(05-04-2023 12:20 PM)Ourland Wrote:  I haven't been excited about Rice football for several years. Watching the lack of progress with stadium renovations just makes it worse.

This is progress.
It's not leaps-and-bounds, but having modern restrooms for the majority of fans is progress.
The peewalls might well have been the single worst thing that visiting fans experienced.

The R-Room will get some attention before the 2023 season as well.
But that's above my level of donation to the cause.
There's no credit for sweat-equity.

(05-04-2023 12:43 PM)Grungy Wrote:  

(05-04-2023 12:20 PM)Ourland Wrote:  I haven't been excited about Rice football for several years. Watching the lack of progress with stadium renovations just makes it worse.

This is progress.
It's not leaps-and-bounds, but having modern restrooms for the majority of fans is progress.
The peewalls might well have been the single worst thing that visiting fans experienced.

The R-Room will get some attention before the 2023 season as well.
But that's above my level of donation to the cause.
There's no credit for sweat-equity.

There should be.

But then you seem to be too involved with in-stands/on-field activities to visit the R Room or Stadium Club. If that ever changes, I’m sure there are several here that would invite you up for an adult beverage.

(05-04-2023 03:41 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(05-04-2023 12:43 PM)Grungy Wrote:  

(05-04-2023 12:20 PM)Ourland Wrote:  I haven't been excited about Rice football for several years. Watching the lack of progress with stadium renovations just makes it worse.

This is progress.
It's not leaps-and-bounds, but having modern restrooms for the majority of fans is progress.
The peewalls might well have been the single worst thing that visiting fans experienced.

The R-Room will get some attention before the 2023 season as well.
But that's above my level of donation to the cause.
There's no credit for sweat-equity.

There should be.

But then you seem to be too involved with in-stands/on-field activities to visit the R Room or Stadium Club. If that ever changes, I’m sure there are several here that would invite you up for an adult beverage.

Yeah, Grungy has earned the right to go wherever he wants. He should be an honary member up there.

The R-Room is being gutted for a complete renovation, including a new elevator.
I had one 40,000-plus-step day to clean out what was left behind.
Who knew there was a copy made of the 1938 Cotton Bowl trophy?



Signs...

(05-25-2023 09:33 AM)Grungy Wrote:  The R-Room is being gutted for a complete renovation, including a new elevator.
I had one 40,000-plus-step day to clean out what was left behind.
Who knew there was a copy made of the 1938 Cotton Bowl trophy?



Signs...

This is after peeling it off the wall behind what used to be the bar in the R-Room.
(Photo is manipulated in Photoshop to restore it to a rectangle. Picture was taken of it spread out on the floor, from the right end.)



The surprise for me was what was underneath.
The color mural was mounted on some kind of panel, and that panel was simply stuck onto the previous sepia tone mural with foam mounting tape.

R-Room interior demolition panoramas...

Front...



Back...



There were five TVs hanging from the ceiling, until recently.
Four just inside the windows, and one on the west side of the central space, just "inside" the divider door/wall.
There were ten TV mounts above the ceiling tiles.
Eight along the windows, and two in the central area - another on the east side, mirroring the one on the west.

Rescued VHS tapes.
These were in the room behind the R-Room elevator room on the concourse.
The elevator room had a window AC unit mounted through the wall to keep the electronics and the hydraulic pump from overheating.
The unit dumped condensate out on the ground.
The box that held the tapes was on the ground.

No telling if they'll play, and if there are either copies or digitized copies.
These are going to the Woodson Research Center.

(06-01-2023 12:50 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Rescued VHS tapes.
These were in the room behind the R-Room elevator room on the concourse.
The elevator room had a window AC unit mounted through the wall to keep the electronics and the hydraulic pump from overheating.
The unit dumped condensate out on the ground.
The box that held the tapes was on the ground.

No telling if they'll play, and if there are either copies or digitized copies.
These are going to the Woodson Research Center.

It's the only 'luxurious' space that Rice Stadium needs

(06-01-2023 12:13 PM)Ourland Wrote:  It's the only 'luxurious' space that Rice Stadium needs

Agree with this. The other suites are optional IMO if they pay for themselves... and they often do at other places... but THIS is so much closer to the game that its an obvious luxury.

I've seen a rendering (probably on here) that has built some seating out in front of the R room and that would be a great addition.... but keep it simple. Turn the windows into sliding or garage doors/windows... and then just 2-3 rows of seating. If you want more seating there, just put chair backs in the center section of the end zone. You could still 'grass' the corners... and that would still leave the sightline from the concourse... Not that the sight line is vital, but the breeze sure does help.... and covering up the lower seating to put in a BUNCH of upper seating seems a waste of money. I just want to create enough seating to make it 'outdoor football'

It wouldn't bother me if the press box were renovated to accommodate only the coaches and reporters. Unless there's a real demand for sky boxes, I wouldn't make them a part of any renovation.

Rescued from the R-Room demolition.
It was in one of the dozen dish barrels of trophies and things that there was no room for.
Creating a photo catalog of what’s in the boxes.
These came back from the Woodson, as simply too much volume.

(06-04-2023 08:03 PM)Grungy Wrote:  Rescued from the R-Room demolition.
It was in one of the dozen dish barrels of trophies and things that there was no room for.
Creating a photo catalog of what’s in the boxes.
These came back from the Woodson, as simply too much volume.

I just emailed your photo to Joe Durrenberger, the center on the 1954 team.

How can that basketball not be worthy of saving. Wow....

If the athletic program hasn't been worth saving for 55 years, how can a basketball be worth saving?

(06-06-2023 07:07 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  If the athletic program hasn't been worth saving for 55 years, how can a basketball be worth saving?

I think 55 is a conservative estimate.

(06-06-2023 06:56 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  How can that basketball not be worthy of saving. Wow....

It was saved.
It isn't a thin layer in a landfill.
What it isn't is displayed.
That can be corrected.

(06-04-2023 08:03 PM)Grungy Wrote:  Rescued from the R-Room demolition.
It was in one of the dozen dish barrels of trophies and things that there was no room for.
Creating a photo catalog of what’s in the boxes.
These came back from the Woodson, as simply too much volume.

There simply is not room to display all of the trophies won in over a century of competition.
Could the members of the Parliament even agree on the criteria for display, storage, or not storage?
IMHO, championships come first.
An item like this fourth place trophy from the 1967 Charlotte Invitational Tournament would rank somewhat lower.
And yet, there could very well be people who were on that team that might enjoy having the trophy as a mnemonic of a road trip.

(06-06-2023 10:25 AM)Grungy Wrote:  [quote='Grungy' pid='18964975' dateline='1685927029']

An item like this fourth place trophy from the 1967 Charlotte Invitational Tournament would rank somewhat lower.
And yet, there could very well be people who were on that team that might enjoy having the trophy as a mnemonic of a road trip.

Wow. That's a pretty big trophy for a tournament in which we lost all 3 games!