(02-17-2022 11:32 AM)Hambone10 Wrote: (02-17-2022 10:57 AM)Ourland Wrote: Has anyone here spent much time in the Owl Club lately? How bad is it? Can it/should it be saved?
The one aspect of Rick Greenspan's plan that I did like was the 'open end zone' concept. Maybe flatten the existing structure, and build a new and improved OC on the east side? Reinstall seating in the south end zone.
The entrance to the stadium could be really nice
The R room is awful, as are the offices below it. Mold is everywhere and nothing works. It's an embarrassment really. The 'store' there has old ceiling tiles that are absolutely COVERED in mold. It's dated. The coaches offices and locker rooms, I haven't seen in a long time. Last time I saw them (6-8 years??) they were okay... but I really can't speak to much there. It's concrete block (I'm pretty sure), so I think it can be saved and repurposed, but yes... the 'entrance' at that end isn't especially grand and of course you can't access the stadium from there. That should be a focal point, not an afterthought... and certainly not an eyesore. I think the idea of the Mob, the letter winners room/museum and fan entrance over the visitors locker rooms would be a great idea. I'd love the signage... Instead of home and visitors locker rooms, it would be MOB and visitors locker rooms
I don't know if the R room can be saved, but it would require a major remediation job to do so. It need a COMPLETE update and refit. The only thing worth saving is the box that houses it and the artifacts inside. The fixtures are horrible.
Thank you for remembering that The MOB is housed on the south end of the stadium.
We would prefer not to have to move, as there is nowhere else for us to go.
The former football offices over the locker rooms are in fairly good shape.
They are currently used by "Grounds" while their office space is renovated.
The offices have been used by whomever needs space over the last few years.
The construction teams for the opera house and the social sciences buildings were housed there, rather than in construction trailers.
There are some roof problems, with leaks in several places, and that's largely what's causing the mold issues.
Leaks aren't that hard to fix.
It's just that the Athletic Department has had other priorities for the available pool of dollars.
I probably haven't been in the R-Room in over a decade.
IMHO the R-Room has the worst sight-lines in HRS.
But it had the best air conditioning, usable rest rooms, and a bar.
The original south end structures, under the R-Room, have been at the bottom of the list for attention for a long time, it would appear.
The original south end rest rooms have been locked, and the locks painted over.
This is a good thing, in the short term - the men's room was the worst I have ever seen that was equipped with plumbing.
Rice EMS is now housed in the bricked-in area between the rest room pillars on the east side concourse on game days, instead of under the R-Room. That's a vast improvement.
What used to be our home locker room is in fairly good shape - this is now the visiting team locker room.
The bronze name plates of Owls in the past are still affixed to the backs of the lockers.
The old visiting team locker room has subsidence issues.
The floor is tilted, the walls are cracked, and at least one door is now load-bearing.
This area is now used by the refs on game days.
The eldest space on the east side of the tunnel is now used by The MOB for storage of uniforms and props.
The laundry room has had most of the laundering hardware removed, and it contains the main plumbing for fire suppression for what appears to be the entire south end.
They are very large diameter pipes.
The room between the hall and the laundry room is now used for visiting team media sessions.
It's basically an empty room with lights and an Ethernet cable.
I would think that we need to maintain locker room space for visiting teams, and not just our football opponents
HRS also hosted the [insert league acronym here] pro games last year, as well as regional high school games.
They pay Rice.
Income is good.
I don't think we let them borrow the home team locker room in the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Facility, so there is a need for two other locker rooms, somewhere.
“You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.
Dateline 2032 - HRS
The renaissance of Rice Football continues, and crowds are swelling to fill the down-sized stadium (2025) to its capacity of 30,000.
The upper west side frequently takes on the colors of the opponent, as there are only 8,000 seats for visitors on the east side.
It's not always a comfortable mix, as brisk sales of... beverages... from the vastly-improved concession areas tend to make the fans... feisty.
