that's a lot of purple, that is...

A Bold New Vision for College Football Unveiled at Northwestern

(09-11-2024 10:27 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  The R Room is nice now but the stadium still sucks. Looks like a big cement dump.

meh... some brick veneer, paint and other facade things (which even the nicest stadiums are big cement dumps below) can spruce it up

Put a Lovett facade facing the campus and match that style inside and we're 'golden'.

(11-18-2024 03:58 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(09-11-2024 10:27 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  The R Room is nice now but the stadium still sucks. Looks like a big cement dump.

meh... some brick veneer, paint and other facade things (which even the nicest stadiums are big cement dumps below) can spruce it up

Put a Lovett facade facing the campus and match that style inside and we're 'golden'.

About 20-30 years ago, the University of Texas put a brick facade on Memorial Stadium, making its appearance 100 times better from the outside.

(11-18-2024 03:10 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  




that's a lot of purple, that is...

A Bold New Vision for College Football Unveiled at Northwestern

I'm jealous. Where do they find $800 million to do that? They'll even have a canopy to protect fans from the sun and make the place louder. Incredible. It looks like a stadium for a professional franchise. Incredible.

(11-19-2024 01:48 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(11-18-2024 03:10 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  




that's a lot of purple, that is...

A Bold New Vision for College Football Unveiled at Northwestern

I'm jealous. Where do they find $800 million to do that?

From the NW announcement (linked above): "the majority of the funding (will be) provided by the Ryan Family without public investment ...

"... The Ryan Family is proud to be partnered with Northwestern in creating this transformational project," (said Pat Ryan=, Jr.) In addition to the Ryan Foundation providing the majority of the funding for the new Ryan Field, the Ryan Family's sports development team is leading the design and development of the new stadium on a pro bono basis in partnership with Northwestern Athletics.

This article describes the $480 million donation from Patrick & Shirley Ryan that will substantially fund the stadium (and other academic pursuits):

https://lifestylesmagazine.com/latest-ne...d-in-2026/

USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...401789007/) noted that involved architectural firms include HNTB, which designed the new Allegiant (Las Vegas Raiders) and Levi's (Santa Clara/49ers) NFL stadiums ...

https://www.hntb.com/projects/allegiant-stadium/
https://www.hntb.com/projects/levis-stadium/
and others: https://www.hntbsports.com/stadiums

... and Perkins & Will (https://perkinswill.com/area-of-expertise/stadiums/)

(11-19-2024 04:10 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(11-19-2024 01:48 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(11-18-2024 03:10 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  




that's a lot of purple, that is...

A Bold New Vision for College Football Unveiled at Northwestern

I'm jealous. Where do they find $800 million to do that?

From the NW announcement (linked above): "the majority of the funding (will be) provided by the Ryan Family without public investment ...

"... The Ryan Family is proud to be partnered with Northwestern in creating this transformational project," (said Pat Ryan=, Jr.) In addition to the Ryan Foundation providing the majority of the funding for the new Ryan Field, the Ryan Family's sports development team is leading the design and development of the new stadium on a pro bono basis in partnership with Northwestern Athletics.

This article describes the $480 million donation from Patrick & Shirley Ryan that will substantially fund the stadium (and other academic pursuits):

https://lifestylesmagazine.com/latest-ne...d-in-2026/

USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...401789007/) noted that involved architectural firms include HNTB, which designed the new Allegiant (Las Vegas Raiders) and Levi's (Santa Clara/49ers) NFL stadiums ...

https://www.hntb.com/projects/allegiant-stadium/
https://www.hntb.com/projects/levis-stadium/
and others: https://www.hntbsports.com/stadiums

... and Perkins & Will (https://perkinswill.com/area-of-expertise/stadiums/)

My God where do these people get their money? One family donating $480 million! It's sick! I wish Rice had such a donor. I hope we can just match the $200 million that the university has pledged.

When are we supposed to hear something on our own stadium project? Within the next couple months?

(11-19-2024 05:13 PM)Ourland Wrote:  My God where do these people get their money?

Pat Ryan made his money in insurance ... via a number of entrepreneurial companies with innovative concepts ... too many to list here, but it's impressive, to be sure.

Check out his Wikipedia bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Ryan_(executive)

So, when are we supposed to hear something on this? I need some good news for God's sake.

(12-14-2024 01:24 PM)Ourland Wrote:  So, when are we supposed to hear something on this? I need some good news for God's sake.

Christmas is coming.

Obviously HRS was built in 1950 and was impressive for that era. A lot of other college teams have stadiums that were built in the 70s and 80s.

Does anyone know what the aggregate perspective was on HRS in the 70s and 80s, was it still cool? When did people start to care that HRS was getting old? I know Tommy floating a potential new stadium as soon as he got to campus was what generated most of the current buzz, but when did regular people decide that HRS was a problem?

Not to sound stupid, but besides easy fixes like bathroom renovation, permanent concession stands, powerwashing, blue-turfing the south steps, lightly modernizing the press box, I don't think there's much of a return to a major HRS overhaul (taking down the east upper deck or something to that magnitude).

(12-14-2024 03:47 PM)OwlWKIF Wrote:  Obviously HRS was built in 1950 and was impressive for that era. A lot of other college teams have stadiums that were built in the 70s and 80s.

Does anyone know what the aggregate perspective was on HRS in the 70s and 80s, was it still cool? When did people start to care that HRS was getting old? I know Tommy floating a potential new stadium as soon as he got to campus was what generated most of the current buzz, but when did regular people decide that HRS was a problem?

Not to sound stupid, but besides easy fixes like bathroom renovation, permanent concession stands, powerwashing, blue-turfing the south steps, lightly modernizing the press box, I don't think there's much of a return to a major HRS overhaul (taking down the east upper deck or something to that magnitude).

I’d prefer to not lose the sight lines offered by HRS which are still among the best I’ve seen.

(12-14-2024 03:56 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(12-14-2024 03:47 PM)OwlWKIF Wrote:  Obviously HRS was built in 1950 and was impressive for that era. A lot of other college teams have stadiums that were built in the 70s and 80s.

Does anyone know what the aggregate perspective was on HRS in the 70s and 80s, was it still cool? When did people start to care that HRS was getting old? I know Tommy floating a potential new stadium as soon as he got to campus was what generated most of the current buzz, but when did regular people decide that HRS was a problem?

Not to sound stupid, but besides easy fixes like bathroom renovation, permanent concession stands, powerwashing, blue-turfing the south steps, lightly modernizing the press box, I don't think there's much of a return to a major HRS overhaul (taking down the east upper deck or something to that magnitude).

I’d prefer to not lose the sight lines offered by HRS which are still among the best I’ve seen.

I agree, no matter where you are in the stadium except for the very corners, you can see everything.

I feel like because Rice is very practical (minimal) in their athletics projects, they wouldn't even waste their breath to consider tearing down the upper decks to put up a soccer-style shade/roof. In their mind, money is being spent, but nothing is actually changing.

(12-14-2024 03:47 PM)OwlWKIF Wrote:  Obviously HRS was built in 1950 and was impressive for that era. A lot of other college teams have stadiums that were built in the 70s and 80s.

Does anyone know what the aggregate perspective was on HRS in the 70s and 80s, was it still cool? When did people start to care that HRS was getting old? I know Tommy floating a potential new stadium as soon as he got to campus was what generated most of the current buzz, but when did regular people decide that HRS was a problem?

Not to sound stupid, but besides easy fixes like bathroom renovation, permanent concession stands, powerwashing, blue-turfing the south steps, lightly modernizing the press box, I don't think there's much of a return to a major HRS overhaul (taking down the east upper deck or something to that magnitude).

My guess is that the early 90's was when we realized that a serious renovation was in order. We were still sitting on the original splintered benches.

I'm almost certain that the East deck will be gone. Still great sightlines on the West side for guys like me who enjoy that view.

First row in the west side upper deck on the 50 at HRS is the greatest view in sports. Anywhere in the Palestra is a close second.

(12-14-2024 03:56 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(12-14-2024 03:47 PM)OwlWKIF Wrote:  Obviously HRS was built in 1950 and was impressive for that era. A lot of other college teams have stadiums that were built in the 70s and 80s.

Does anyone know what the aggregate perspective was on HRS in the 70s and 80s, was it still cool? When did people start to care that HRS was getting old? I know Tommy floating a potential new stadium as soon as he got to campus was what generated most of the current buzz, but when did regular people decide that HRS was a problem?

Not to sound stupid, but besides easy fixes like bathroom renovation, permanent concession stands, powerwashing, blue-turfing the south steps, lightly modernizing the press box, I don't think there's much of a return to a major HRS overhaul (taking down the east upper deck or something to that magnitude).

I’d prefer to not lose the sight lines offered by HRS which are still among the best I’ve seen.

I've only been to a handful of other college football stadiums, but none of them come close to the sightlines of HRS. I'VE watched several games in Austin, College Station, and Baton Rouge, and we have them beat.

All I really need is for the place to be modernized and beautified, and I'm happy. Tear up the concrete in the end zone for artificial turf. Expand/upgrade the flight decks. The little things.

I love that we have a hole in the ground stadium. No one does that anymore. It's a special place for a lot of reasons. Any chance we officially rename it "Historic Rice Stadium?" I like the sound of that.

(12-14-2024 05:56 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  First row in the west side upper deck on the 50 at HRS is the greatest view in sports. Anywhere in the Palestra is a close second.

Yes. There's no better view in all of football. Everyone else's seats are too far away from the field.

The 4 October game vs Navy is our first game after 30 September 2025 - which is the 75th anniversary of the first game in HRS.

(04-04-2025 08:54 PM)Grungy Wrote:  The 4 October game vs Navy is our first game after 30 September 2025 - which is the 75th anniversary of the first game in HRS.

Although to be fair it was more of a Modern Rice Stadium at the time.

(04-05-2025 08:16 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(04-04-2025 08:54 PM)Grungy Wrote:  The 4 October game vs Navy is our first game after 30 September 2025 - which is the 75th anniversary of the first game in HRS.

Although to be fair it was more of a Modern Rice Stadium at the time.

Sigh…
There were already enough stories about the building of it to render it historic, even though some of the paint wasn’t quite dry yet.