East Hartford’s Rentschler Field needs $63 million upgrade, new study says. ‘like walking into a time capsule’

[Devland]

These stadium/arena threads bring out the whiners.

 

[jdb50]

The article says the turnstile count at Syracuse was 15,657. The box score on the AD website shows 25,114.

The lower Bowl was basically full. Great job students! If the turnstile count was 15,657 then many fans were not scanned properly. This article has the wrong number from the number of fans that were there. This was the largest crowd in years. Many wore Orange on their side of the field but when we scored it was loud. People are ready to go and I hope we can keep some of our best threats on offense healthy for the second half of the season.

 

[BugsyCT]

$68 million to play at a stadium closer to CCSU? Might as well just put down $300 million for an on-campus place. Playing in EH has never made sense and never will.

It made sense the first 10 years when the team was way better and the Rent was getting at least 30-35K every game. Having the stadium just outside of Hartford between two of CT's major highway arteries made for easier & quicker access for fans & alumni living throughout the state. The Rent was rockin' for a lot of games back then and, although it wasn't a vintage college football atmosphere, the Rent was a pretty raucous place and they had some memorable games.

Unfortunately, when CR hit and the program got worse, so did everything else, and you know the rest.

 

[BugsyCT]

The lower Bowl was basically full. Great job students! If the turnstile count was 15,657 then many fans were not scanned properly. This article has the wrong number from the number of fans that were there. This was the largest crowd in years. Many wore Orange on their side of the field but when we scored it was loud. People are ready to go and I hope we can keep some of our best threats on offense healthy for the second half of the season.

Been to enough games to get a pretty good sense of the attendance numbers - looking around that stadium at peak (2nd qtr) there were at least 20k in the seats. (A lot of orange on the press box side, but overall a good 20k+.)

 

[freescooter]

Of course I suspect they have not spent money on regular maintenance as they should have. Part of this is the setup. The owner is one state agency, the operator is a different one who subs out part of the management to a private corporation ( private sector blah blah blah, it means you pay retail for everything) and maintenance is the prerogative of yet another agency. Plus it is 20 years old so likely there are systems that are in need of replacement and repair. Oh, and nobody involved in the operation has the authority to borrow to pay for upgrades. It is guaranteed to be a mess…

 

[Kolumbo]

This is really a serious matter though. $63 million in renovations vs building new. Sure, the location is good for commuting times but that's about it. Look at Georgia. The stadium is the centerpiece of the campus, as it is on many campuses. Bring a recruit to UCONN and there is no stadium to be seen. That's just not a serious football school. Many campuses barely have room but they squeeze the stadium in there. No excuse for UCONN to not have an on-campus stadium if it is serious about football.

20 years? Really? They make it sound like it's the Yale Bowl or something.

"Some of the building mechanical systems are so old that replacement parts for repairs are no longer manufactured." What?!!

 

[huskymedic]

No excuse for UCONN to not have an on-campus stadium if it is serious about football.

Well, other than not having a spare quarter of a billion dollars +/- just lying around.

 

[metsfan2323]

The stadium does its job. You sit your butt in the seat and watch a game on a field. There is no need to spend that kind of money. Fix basic structural items to manage its life and let it be. The media infrastructure costs and other keep up with Jones expenses are an absolute joke. Until this program produces. They need to sit tight.

I agree, nobody is making their decision to go or not go to these games based on bells and whistles in the stadium. Just keep the stadium clean and safe and start winning games.

I was at Yale versus Army in 2014 and they had over 30K in the stadium and that stadium actually is a time machine. It's part of it's charm. They drew a good crown because Yale had a good team.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Unfortunately, we don’t have the football mindset of many places where people drive 3 hours to attend games in places like State College.

Three hours? That gets you the last four miles of the trip to State College on game day.

 

[DogPoundSr]

For those of you too young to know why UConn ended up at the Rent in East Hartford, this is a good history of it.:

Hartford, Connecticut Breaking News, Sports & Entertainment - Hartford Courant

Hartford Courant: Your source for Connecticut breaking news, UConn sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic

www.courant.com

I recall Mansfield year-round residents hated the ideal of the stadium and opposed it at the legislature. Traffic. Weekend crowds. Rt 195 would have needed a big upgrade to support the traffic.

The Rent location was hard to oppose. It got us into The Big East. Yes, we wanted it on campus. But East Hartford was better than nothing.

 

[jdb50]

Do not have the list of specific repairs needed and the cost but many of these studies pad the numbers when the report comes out. They are paid to do a study and it is not their money so everything gets thrown in. Anything safety related/ structural needs to have priority. The sound system seems fine if they would turn down the volume. Yeah I am older. UConn being hooked up to Shenipsit Lake through the Connecticut Water Company makes the possibility of a campus stadium much more viable. With the drought we had this summer having a home game would have been a huge issue with the old system relying on the Fenton and Willimantic River wells. Get into the ACC and then you have the $ to consider an on campus stadium.

 

[ZooCougar]

Alright you dum dums who are against this; what should we do? Wait 20 more years so that it costs $120M?

 

[ZooCougar]

The stadium does its job. You sit your butt in the seat and watch a game on a field. There is no need to spend that kind of money. Fix basic structural items to manage its life and let it be. The media infrastructure costs and other keep up with Jones expenses are an absolute joke. Until this program produces. They need to sit tight.

Dumbest post of the year. Congrats.

 

[KembaKek]

Alright you dum dums who are against this; what should we do? Wait 20 more years so that it costs $120M?

how about abandoning the POS and going back to Storrs where UConn athletics actually belongs

 

[ZooCougar]

how about abandoning the POS and going back to Storrs where UConn athletics actually belongs

That’s a brilliant take.

Do you have any idea how lame an on campus stadium would be with anything less than $200M?

Of course you don’t. Because if you did you wouldn’t make such a stupid comment.

When someone can show that the state has the appetite to spend something like that on an on campus stadium and spend what it takes to maintain it and keep it up to date then let me know.

 

[giddyup]

Dumbest post of the year. Congrats.

Thank you. In case you weren’t aware, we are one of the worst programs in FBS, have an average actual attendance of 15k per game for 6 times a year, and no major conference membership in the face of ongoing power conference consolidation. An idiot invests 70 Million in upgrades. You do basic maintenance and see what the future holds. As long as the core infrastructure elements are in good condition, it is possible to expand and invest in luxuries when a power conference comes calling. But, I guess that just moronic.

 

[metsfan2323]

Alright you dum dums who are against this; what should we do? Wait 20 more years so that it costs $120M?

Nobody is arguing against routine maintenance for cleanliness, safety or stadium longevity, but this specifically mentions "keeping up with the rest of Division 1 stadiums" which implies a bunch of non-football nonsense. It's not like people in this state are deciding between going to the Rent on Saturday or going to a game in another state with a better stadium.

The "keeping up with the rest of D1" money would be better spent on the coaching staff because the only thing that will turn attendance around is winning games.

 

[KembaKek]

That’s a brilliant take.

Do you have any idea how lame an on campus stadium would be with anything less than $200M?

Of course you don’t. Because if you did you wouldn’t make such a stupid comment.

When someone can show that the state has the appetite to spend something like that on an on campus stadium and spend what it takes to maintain it and keep it up to date then let me know.

I never put a $200 million cap on it. What's lame is students having to take a bus or drive far off campus. Campus culture needs a football stadium, I'm not really concerned with the state's ideas or how likely it is to happen. There's nothing dumber than investing in a stadium that exists to accommodate a bunch of Avon dads over the students who pay obnoxiously more than most other state schools.

I really don't understand at all how you think there's any benefit to playing in East Hartford. They take parking, concessions, and part of the ticket money.

 

[ZooCougar]

Nobody is arguing against routine maintenance for cleanliness, safety or stadium longevity, but this specifically mentions "keeping up with the rest of Division 1 stadiums" which implies a bunch of non-football nonsense. It's not like people in this state are deciding between going to the Rent on Saturday or going to a game in another state with a better stadium.

The "keeping up with the rest of D1" money would be better spent on the coaching staff because the only thing that will turn attendance around is winning games.

We literally truck in chic Fil a from Glastonbury and run out of hot cocoa. They literally can’t make hot water and mix it with cocoa powder on site.

There are so many basic things that the place lacks that it’s embarrassing.

Maybe $63M is an upsell but it’s long overdue some fixing. It’s not like they are calling for a retractable roof.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

For those of you too young to know why UConn ended up at the Rent in East Hartford, this is a good history of it.:

Hartford, Connecticut Breaking News, Sports & Entertainment - Hartford Courant

Hartford Courant: Your source for Connecticut breaking news, UConn sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic

www.courant.com

I recall Mansfield year-round residents hated the ideal of the stadium and opposed it at the legislature. Traffic. Weekend crowds. Rt 195 would have needed a big upgrade to support the traffic.

The Rent location was hard to oppose. It got us into The Big East. Yes, we wanted it on campus. But East Hartford was better than nothing.

The Mansfield residents once were opposed to the downtown Storrs development, Now, they are all going there to shop and eat. If they put the stadium near the research industrial park, traffic can come and go via Route 44. It is only six times a year.

 

[Woof 101]

(The Rent is a great place to see a game without a bad seat in the house and the tailgating is tremendous. I love the place. I would just love it more if it were located on campus.)

Not attacking anyone here but love the football field where it is. Further explanation below.

. It’s a dump. Not a bad place to watch a game but it’s a complete eyesore that lacks sooo much.

What make's it a dump? The grounds and stadium are clean as are the rest rooms. What makes a sporting location that one only spends a half a day such an eyesore???

Here we go again. I really wish they would just build on campus. And why are nutmeggers the only college fans in the country concerned about distance to the campus.

No attack @Kolumbo but it is not always distance. First one has to find a place on campus to locate a stadium. Then find acreage for parking. Again a state road study to possibly get the amount of cars and parking needed.

Not sure if those who have not been to the campus lately realize just what a football game traffic would be. Campus access roads are still 1960's and upgrades on campus for those lost, will be encountering roundabouts at each turn they are lost at.

While the new baseball, softball and soccer facilities are absolutely wonderful, parking is still a good walk from the venue.
I attend sporting games on campus but glad football is where it is. Just my opinion.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Have any of the people who want an on-campus football stadium ever driven into and out of Storrs on 195/44 in traffic? There's literally 2 one lane roads into campus. And football would be 2.5x the capacity of Gampel? Heh, okay.

 

[Exit 4]

Of course I suspect they have not spent money on regular maintenance as they should have. Part of this is the setup. The owner is one state agency, the operator is a different one who subs out part of the management to a private corporation ( private sector blah blah blah, it means you pay retail for everything) and maintenance is the prerogative of yet another agency. Plus it is 20 years old so likely there are systems that are in need of replacement and repair. Oh, and nobody involved in the operation has the authority to borrow to pay for upgrades. It is guaranteed to be a mess…

Yes, just like pretty much every public asset that doesnt have a legit business model. Revenues here never been close to paying for things and so maintenance was sacrificed. Completely predictable.

If I was the Governor I would commission a study for an on campus stadium and push for the land to set aside accordingly - preserved for the future! Maybe the stadium is on campus or maybe its immediately adjacent or a mile down the road - which ever site is best. At the Rent I would do the renovations to extend the life of the facilities another 15 years. I would publicly state that the goal should be to build an on campus stadium on a timeline to replace the Rent by year 15 from today. Its a goal. As time might prove - it may not be feasible or wise - we shall see.

If we ever do move on from the Rent I'm not sure what could be done with it. Maybe it becomes another outdoor concert facility like what Bport did with the Bluefish stadium.

 

[KembaKek]

If I was the Governor I would commission a study for an on campus stadium and push for the land to set aside accordingly - preserved for the future! Maybe the stadium is on campus or maybe its immediately adjacent or a mile down the road - which ever site is best. At the Rent I would do the renovations to extend the life of the facilities another 15 years. I would publicly state that the goal should be to build an on campus stadium on a timeline to replace the Rent by year 15 from today. Its a goal. As time might prove - it may not be feasible or wise - we shall see.

If I was the Governor Storrs would be a neo-city of 100k

 

[NCHusky91]

The typical CT way of building a minimum viable product loses again. Let’s make sure the program survives in FBS first.