What is the latest for a new stadium at South Alabama?

Last I heard, the University hired multiple consulting firms back in November to look into various factors in regards of an on campus stadium

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/...ltant.html

(03-23-2016 09:51 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  It seems like there's always a project going on in the offseason at Paulson. 3 years ago they dug out the hills to get ready to building the new FOC and Mid Deck. 2 years ago they completed the FOC and Mid Deck expansion. Last year they installed a new video ribbon on the student side and this year they're installing turf.

I think in about 5-10 years Paulson is going to grow exponentially. First the Pressbox will be torn down and replaced with another deck and then we will build a grand Pressbox on top of that similar to what Arkansas State has. Then, bishop will be torn down and replaced by bowling that side of the stadium with seats below and improved box seats above similar to what Southern Miss has and what I think Troy is planning. If attendance continues to grow the final expansion for a while will be to build the top deck above the mid-deck on the student side. Student seating will most likely shift to the end zone seats like in most college stadiums. Capacity if all this is done would be about 50-65k.

I agree with almost everything you said except the south sidelines and press box. I think they'll stick to the Phase 3 expansion above the pressbox with an elevated concourse with restrooms, and concessions. I don't think it'll be the 9,700 seat figure as per the Reclassification Analysis, but who knows, maybe.

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(03-25-2016 12:41 PM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  

(03-25-2016 11:41 AM)NO_QUARTER Wrote:  

(03-25-2016 11:18 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  According to the master plan, this is the future of Paulson Stadium

That might be hard to do, considering we just put the FOC right where the "bowl" portion is. lol

Yeah this plan is extremely outdated so I guess there is another plan that hasn't been added to the master plan yet. Looks like all they did though was flip the plan to where the bowl section will go where Bishop is. I guess they've begun phase A and have already completed phase B except it extends from endzone to endzone in real life.

Except the top decks stretch as long as the endzones like the bottom decks, at least the new visitor side upper deck does. In this pic the upper decks look shorter.

(03-28-2016 05:45 AM)DawggoneEagle Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 09:51 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  It seems like there's always a project going on in the offseason at Paulson. 3 years ago they dug out the hills to get ready to building the new FOC and Mid Deck. 2 years ago they completed the FOC and Mid Deck expansion. Last year they installed a new video ribbon on the student side and this year they're installing turf.

I think in about 5-10 years Paulson is going to grow exponentially. First the Pressbox will be torn down and replaced with another deck and then we will build a grand Pressbox on top of that similar to what Arkansas State has. Then, bishop will be torn down and replaced by bowling that side of the stadium with seats below and improved box seats above similar to what Southern Miss has and what I think Troy is planning. If attendance continues to grow the final expansion for a while will be to build the top deck above the mid-deck on the student side. Student seating will most likely shift to the end zone seats like in most college stadiums. Capacity if all this is done would be about 50-65k.

I agree with almost everything you said except the south sidelines and press box. I think they'll stick to the Phase 3 expansion above the pressbox with an elevated concourse with restrooms, and concessions. I don't think it'll be the 9,700 seat figure as per the Reclassification Analysis, but who knows, maybe.

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Unfortunately any home side expansion will likely be delayed until final plans can be integrated into the design. Doubtful they'll expand the current footprint.

(03-28-2016 07:58 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  

(03-28-2016 05:45 AM)DawggoneEagle Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 09:51 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  It seems like there's always a project going on in the offseason at Paulson. 3 years ago they dug out the hills to get ready to building the new FOC and Mid Deck. 2 years ago they completed the FOC and Mid Deck expansion. Last year they installed a new video ribbon on the student side and this year they're installing turf.

I think in about 5-10 years Paulson is going to grow exponentially. First the Pressbox will be torn down and replaced with another deck and then we will build a grand Pressbox on top of that similar to what Arkansas State has. Then, bishop will be torn down and replaced by bowling that side of the stadium with seats below and improved box seats above similar to what Southern Miss has and what I think Troy is planning. If attendance continues to grow the final expansion for a while will be to build the top deck above the mid-deck on the student side. Student seating will most likely shift to the end zone seats like in most college stadiums. Capacity if all this is done would be about 50-65k.

I agree with almost everything you said except the south sidelines and press box. I think they'll stick to the Phase 3 expansion above the pressbox with an elevated concourse with restrooms, and concessions. I don't think it'll be the 9,700 seat figure as per the Reclassification Analysis, but who knows, maybe.

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk

Unfortunately any home side expansion will likely be delayed until final plans can be integrated into the design. Doubtful they'll expand the current footprint.

I guess that would depend on attendance though wouldn't it ?
I tell yah, it's lopsided enough now, to expand on the north side again, would make the south side look even more derelict.

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(03-29-2016 07:20 AM)DawggoneEagle Wrote:  

(03-28-2016 07:58 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  

(03-28-2016 05:45 AM)DawggoneEagle Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 09:51 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  It seems like there's always a project going on in the offseason at Paulson. 3 years ago they dug out the hills to get ready to building the new FOC and Mid Deck. 2 years ago they completed the FOC and Mid Deck expansion. Last year they installed a new video ribbon on the student side and this year they're installing turf.

I think in about 5-10 years Paulson is going to grow exponentially. First the Pressbox will be torn down and replaced with another deck and then we will build a grand Pressbox on top of that similar to what Arkansas State has. Then, bishop will be torn down and replaced by bowling that side of the stadium with seats below and improved box seats above similar to what Southern Miss has and what I think Troy is planning. If attendance continues to grow the final expansion for a while will be to build the top deck above the mid-deck on the student side. Student seating will most likely shift to the end zone seats like in most college stadiums. Capacity if all this is done would be about 50-65k.

I agree with almost everything you said except the south sidelines and press box. I think they'll stick to the Phase 3 expansion above the pressbox with an elevated concourse with restrooms, and concessions. I don't think it'll be the 9,700 seat figure as per the Reclassification Analysis, but who knows, maybe.

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk

Unfortunately any home side expansion will likely be delayed until final plans can be integrated into the design. Doubtful they'll expand the current footprint.

I guess that would depend on attendance though wouldn't it ?
I tell yah, it's lopsided enough now, to expand on the north side again, would make the south side look even more derelict.

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk

Absolutely. They won't touch the north side again until the south stands are upgraded/expanded/whatever. Right now it almost looks silly. Expanding the north stands first would make it look ridiculous.

Turf is nearing completion.

(03-29-2016 11:42 AM)TrueBlueAlum Wrote:  Turf is nearing completion.

Looks good. Shame you're going to artificial turf though. The stadium looks really great with the upper level.

(03-29-2016 11:42 AM)TrueBlueAlum Wrote:  Turf is nearing completion.

Hate to see the grass go but the turf will look better for TV. Now we need to update the lights!

(03-29-2016 11:42 AM)TrueBlueAlum Wrote:  Turf is nearing completion.

Honestly, I think the biggest thing I like about the new turf is the thick sidelines. We've always had little thin sidelines before, and it just looked weird to me. This field is looking great!

Much harder to sneak a foot in-bounds now.

(03-29-2016 02:05 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  Much harder to sneak a foot in-bounds now.

(03-24-2016 07:10 AM)AppManDG Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 06:39 PM)High Country Student Wrote:  I think we need to remove the track, tear down the dated Owens field house. Replace Owens with a new improved end zone field house that offers two levels of permanent seating including club up top along with suites. No need to expand seating capacity too much more at this point when we haven't had 30,000 fans consistently in the stadium since the national championship days and the few years after. Sure Miami will draw a huge crown but we don't want to build a stadium for one game. If we get to the point where the demand is there, we will supply more seats. Simple economics but that time isn't now.

It's not simple economics. It is the classic Chicken vs Egg argument. I've been through it numerous times in the business world and the same applys here. A growing, vibrant company finds itself with a hot product and all the market research projects great growth. The bean counters say: When we need more capacity we'll build it. Salespeople counter with: If we wait until need exceeds current capacity it'll be too late and we'll miss out on sales. Which ALWAYS happens.

We definitely need to increase seating capacity. 95% of our crowds are App fans. For the biggest game in App history we had to guarantee Miami 5,000 seats. That's 4,000 App fans who would normally come to this game won't be there. In order to get more games like this the same will be true. We have WF coming in 2017 and Marshall down the road. We won't get ECU to come to Boone unless we have more actual seats. That game would easily draw 35-40,000. It is unrealistic to expect a sellout every game, esp with Boone's wacky weather. The big misconception is that you build max capacity for your average crowd. Nope. It is for those 2-3 games per year that you can hit a HR. A lot of App fans use the bank as a reason for not expanding. While the bank may be a tradition with some App Fans, you can't charge people, esp opposing fans, $50 to sit on a wet piece of grass that far from the game. I'm not advocating building 45,000 seats, but we need 28-30,000 ACTUAL seats. If built correctly additional seating could easily and quickly be added to the South (bank) endzone when needed. We have one of the top settings in college football, it's time the facility lived up to it's surroundings.

Thank you! I hear the "demand isn't there anymore" argument a lot, but, even in our "down" years, we have consistently exceeded the official stadium capacity. The limiting factor is resources. We do need to payoff some debt and be smart about expansion, but waiting until demand is up to 30K before expanding will likely result in a huge missed opportunity.

Also remember this isn't the FCS anymore, where most play in run down stadiums in desperate need of renivations , we play now in a league where our competition in the SBC and in general GS schools are aggressively planning and implementing improvements not only to football but their entire athletic programs. if we continue to believe this crap that our facilities are good enough for the FBS then we will get left behind, and we will eventually see it effect our recruiting, which leads to losses, which leads to lack of support, when ultimately effects revenue. Luckily it looks like we have a supportive administration and an aggressive AD, who, from the rumors I hear, has some really good ideas on what needs to be done, and is trying to get the ball rolling. I will finish with this, we have been really lucky that the new stadium for ODU seems to have hit a wall, and it looks like it will take a lot longer than originally anticipated for them to start building, gives us time to get our **** together, but we cant wait forever, big things need to be started within the next 3 years. Got a question in general for anyone out there, why, when a athletic dept knows they must start building in, lets say, a 5 year window, that they don't start some kind of athletic fundraiser early in the process, say first year, instead of waiting until the last minute to find the funds?

(03-29-2016 02:47 PM)Yosef84 Wrote:  

(03-24-2016 07:10 AM)AppManDG Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 06:39 PM)High Country Student Wrote:  I think we need to remove the track, tear down the dated Owens field house. Replace Owens with a new improved end zone field house that offers two levels of permanent seating including club up top along with suites. No need to expand seating capacity too much more at this point when we haven't had 30,000 fans consistently in the stadium since the national championship days and the few years after. Sure Miami will draw a huge crown but we don't want to build a stadium for one game. If we get to the point where the demand is there, we will supply more seats. Simple economics but that time isn't now.

It's not simple economics. It is the classic Chicken vs Egg argument. I've been through it numerous times in the business world and the same applys here. A growing, vibrant company finds itself with a hot product and all the market research projects great growth. The bean counters say: When we need more capacity we'll build it. Salespeople counter with: If we wait until need exceeds current capacity it'll be too late and we'll miss out on sales. Which ALWAYS happens.

We definitely need to increase seating capacity. 95% of our crowds are App fans. For the biggest game in App history we had to guarantee Miami 5,000 seats. That's 4,000 App fans who would normally come to this game won't be there. In order to get more games like this the same will be true. We have WF coming in 2017 and Marshall down the road. We won't get ECU to come to Boone unless we have more actual seats. That game would easily draw 35-40,000. It is unrealistic to expect a sellout every game, esp with Boone's wacky weather. The big misconception is that you build max capacity for your average crowd. Nope. It is for those 2-3 games per year that you can hit a HR. A lot of App fans use the bank as a reason for not expanding. While the bank may be a tradition with some App Fans, you can't charge people, esp opposing fans, $50 to sit on a wet piece of grass that far from the game. I'm not advocating building 45,000 seats, but we need 28-30,000 ACTUAL seats. If built correctly additional seating could easily and quickly be added to the South (bank) endzone when needed. We have one of the top settings in college football, it's time the facility lived up to it's surroundings.

Thank you! I hear the "demand isn't there anymore" argument a lot, but, even in our "down" years, we have consistently exceeded the official stadium capacity. The limiting factor is resources. We do need to payoff some debt and be smart about expansion, but waiting until demand is up to 30K before expanding will likely result in a huge missed opportunity.

Pay off some debt is an understatement. Cobb and Beasley did App a huge disservice with the way they handled the stadium project. The initial plan called for improvements and expansion to take place in a particular sequence. Once the win over Michigan and third NC happened all that went out the window. A new field house was supposed to have been the first phase, followed by upgrades to concessions and bathroom facilities and additional seating. A new press box and suites were to be last. However, the lust for $ over ruled common sense. Demand for seats exploded during 2007. However, instead of focusing on taking care of the 95%, Cobb & Beasley let revenue projections for club seats and suites that benefited the 5% vault that facility to the top of the list. While the club seating has paid off, the reality is we didn't build enough, the suites have been a tough sell. No question there was a need for some, but it's pretty clear 18 is a bit excessive.

They combined the field house, club seats and press box into one giant facility that cost twice as much as they would have been separately. I've been associated with the construction industry my entire life and I can tell you building that monstrous facility was a huge mistake. The just prepping the site and building the slurry retaining wall cost over $1 million. A press box, club seats and suites would have required some concrete supports and a couple of elevators. There are well over a half million bricks and CMU's tied up in that building. Anytime you go over two stories so does the cost. We've also got a building designed with the weight room on the second floor. Reportedly there's already stress cracks in the floor and it will soon be move to another site. The stadium concourse has to be blocked for players leaving the locker room. Then $150,000+ was spent on a walkway for the players and 4 wheelers to access the field. The equipment room is inaccessible to 18 wheelers, which is now the equipment transportation method of choice. It was just a bad design from the get go. It looks mighty impressive on TV, but it is impractical in so many ways. I'm not going to get into how extravagant it is on the inside.

The part of the plan that would have generated the most dollars in the long run - ADDITIONAL SEATS - was evidently the least important part of the project to Cobb & Beasley. After averaging 25,500 in a 16,500 seat facility for five years they added 4,000 seats. Brilliant. To them it was obviously all about the bling.

(03-29-2016 01:59 PM)NO_QUARTER Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 11:42 AM)TrueBlueAlum Wrote:  Turf is nearing completion.

Honestly, I think the biggest thing I like about the new turf is the thick sidelines. We've always had little thin sidelines before, and it just looked weird to me. This field is looking great!

Totally agree. The two inch sidelines were low rent. Much like our chain link outfield fence in Clements. Still pisses me off.

Sidelines look better. Glad to see the change was made

(03-30-2016 02:13 PM)NewJersey GATA Wrote:  Sidelines look better. Glad to see the change was made

Sure hope it cuts down the gnat infestation inside the stadium.