(09-10-2022 05:14 PM)Ourland Wrote:  They must be planning on removing the concrete and planting grass in the future. There's no way they can leave it 'as is' for the long term. It's ugly and it's Busch league. Cosmetically, it's one of the biggest eyesores in the whole stadium.

That's never bothered Rice in the past. At least, not with respect to athletic facilities, although there are a few non-athletic facilities that rate high on the eyesore scale.

The cosmetic upgrades look nice, but unless the products on the field improves, they won’t make a difference as far as crowds go. The new mesh seats are definitely more comfy than the Al chair back seats.

I count the MOB right at 50. They sound good for the small size.

Phase 1 looked good but so much more work still needed.

(09-10-2022 05:14 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(09-09-2022 03:42 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(09-02-2022 09:08 PM)Ourland Wrote:  No end zone tarp yet?

There will be no tarps.
The end zone sans seats will be considered "GA" (general admission), and fans can sprawl there as they see fit.

They must be planning on removing the concrete and planting grass in the future. There's no way they can leave it 'as is' for the long term. It's ugly and it's Busch league. Cosmetically, it's one of the biggest eyesores in the whole stadium.

The concrete doesn't bother me at all.
The grandchild was one of the kids playing keep-away on the east side.
That, after a message to David Pillen got the hired security personnel to stop chasing everyone out of what is now ostensibly GA.

The original reduction in seating, with the removal of the end zone bleachers, was done with the ability to put them back if demand increased.
The mount points for the stanchions are still there.

I suggested painting an enormous owl on the risers of the end zone (not the steps/treads. Not subject to wear-and-tear, and visible from the seats and field).

(09-11-2022 08:10 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(09-10-2022 05:14 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(09-09-2022 03:42 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(09-02-2022 09:08 PM)Ourland Wrote:  No end zone tarp yet?

There will be no tarps.
The end zone sans seats will be considered "GA" (general admission), and fans can sprawl there as they see fit.

They must be planning on removing the concrete and planting grass in the future. There's no way they can leave it 'as is' for the long term. It's ugly and it's Busch league. Cosmetically, it's one of the biggest eyesores in the whole stadium.

The concrete doesn't bother me at all.
The grandchild was one of the kids playing keep-away on the east side.
That, after a message to David Pillen got the hired security personnel to stop chasing everyone out of what is now ostensibly GA.

The original reduction in seating, with the removal of the end zone bleachers, was done with the ability to put them back if demand increased.
The mount points for the stanchions are still there.

I suggested painting an enormous owl on the risers of the end zone (not the steps/treads. Not subject to wear-and-tear, and visible from the seats and field.

Why not make it visible from space?

Paint it blue and put kegs of beer there for the student section.

(09-11-2022 08:10 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(09-10-2022 05:14 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(09-09-2022 03:42 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(09-02-2022 09:08 PM)Ourland Wrote:  No end zone tarp yet?

There will be no tarps.
The end zone sans seats will be considered "GA" (general admission), and fans can sprawl there as they see fit.

They must be planning on removing the concrete and planting grass in the future. There's no way they can leave it 'as is' for the long term. It's ugly and it's Busch league. Cosmetically, it's one of the biggest eyesores in the whole stadium.

The concrete doesn't bother me at all.
The grandchild was one of the kids playing keep-away on the east side.
That, after a message to David Pillen got the hired security personnel to stop chasing everyone out of what is now ostensibly GA.

The original reduction in seating, with the removal of the end zone bleachers, was done with the ability to put them back if demand increased.
The mount points for the stanchions are still there.

I suggested painting an enormous owl on the risers of the end zone (not the steps/treads. Not subject to wear-and-tear, and visible from the seats and field.

It can't be. If they planned on keeping the concrete, they'd tarp it or paint it, which would at least give it a nice appearance. I don’t know. It's just my take.

I giant owl mural like you suggest would be very effective there. At least paint it blue to match the rest of the stadium.

I think it'll be a grass knoll within the next couple years, but we'll see.

(09-11-2022 02:31 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  Paint it blue and put kegs of beer there for the student section.

Now we're getting somewhere

My thoughts for the 4 corners is that they reinstall bench seating with the first two or 4 rows being nice chairback seating so Rice can add some premium seats that are on top of the action. In the endzone, I hope they consider the creation of a 3-tiered “Party deck” where fans can congregate and watch the game with a biergarten, picnic tables, televisions for other games some food options, some shade covering's/structures and a separate area where kids can play for a family-friendly environment.

Like. As long as it doesn't block any views from the R room, it should work. Premium flight deck seating toward the top of the endzone would go fast for games against UH, SMU etc. The rest could be grass or even artificial turf for the kids.

(09-14-2022 07:20 AM)Kayjay Wrote:  My thoughts for the 4 corners is that they reinstall bench seating with the first two or 4 rows being nice chairback seating so Rice can add some premium seats that are on top of the action. In the endzone, I hope they consider the creation of a 3-tiered “Party deck” where fans can congregate and watch the game with a biergarten, picnic tables, televisions for other games some food options, some shade covering's/structures and a separate area where kids can play for a family-friendly environment.

I agree with multi-tier party deck, beer garden and kids play area. Would be a great way to utilize the space and attract people to the games. Put some cover each tier with some sort of shade and you’ve got the R Room atmosphere close to the action and an area for kids to play. Lots of good options for that space.


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The stadium does look a little better. The improvements are subtle, but distinctive. The flooring is better, and the lighting is better, but it doesn't blow me away.
It'll take many millions of improvements to bring it into the 21st century. Long way to go.

(09-10-2022 05:14 PM)Ourland Wrote:  . . . it's Busch league.

(09-11-2022 02:31 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  Paint it blue and put kegs of beer there for the student section.

I'm seeing a theme here . . .

(09-11-2022 08:10 AM)Grungy Wrote:  I suggested painting an enormous owl on the risers of the end zone (not the steps/treads. Not subject to wear-and-tear, and visible from the seats and field).

Several years ago my church was considering raising funds to rebuild our front porch and steps, which had been built 90 years previously and were awkwardly (perhaps dangerously) configured. I suggested recognizing donors via personalized bricks on the risers (again, not the treads). I thought this would be a suitably subdued (and in fact, barely visible unless you crouched on the sidewalk to look for them) way to encourage and recognize contributors. The vestry told me it would be too "garish" (despite the fact that there were already dozens of "given by" plaques on walls at eye level throughout the church campus). I've always suspected that the real problem was that the folks on the vestry couldn't really picture the difference between risers and treads.

End result: no fund-raising was attempted; the much-needed improvement died on the vine; and the front porch remains both inconvenient and a bit hazardous.

I'm not trying to sound like a woman, but it's actually incredibly dangerous to have those kids playing on those concrete steps/risers. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium likely had the most cost effective version we could do. Not a bad option, but not a great one either.

https://utahutes.com/news/2021/8/20/gene...house.aspx


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Seems like Rice could have a corporation pay for all the updates with them sponsoring the stadium?

(09-18-2022 12:25 AM)markbrindley Wrote:  Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium likely had the most cost effective version we could do. Not a bad option, but not a great one either.

https://utahutes.com/news/2021/8/20/gene...house.aspx

well, there's this...

Northwestern unveils design for new, smaller football stadium — a replacement for the 97-year-old Ryan Field

link: https://twitter.com/NU_Sports/status/157...9081972736

link to stadium website: https://rebuildryanfield.com/



Despite a reputation for being an acdemically-focused school (and one that regularly had the nation's longest footbal losing streak several different times) interesting who they compare themselves to...

That's kick A$$.

They installed televisions in the flight decks