Curious to see what the newly erected scaffolding and platforms are going to be used for on west side.
(05-26-2019 12:02 PM)VB Monarch Wrote: [ -> ]Curious to see what the newly erected scaffolding and platforms are going to be used for on west side.
Move "stuff" into the fabulous Press Box? I have no clue what that's for...
Looks like they are taking the holiday off, they must be on schedule. To me it looks like a bunch of work to do in 3 months.
Look at camera 3. Lots of people doing "inside" work.
Was gonna say I'm sure there were plenty of takers for holiday pay.
(05-27-2019 09:51 AM)VB Monarch Wrote: [ -> ]Look at camera 3. Lots of people doing "inside" work.
Yep.
Went to the roof of the Red Garage Sunday afternoon, first time I've checked the construction. Brought 4 friends, two of whom are new season ticket holders. All of us were thrilled with what we saw; going to be beautiful when done, and I'm not talking about the damn NEZ. I think they're doing a fabulous job.
I will miss being able to take my daughters to the sideline to get photos with the cheerleaders. They loved that.
(05-23-2019 08:55 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote: [ -> ] (05-23-2019 08:08 PM)Sirloin Burger Wrote: [ -> ]
Bow ties and mullets y’all.
Only things missing are MAGA hats.
Looks like the first couple rows of seats have been installed on the east side.
is the gameday building expandable? can more floors be added to it?
(05-29-2019 11:52 AM)ODUguy1999 Wrote: [ -> ]is the gameday building expandable? can more floors be added to it?
Im sure they could tear it down to the frame and add onto it. I think the goal is to remodel it somehow so it ties to the new sideline concourses. That with the NEZ will give a concourse all the way around the stadium.
(05-29-2019 11:52 AM)ODUguy1999 Wrote: [ -> ]is the gameday building expandable? can more floors be added to it?
All depends on how they designed the foundation.
Yesterday, I was able to take a work related tour of the stadium. I also had an enlightening discussion with the design team about current design features and possible future phases. A lot of information and I have little time this am so here's some bullet points:
We will not have the biggest stadium in college football, but it will be one of the nicest in ALL of college football even in this first phase. It was designed to look, feel and sound like a much larger stadium than what it actually is and they have achieved that goal.
According to the acoustical engineers brought in to work on this project, it will be loud. Louder than most stadiums that seat two to three times as many fans.
The seatbacks are comfortable. Huge difference in leg room, aisle widths, etc. Sightlines are outstanding everywhere and you definitely feel 10' closer to the field.
The club seating will be the closest to the field in all of FBS.
The NE corner by Rollins Hall will become to the new student entrance. This will be a fairly large plaza area (brick pavers are currently being installed) that will be set-up just for students on game days - games, vendors, DJ, etc. This area already looks nice and it will be a great addition to their game day experience.
The band will be in the lower bowl of the East stands next the scoreboard (not the NEZ). They have there own band room under the stadium seating at this location.
Based on current conversations the next phase will be to add suites to the West stands in the area under the press box - there is plenty of room and the towers have knockout panels for an additional elevator stop to this area. This phase will also include an addition over the loading dock area that will expand the West side structure towards Bluestone (right of South tower, when facing the stadium from Bluestone). This phase may also include additional seating (third deck on the sides of the press box).
The open concourse areas are nice areas and there will be vendors like Harbor Park.
Depending on fundraising efforts, the NEZ may get bumped to being the next phase or possibly be done immediately after the aforementioned phase. As discussed on this board, discussions are that it will be a party deck area and may include filling in the corners with seating. Brace yourself - if the NEZ work is done with a party deck, then seating capacity will be reduced for the foreseeable future. The design will be done so that an upper deck could be added at a later date (probably much later). The new scoreboard will most likely be relocated to above the NEZ party deck, but it's all up-in-the-air depending on fundraising.
The only schedule concern at this time is the Priority Club... it may not be ready for the first game, due to its late addition.
The light poles on the East side will need to be relocated, when an upper deck is added... minimal cost in the scope of that project and the light fixtures will be reused. This will certainly be the last phase.
I'll probably think of more... I was there for three hours.
Thanks for the details! Just being there in person and not hearing it from the acoustic designers you could tell it would be very loud. Excited to hear us in 3 months!
I had assumed we would expand up on the N and S side of the press boxes but hadn't thought of putting more suites below it. I figured they'd go above, but that's actually really cool and smart to design it that way - and explains why that space was really large and appeared to looks kind of "flimsy" as others saw it.
Glad to hear they're really thinking of student engagement.
Good details, thanks for that post. An underrated comment you have, about the band being on the sideline now? I wonder how that affects their noise - the sound will be toward the opposite (west) sideline rather than across the entire field? Interesting. I would not want to be sitting right next to the band...?
Also cool to hear that new suites would go under the press box. I was wondering what that area was going to be used for in its current form - a 2nd mezzanine that has little vendors similar to harbor park is what I imagined. Or a chance to stand up under some cover if needed.
Since the band is forced to play "soft" rather than loud (quality over quantity
), does anyone know if an amplify system will be installed to pump the sound through speakers throughout the stadium?
I wonder if the party decks would be for students, for premium donors, or both (one deck donor, one deck student). Although I'm really not a fan of the party deck idea (I just don't think people would use them in a large, consistent way), if that is the way we do go there are ways of making it look good. I would hope to see something similar to SMU's, where the party deck has a presence on the field and good branding. And hopefully with the scoreboard over it, we wouldn't lose a ton of sound out that way in the process.
SMU's:
Though, if the removal of the NEZ bleachers meant we'd fall back under 20K then I'd be completely against the idea.
Colorado State also has an interesting setup. They way they have their party deck tiered increases the amount of sightlines there are (though I would have to imagine that it limits capacity). They also have a sponsored beer bar! Could you imagine if O'Connor's or Smartmouth (or Coelecanth or Benchtop, etc etc) had a permanent presence at Foreman Field? I just wish this concept had a larger presence (it just looks too short/stout for me, idk).