restrooms in the stadium.
2. Take out the brick walls that squeeze people on the concourses.
3. Build a concessions/restroom plaza area where you enter the stadium by 5/3 and the Lindner Center.
4. Utilize Tangemann more on game days for restrooms/concessions (to replace lost concessions on the press box side)
5. A general spruce up to make it more like a newer stadium
6. Place direction signs to Nippert entrance areas /maps all over campus.
Longer term -
1. Eventually replace the Reed Shank Pavilion with a new upper deck. Use the newer metal seating construction to minimize costs but try to make it fit in with the existing brick construction.
2. Build a new press box and try to get as much additional seating out of that side as possible, including suites.
3. If the building behind the student section has to stay or be seen, utilize it for Nippert. Put restrooms/concessions in the lower floor. If it does not have to be seen, extend the upper deck around the student section as high as it can go.
4. Be happy with a capacity of 38,000-42,500. UC won't need any more than that anyway.
This!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hardcore fans who say Nippert's current condition isn't driving away people ignore their own familiarity and passion. New, less loyal, and casual fans don't view a game day experience at Nippert the same way people on this board do.
This IS a short term - long term problem. Even if funding were arranged to improve things...you are looking at 2-3 years for changes. The Athletic Department people responsible for putting butts in seats need to wake up and quit worrying about videos, music selection, and sky divers. After last year's big PBS/Nippert controversery.....a survey went to all UCATs, Students, FB season ticket holders, etc. I'm sure Nippert must have rated highly on appeal, tradition, atmosphere, etc......and scored horribly on amenities, concessions, access, parking, etc.
Bearcatfan's short term suggestions are GREAT! Example...for the Miami game...the wait at the entrance in the NW side was so jammed up..lines were 75-100 deep....while the entrance that you can access coming up through the middle of Varisty Village/Linder Center (which has no signs directing anyone that way) was virtually unaccessed. If you care....have a guy in a Red coat w/ a megaphone directing people based on the lines. At the Pitt night game 3 years ago, the portolet situation was so bad...I saw 3 people kicked out by the cops for peeing on the tennis courts because they simply couldn't wait in the 20 deep lines. While they've done a decent job on beer access...if you want true "food" on the East side (popcorn, hot dogs, etc).......the concession line can take 40 minutes. It was easily 50 people deep for most of the game at Syracuse..despite "only" 26K being there.
Again...does the AD care? They "set up" configuration the same way they have done for years.
Other short term ideas:
- Somehow incorporate access to the concession stands and bathrooms of the Shoemaker center for people on the East Side. Stamp ticket holders hands or something. Idea #3 above is soooo easy too..just move the fences out and you could add so many fan convenience options up on that plaza.
- Sell ticket/pre-paid parking packages together, so people know where and how they will park .....before they drive down.
Like I said in another thread, you can't change the seating comfort or viewing angles of the "last" 5k seats short term....but you can creatively do a number of other things that improve the stadium experience around conveniences that many people absolutely expect if you are asking them to pay $26/ticket. All the marketing in the world to get people to buy tix and "try your product" will result in nothing if the general experience is such a hassel that they never would buy again. BK's first year brought a "new paradigm"...the actual possibility that 30K would attend games at Nippert. The Ath. Dept's response to that...now 4+ years in....has been beyond failing. They have tried nothing creative to at least address some of the short term problems. I had hope Babcock would change that. He talked about fan convenience, etc at the beginning. Maybe he only sees "improvement options" through the option of building new stuff. If so, he's not thinking strategically about the short term improvements he could make that "might" help make people willing to pay $$ to attend a full stadium event.
/
Neppert has to go
