(11-10-2022 02:26 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Where are the renderings and plans we were promised? They're still trying to figure out what to build, and how it will look? The press box is archaic and inaccessible. Surely they aren't even contemplating keeping it. Tear it down. It has no place in a modernized stadium.

Promised?
Did someone actually promise?

The ADept will always lean toward the revenue side first.
Aside from the Stadium Club seating nothing about the press box brings in any revenue.
[Side note: do they really expect the most prolific donors to use the restroom(s?) on the first level of the press box?]
The premium seating options touted in this survey at least hint at a revenue stream.
Price packages appeared to go as high as $700/seat/game.

The survey was about 'premium' options... which are a revenue stream...

but fewer people want to pay for those if the product isn't good... meaning you have to discount them... and little that is proposed speaks to the game day experience for anyone not in those luxury suites... which if it is the corpus of our fan base, means even fewer butts in the seats.

We could build new press and coaches boxes in front of the old ones at relatively low cost. I would 'up' the amenities there because those are where the people who will write stories about it will be. Doesn't have to be crazy... but has to be up to Rice standards. For the stadium club, take out the press boxes etc and now you have some SPACE... which again, if done neatly, can be nice without being overly expensive. Beef up the TV and internet and we're golden.

Plan #1 for me would be to add a lot of TVs around the stadium and then have cameras and travel cams above the field during the game, on the sidelines and during halftime. Stream the video live during the game including halftime and then use the video for youtube/riceowls.com content. Give all the player parents and students access to the video afterwards... creates a reason for kids to attend, and then to want to watch themselves later

(11-10-2022 05:21 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  The survey was about 'premium' options... which are a revenue stream...

but fewer people want to pay for those if the product isn't good... meaning you have to discount them... and little that is proposed speaks to the game day experience for anyone not in those luxury suites... which if it is the corpus of our fan base, means even fewer butts in the seats.

We could build new press and coaches boxes in front of the old ones at relatively low cost. I would 'up' the amenities there because those are where the people who will write stories about it will be. Doesn't have to be crazy... but has to be up to Rice standards. For the stadium club, take out the press boxes etc and now you have some SPACE... which again, if done neatly, can be nice without being overly expensive. Beef up the TV and internet and we're golden.

Plan #1 for me would be to add a lot of TVs around the stadium and then have cameras and travel cams above the field during the game, on the sidelines and during halftime. Stream the video live during the game including halftime and then use the video for youtube/riceowls.com content. Give all the player parents and students access to the video afterwards... creates a reason for kids to attend, and then to want to watch themselves later

They can also install a modern elevator, to replace the one that Mr. Cohen donated.
The old donation plaque should go to the Woodson Research Center.
Hang the new elevator on the outside of the west wall, like just about every other major stadium in the country does.
It could go to the actual floor level that people walk on.
It might even be freight-rated.
Every single thing in the existing press box had to be carried up at least three steps from the elevator landing.

Keep in mind that any change likely requires full ADA compliance afterward.
I'm not saying that as if ADA compliance is a bad thing.
Compliance adds to the complexity and cost.

(11-10-2022 05:30 PM)Grungy Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 05:21 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  The survey was about 'premium' options... which are a revenue stream...

but fewer people want to pay for those if the product isn't good... meaning you have to discount them... and little that is proposed speaks to the game day experience for anyone not in those luxury suites... which if it is the corpus of our fan base, means even fewer butts in the seats.

We could build new press and coaches boxes in front of the old ones at relatively low cost. I would 'up' the amenities there because those are where the people who will write stories about it will be. Doesn't have to be crazy... but has to be up to Rice standards. For the stadium club, take out the press boxes etc and now you have some SPACE... which again, if done neatly, can be nice without being overly expensive. Beef up the TV and internet and we're golden.

Plan #1 for me would be to add a lot of TVs around the stadium and then have cameras and travel cams above the field during the game, on the sidelines and during halftime. Stream the video live during the game including halftime and then use the video for youtube/riceowls.com content. Give all the player parents and students access to the video afterwards... creates a reason for kids to attend, and then to want to watch themselves later

They can also install a modern elevator, to replace the one that Mr. Cohen donated.
The old donation plaque should go to the Woodson Research Center.
Hang the new elevator on the outside of the west wall, like just about every other major stadium in the country does.
It could go to the actual floor level that people walk on.
It might even be freight-rated.
Every single thing in the existing press box had to be carried up at least three steps from the elevator landing.

Keep in mind that any change likely requires full ADA compliance afterward.
I'm not saying that as if ADA compliance is a bad thing.
Compliance adds to the complexity and cost.

Absolutely to all that. I didn't add it for brevity but I've said similar in my more lengthy posts about 'improvements'. Build a shaft outside the current footprint that goes directly to the 'new' pressbox floor. 3 stops. Press Box, concourse and ground. Ground opens to the back... the other two to the front. Freight rated and also as a chase for all the new power and electronic needs. Keep the existing elevator for patrons of the stadium club or as a service elevator... or maybe even build a second that goes to the stadium club at the other end of the press box and use the old shaft as the chase.

EVERYTHING being discussed has an ADA component to it... which makes it more expensive for our stadium than for one built more recently... but that's what happens when you don't keep up with the times over the years. It might take us $50mm to do what others could do for $30mm, but they also paid more for their stadium... probably a lot more than $20mm PV.

I forget...is there any off-season work planned on HRS for this year...I would guess after Spring Ball?

(02-08-2023 09:56 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  I forget...is there any off-season work planned on HRS for this year...I would guess after Spring Ball?

The east side north end restrooms will be renovated, to match the work done on the south end.
They don't have to wait to start this.

The gates on the south end are going to be replaced, after one of them fell off in the recent wind storm (same day as the tornado in SE Houston).
That revealed how poorly they were mounted.

New AAC logos will replace the C-USA logos in the turf, and that will likely have to wait until summer.

That can't be all they're doing this time right?

I don't think a "phase 2" was ever announced.

(02-09-2023 10:52 AM)dragon2owl Wrote:  I don't think a "phase 2" was ever announced.

There may not be money to do much more. Seriously. I haven't heard of any plans, other than what Grungy is telling us. Not good.

(02-09-2023 10:42 AM)Ourland Wrote:  That can't be all they're doing this time right?

That's all that I know about.

They would have renovated the restroom last year, but the complexity of repairing the drainage system would have pushed completion well into the season.
Neither Rice nor the plumbing contractors expected the drains to have to be replaced completely.

The gates - that was unexpected as well.

Rebranding the turf - that they were expecting.

What else can they do?
They will likely pressure-wash the entire stadium in August.

Bringing more electrical service to the stadium is a long-term project that I've never heard mentioned, except as the reason for not improving things that require more amperage.
It's a huge undertaking.
The cables have to come and go - somewhere.

The Waltrip dome was supposed to have double the AC capacity that it got, but there wasn't the power to support it.

Rice alums care so little about the program that money can't even be raised to update the place. The only people that care are the 30 of us here. Just depressing. UH finds $200 million for a new stadium overnight. What a terrible situation. Complete apathy at Rice.

I can't help but revisit this. It says everything about a school's alums when it can't even collect enough cash to announce plans for 'Phase 2,' no matter how minor the upgrades might be. Maybe I'm way off, but I doubt it. Weren't we led to believe that renovations would happen in phases? I guess there will be no Phase 2 this year? Are we waiting for more money to come in? Will it be next year?

Someone here who is close to the university please explain this to me, because we were led to believe that the money was in hand, and that renovations were only being done in phases in order to not disrupt the season.

It looks to me that not nearly enough money is in hand, and that renovations will be done as the money trickles in. Phase 2 may not happen for years. Phase 2 may never happen at all.

What you expect when Rice has the largest international student population per capita of Texas colleges who don't give a damn about athletics.

(02-09-2023 06:59 PM)Ourland Wrote:  I can't help but revisit this. It says everything about a school's alums when it can't even collect enough cash to announce plans for 'Phase 2,' no matter how minor the upgrades might be.

So the alums should pony up funds for undefined plans? Seems backwards to me.

The AD should develop and present plans and then seek financial support. And those plans should include more than cosmetic maintenance items. Those plans should include how Rice plans to fix decades of neglect and apathy.

(02-09-2023 07:05 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  What you expect when Rice has the largest international student population per capita of Texas colleges who don't give a damn about athletics.

This

(02-09-2023 11:10 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Bringing more electrical service to the stadium is a long-term project that I've never heard mentioned, except as the reason for not improving things that require more amperage.
It's a huge undertaking.
The cables have to come and go - somewhere.

The Waltrip dome was supposed to have double the AC capacity that it got, but there wasn't the power to support it.

This just kills me.

Add some solar panels or wind vanes to the top of the stadium and some batteries and you have all the power you can handle at the stadium. You have months where there is little power used and all sorts of sun... and the 'grid' can supplement it during quicker turn-arounds because you don't use a lot of that power for many days in between events.

I could only guess at what the power storage requirements would be, but as I've suggested... space is not really an issue nor are we bound by current technology. It seems to me this would be an ideal place to test 'alternative' electric storage/generation ideas... especially ones that were more green like kinetic storage.

(02-10-2023 08:59 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(02-09-2023 11:10 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Bringing more electrical service to the stadium is a long-term project that I've never heard mentioned, except as the reason for not improving things that require more amperage.
It's a huge undertaking.
The cables have to come and go - somewhere.

The Waltrip dome was supposed to have double the AC capacity that it got, but there wasn't the power to support it.

This just kills me.

Add some solar panels or wind vanes to the top of the stadium and some batteries and you have all the power you can handle at the stadium. You have months where there is little power used and all sorts of sun... and the 'grid' can supplement it during quicker turn-arounds because you don't use a lot of that power for many days in between events.

I could only guess at what the power storage requirements would be, but as I've suggested... space is not really an issue nor are we bound by current technology. It seems to me this would be an ideal place to test 'alternative' electric storage/generation ideas... especially ones that were more green like kinetic storage.

They've already tossed around the idea of covering the east second deck in solar panels (except for the Schafer seats?).
Output and storage are still issues.
Acreage of the east side second deck is left as an exercise for the student.

powermrdotcom Wrote:As a general rule, 1 acre of solar panels produces about 351 MWh of electrical energy per year. The actual profit depends on the Country and State/location irradiance (Peak-sun-hours), but the average is approximately $14,000. Installation cost for 1 acre of solar panels is about $450,000.
How Much Power Will 1 Acre of Solar Panels Produce?
How many solar panels can be installed on one acre
Irradiance or peak-sun-hours for the geographic location
How Many Solar Panels Fit in One Acre?

There is physical room for about 740kW of solar panel surface on one acre, but the panels are mounted in rows with walk spaces allowing for maintenance, so a form factor of 0.58 is applied.
In general, 1kW of solar power can be fitted into 100 square feet. There are 43560 square feet in an acre, so the possible solar power can be found by:
43560/100x1kw= 435.6kW
Solar farms are installed in locations with high irradiance (peak-sun-hours) values, such as Nevada. The Peak-sun-hours value for Nevada is 2348. (Also measured as irradiance in kWh/m2.)
What Are the Losses That Occur in a Solar PV Project?

How much power does one acre of 500w solar panel produce? Unfortunately, we don’t get all the power out of a solar system that the formulae tell us a system can generate. All solar PV systems have losses, some of them we can influence and others we can’t. Solar PV losses are one of the leading disadvantages or cons of solar.

Baylor's board approves improvements...

https://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/2...?id=987216

(02-10-2023 08:59 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(02-09-2023 11:10 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Bringing more electrical service to the stadium is a long-term project that I've never heard mentioned, except as the reason for not improving things that require more amperage.
It's a huge undertaking.
The cables have to come and go - somewhere.

The Waltrip dome was supposed to have double the AC capacity that it got, but there wasn't the power to support it.

This just kills me.

Add some solar panels or wind vanes to the top of the stadium and some batteries and you have all the power you can handle at the stadium. You have months where there is little power used and all sorts of sun... and the 'grid' can supplement it during quicker turn-arounds because you don't use a lot of that power for many days in between events.

I could only guess at what the power storage requirements would be, but as I've suggested... space is not really an issue nor are we bound by current technology. It seems to me this would be an ideal place to test 'alternative' electric storage/generation ideas... especially ones that were more green like kinetic storage.

Agree. For God's sake, our stadium doesn't even have electricity. Install some solar panels at the top of the east deck at least. Do something. Can't we tap into the same power source as the stadium lights? What's going on? There's electricity in the stadium, but not enough?