Deez Nuts
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
Hart clearly hasn't been to a graduation ceremony at the convocation center.
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05-21-2018 10:43 AM |
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ShadyP
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 10:43 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote: Hart clearly hasn't been to a graduation ceremony at the convocation center.
No kidding
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05-21-2018 10:46 AM |
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POTUS#4
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 10:46 AM)ShadyP Wrote: (05-21-2018 10:43 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote: Hart clearly hasn't been to a graduation ceremony at the convocation center.
No kidding
Completely agree. The school really needed a larger facility with better nearby parking. And the school will continue to grow, I assume.
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05-21-2018 11:15 AM |
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JMad03
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 07:55 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote: (05-20-2018 10:23 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote: (05-20-2018 05:12 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote: I'm really excited about the Union Bank & Trust Center, but I'm really nervous about having to put a tarp on the upper deck for basketball games. I can't envision filling out 8,500 seats in a one bid league.
This is a good topic from DoubleDDuke that has been touched on a few times as we have waited for the new arena project. The nugget regarding tarps over the upper deck is circulating around the Spring Tour stops. I agree that 8,500 is way too big for JMU’s needs. It seems that capacity should be dialed back and reallocate money to other things in the arena.
If you don’t build a church for the Christmas and Easter crowds, then you don’t build an arena for the JMU vs UVA max crowd. The Harrisonburg market is just way too small to justify an 8,500 seating capacity.
This is also a multi-purpose center, not just a basketball arena. If built correctly, they'll be able to use at least 2/3 for concerts and such that can return solid revenue and be a HUGE perk for students and community members. Right now our ~7k seat Convo can only hold a little over 3k for concerts because it's set us very poorly for that. If they can fit 6k in the new arena for a concert, that means you can either cut ticket prices in half or bring an artist that costs twice as much, which takes you into tier 2 artists instead of just tier 3 (usually only large football stadiums and such get tier 1 for $1+ million).
This. The Convo is not getting built because of basketball. Harrisonburg needs this just as much.
The convo has needed more seating for a looooooong time, but you wouldn't know that if you only went to basketball games.
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05-21-2018 11:51 AM |
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ParentofJMUMRDs
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
And just like that Blue Ridge Hall is a memory. Completely leveled.
Time to start moving dirt!!
Brian
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05-21-2018 11:54 AM |
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jmuroadwarrior
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 11:54 AM)ParentofJMUMRDs Wrote: And just like that Blue Ridge Hall is a memory. Completely leveled.
Time to start moving dirt!!
Brian
Brian, get your hardhat and get out there! Mike yourself up for some live on the site reporting.
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05-21-2018 12:27 PM |
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Wear Purple
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 12:27 PM)jmuroadwarrior Wrote: (05-21-2018 11:54 AM)ParentofJMUMRDs Wrote: And just like that Blue Ridge Hall is a memory. Completely leveled.
Time to start moving dirt!!
Brian
Brian, get your hardhat and get out there! Mike yourself up for some live on the site reporting.
Only if the tuba section is there.
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05-21-2018 12:36 PM |
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BleedingPurple
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 11:51 AM)JMad03 Wrote: (05-21-2018 07:55 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote: (05-20-2018 10:23 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote: (05-20-2018 05:12 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote: I'm really excited about the Union Bank & Trust Center, but I'm really nervous about having to put a tarp on the upper deck for basketball games. I can't envision filling out 8,500 seats in a one bid league.
This is a good topic from DoubleDDuke that has been touched on a few times as we have waited for the new arena project. The nugget regarding tarps over the upper deck is circulating around the Spring Tour stops. I agree that 8,500 is way too big for JMU’s needs. It seems that capacity should be dialed back and reallocate money to other things in the arena.
If you don’t build a church for the Christmas and Easter crowds, then you don’t build an arena for the JMU vs UVA max crowd. The Harrisonburg market is just way too small to justify an 8,500 seating capacity.
This is also a multi-purpose center, not just a basketball arena. If built correctly, they'll be able to use at least 2/3 for concerts and such that can return solid revenue and be a HUGE perk for students and community members. Right now our ~7k seat Convo can only hold a little over 3k for concerts because it's set us very poorly for that. If they can fit 6k in the new arena for a concert, that means you can either cut ticket prices in half or bring an artist that costs twice as much, which takes you into tier 2 artists instead of just tier 3 (usually only large football stadiums and such get tier 1 for $1+ million).
This. The Center is not getting built because of basketball. Harrisonburg needs this just as much.
The old Convo has needed more seating for a looooooong time, but you wouldn't know that if you only went to basketball games.
FIFY
To expand, while seating for other events was a bit of a problem, a huge reason we had difficulty holding many events inside our Convo was due to the way it was built by digging down. There is no garage type entrance or exit from the floor level like at most coliseums. It is simply not an easy egress for anything other than a basketball game. Most venues have huge garage type entrances for unloading and loading as necessary.
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05-21-2018 01:59 PM |
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jmufan2008
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 01:59 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote: (05-21-2018 11:51 AM)JMad03 Wrote: (05-21-2018 07:55 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote: (05-20-2018 10:23 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote: (05-20-2018 05:12 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote: I'm really excited about the Union Bank & Trust Center, but I'm really nervous about having to put a tarp on the upper deck for basketball games. I can't envision filling out 8,500 seats in a one bid league.
This is a good topic from DoubleDDuke that has been touched on a few times as we have waited for the new arena project. The nugget regarding tarps over the upper deck is circulating around the Spring Tour stops. I agree that 8,500 is way too big for JMU’s needs. It seems that capacity should be dialed back and reallocate money to other things in the arena.
If you don’t build a church for the Christmas and Easter crowds, then you don’t build an arena for the JMU vs UVA max crowd. The Harrisonburg market is just way too small to justify an 8,500 seating capacity.
This is also a multi-purpose center, not just a basketball arena. If built correctly, they'll be able to use at least 2/3 for concerts and such that can return solid revenue and be a HUGE perk for students and community members. Right now our ~7k seat Convo can only hold a little over 3k for concerts because it's set us very poorly for that. If they can fit 6k in the new arena for a concert, that means you can either cut ticket prices in half or bring an artist that costs twice as much, which takes you into tier 2 artists instead of just tier 3 (usually only large football stadiums and such get tier 1 for $1+ million).
This. The Center is not getting built because of basketball. Harrisonburg needs this just as much.
The old Convo has needed more seating for a looooooong time, but you wouldn't know that if you only went to basketball games.
FIFY
To expand, while seating for other events was a bit of a problem, a huge reason we had difficulty holding many events inside our Convo was due to the way it was built by digging down. There is no garage type entrance or exit from the floor level like at most coliseums. It is simply not an easy egress for anything other than a basketball game. Most venues have huge garage type entrances for unloading and loading as necessary.
Anyone who has set up for an event in the Convo can tell you how truly terrible it is. Loading heavy equipment onto carts, using long straps attached to a forklift to slowly roll them down the ramp to the floor...and then having to do the same to pull them back up after the show is over. Just from having a flat entrance from loading dock to floor level will save hours for load-in and load-out for each event. Not to mention the added safety from not having to go through this ridiculous exercise with extremely heavy equipment for large events is incredible. I'm sure the current UPB members (and local sound and lighting companies) are doing backflips about not having to deal with all that in a couple years.
(This post was last modified: 05-21-2018 02:52 PM by jmufan2008.)
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05-21-2018 02:51 PM |
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olddawg
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 01:59 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote: (05-21-2018 11:51 AM)JMad03 Wrote: (05-21-2018 07:55 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote: (05-20-2018 10:23 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote: (05-20-2018 05:12 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote: I'm really excited about the Union Bank & Trust Center, but I'm really nervous about having to put a tarp on the upper deck for basketball games. I can't envision filling out 8,500 seats in a one bid league.
This is a good topic from DoubleDDuke that has been touched on a few times as we have waited for the new arena project. The nugget regarding tarps over the upper deck is circulating around the Spring Tour stops. I agree that 8,500 is way too big for JMU’s needs. It seems that capacity should be dialed back and reallocate money to other things in the arena.
If you don’t build a church for the Christmas and Easter crowds, then you don’t build an arena for the JMU vs UVA max crowd. The Harrisonburg market is just way too small to justify an 8,500 seating capacity.
This is also a multi-purpose center, not just a basketball arena. If built correctly, they'll be able to use at least 2/3 for concerts and such that can return solid revenue and be a HUGE perk for students and community members. Right now our ~7k seat Convo can only hold a little over 3k for concerts because it's set us very poorly for that. If they can fit 6k in the new arena for a concert, that means you can either cut ticket prices in half or bring an artist that costs twice as much, which takes you into tier 2 artists instead of just tier 3 (usually only large football stadiums and such get tier 1 for $1+ million).
This. The Center is not getting built because of basketball. Harrisonburg needs this just as much.
The old Convo has needed more seating for a looooooong time, but you wouldn't know that if you only went to basketball games.
FIFY
To expand, while seating for other events was a bit of a problem, a huge reason we had difficulty holding many events inside our Convo was due to the way it was built by digging down. There is no garage type entrance or exit from the floor level like at most coliseums. It is simply not an easy egress for anything other than a basketball game. Most venues have huge garage type entrances for unloading and loading as necessary.
JMU should be thanking it's lucky stars they've never had to emergency evacuate the Convo during a packed event. That place is a death trap to get out of from the lower bowl students side.
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05-21-2018 03:47 PM |
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Hart Foundation
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
These are good points about the multi-purpose arena. So how is fundraising going for the new Graduation Hall? How much is Harrisonburg/Rockingham County paying so the arena can hold concerts and events that benefit the community?
I feel like all the fundraising has been basketball centric, but I may have missed something.
If you ask me am I willing to donate more for a graduation hall and community event center my answer is probably No. I prefer to donate for a right size basketball arena.
If you ask my company are we willing to donate for a graduation hall and community event center the answer is absolutely No.
This one seems to have more muddy water than the Bridgeforth stadium project. Is the Arena going to be considered an athletic or non-athletic facility? I believe that impacts how JMU can pay for it according to state law.
This project is $20 million larger than Bridgeforth stadium. IMO, it is a pretty big deal.
BTW, I agree that shaving off 1500 or 2000 seats doesn’t create a proportional reduction in overall expense, but Concrete and Steel do have a cost and it ain’t cheap. On top of that the building must be climate controlled. If you reduce the cubic footage of airspace by 20% that adds up to significant HVAC cost savings over 40 years of building life not to mention the Green environment impact.
We saw some changes in Bridgeforth Stadium from beginning to end. It will be interesting to see what changes occur in the Union Bank & Trust Center from beginning to end.
Maybe there will be a version of Flapgate that kept us enthralled in 2011.
Just out of curiosity, how many seats are needed for May and December graduations? How many days are used for the ceremonies. I don’t know.
#ArenaNerd
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05-21-2018 04:37 PM |
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ShadyP
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 04:37 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote: These are good points about the multi-purpose arena. So how is fundraising going for the new Graduation Hall? How much is Harrisonburg/Rockingham County paying so the arena can hold concerts and events that benefit the community?
I feel like all the fundraising has been basketball centric, but I may have missed something.
If you ask me am I willing to donate more for a graduation hall and community event center my answer is probably No. I prefer to donate for a right size basketball arena.
If you ask my company are we willing to donate for a graduation hall and community event center the answer is absolutely No.
This one seems to have more muddy water than the Bridgeforth stadium project. Is the Arena going to be considered an athletic or non-athletic facility? I believe that impacts how JMU can pay for it according to state law.
This project is $20 million larger than Bridgeforth stadium. IMO, it is a pretty big deal.
BTW, I agree that shaving off 1500 or 2000 seats doesn’t create a proportional reduction in overall expense, but Concrete and Steel do have a cost and it ain’t cheap. On top of that the building must be climate controlled. If you reduce the cubic footage of airspace by 20% that adds up to significant HVAC cost savings over 40 years of building life not to mention the Green environment impact.
We saw some changes in Bridgeforth Stadium from beginning to end. It will be interesting to see what changes occur in the Union Bank & Trust Center from beginning to end.
Maybe there will be a version of Flapgate that kept us enthralled in 2011.
Just out of curiosity, how many seats are needed for May and December graduations? How many days are used for the ceremonies. I don’t know.
#ArenaNerd
My assumption is fundraising is going 'OK' since the project is underway, buildings being torn down and dirt moved. And they had a rather decent goal of $$$$ committed prior to starting. I think they are pretty much where they want to be as far the timeline goes.
I don't see why you want to rail against a project that has been long overdue.
They are building a medium sized multi-use arena for a university that has an enrollment of about @24k......seems about right and I assume they have conducted copious amounts of research to support the decision. Charlie King is not about wasting money.
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05-21-2018 04:55 PM |
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NJDuke97
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
It's Hart's latest crusade. I respect that in order to have honesty and progress and to be the best you need to have people challenging you along the way but geez they must cringe when he calls to gripe about stuff like this. At some point you have to let up a little and enjoy the ride and everything that is happening.
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05-21-2018 09:14 PM |
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Deez Nuts
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
Front page of today's paper was all about a political rally at the Convo over the weekend. pictures looked like the place was at/over capacity. The new Graduation Hall will be great for regional events like that too.
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05-21-2018 10:21 PM |
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jmufan2008
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
Of course you can't fundraise for a performance venue or a "Graduation Hall"...however...once the thing is built, who do you think is paying the bills? The 3k people that go to see a basketball game 20 days a year? No...special events, whether that be graduations (including local high schools), rallies, large concerts, etc...all of which pay rental fees that help pay for the ongoing costs of the new arena. Certainly not all events will use 8.5k seats, but for others it makes an enormous difference (as I stated about concerts, you can book bigger names for a lower ticket price). Also, because the new arena comes with a practice facility, it means that 3/4 of the dates in the fall/winter are open instead of 1/4 of the dates, so A LOT more can go on in the actual arena during practice hours...and there can be fewer Tuesday night Convo shows. I'd venture a guess that the arena will be used for other events at least twice as much as it will be used for JMU basketball games, if not much more.
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05-22-2018 12:24 AM |
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jmuroadwarrior
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
(05-21-2018 12:36 PM)Wear Purple Wrote: (05-21-2018 12:27 PM)jmuroadwarrior Wrote: (05-21-2018 11:54 AM)ParentofJMUMRDs Wrote: And just like that Blue Ridge Hall is a memory. Completely leveled.
Time to start moving dirt!!
Brian
Brian, get your hardhat and get out there! Mike yourself up for some live on the site reporting.
Only if the tuba section is there.
Brian, get your hardhat and TUBA and get out there! Mike yourself up for some live on the site reporting.
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05-22-2018 08:34 AM |
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ParentofJMUMRDs
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
Hmmm. Let's see what I can come up with. Hardhat is in the garage....
Brian
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05-22-2018 11:14 AM |
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PGJMU2
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
imagine the outcry from the Hart Foundation if we built a 5k arena. where is the vision! small minded, small time, .......
HF, with all of your research and experience building arenas, why dont you just tell us the right number of seats? 7k, 5k?
Lastly, and just focusing on hoops. During the Lefty era, when the school had an enrollment of 10k or so, we regularly had crowds in excess of 6,500 and the occasional sell out. With enrollment twice that, 8500 hardly seems a stretch with a competitive team. If we are going to field a noncompetive team for the next 30 years, then 4k is probably the right hoops number.
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05-22-2018 11:29 AM |
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Purplehazed
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
I have been ignoring "the wall" comments but after taking a closer look, the wall has gotta go.
JMU is not dumb enough to build "the Wall."
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05-22-2018 11:44 AM |
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HyperDuke
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RE: Union Bank & Trust Center Webcam
It will be a great wall.
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05-22-2018 12:36 PM |
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