(02-22-2022 04:10 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(02-22-2022 03:41 PM)Ourland Wrote:  That upper deck has to be removed. The stadium is way too big. That empty deck only makes the place more cavernous. It's a depressing sight. I'd remove it, and then build suites on that side. Raze the 'R' Room. Flatten the end zone. Of course, this is assuming that Rice is willing to spend the money. My guess is that it would take upward of $140million to do everything. I don't see Rice spending that kind of money on football.

I don't either, but I do see us spending closer to 100mm. They might eventually raze the upper east deck... and the views would be great... but I'd still rather the boards there for now. It wouldn't make as much sense if the home crowd couldn't see them.

They could/would hang down a bit, which wouldn't obstruct any views and make it a very large ribbon... and if we eventually raze it, we can move the boards on that side elsewhere. They're really just daisy-chained TVs/Monitors mounted to concrete. It's not rocket science anymore.

I really don't care about the ugliness above there. I'd rather ugly upper deck with an entertaining team and video boards for the home crowd than tear down the deck and have neither an entertaining team nor video boards. If its an either/or, or where we get the most bang for the buck right now... I go with the former all day long. It can't be easy to raise money to tear something down. It's easier to raise money to build something. Put a good team out there and then finance the demolition through gate, tv rev and advertising... while repurposing the east ribbon on the north and/or south ends or sidelines beyond the 20's.

The deck could be tarped with a mural that pays homage to the great players and coaches of the past. It could recognize our bowl history, championships, etc. I doubt Rice pays the money to have it removed, even though it would be a major improvement