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

[CL82]

You think it's sarcasm. Me? I'm putting glass floors and clear toilets in the bathrooms on the roof top bar over the opponent's locker rooms.

Psy opps?

 

[CTBasketball]

No reason not to build a 55,000 seat football stadium with a retractable roof that can convert to 18k seats for basketball games.

Heck split it in half and make 2 separate 18k basketball arenas so guys and gals can play games in the same building simultaneously.

Go B1G or go home.

Get it done.

Now you’re thinking. Gampschler Pavilion!

 

[LBird33]

The State of CT announced today their budget surplus is a record high levels. Funding a new stadium should be no problem. They could also easily float a bond. People will buy. Interest rates are going up. A fixed rate bond at this time would be great for retirees to purchase.

Most if not all of the surplus is from federal money for the pandemic. It’s a one year phenomenon.

 

[Exit 4]

Most if not all of the surplus is from federal money for the pandemic. It’s a one year phenomenon.

Us Fed deficit up 10T in less than a decade…meanwhile states are flush with cash from the great Fed transfer.

 

[Hondo 77]

Not the worst idea. If they didn't just build the Werth Family Center they could have replaced Gampel and the old field house with a stadium. And if not retractable, perhaps whatever this is! a roof coaster?!

View attachment 79220

For basketball the Carrier Dome has 30,000 seats and 20,000 of them are lousy.

 

[Iceman03]

GREAT REPLY. Even in our Heyday, UConn would draw 30,000 for Basketball MAYBE twice a year
Build it for the REAL fans, not the Front Runners
Gampel is fine for Basketball. If we just built a Arena that seats 2,500 for Ice Hockey (Which BTW, Will be the most successful sport long term for Uconn), 10,000 is plenty for basketball. As would a 40,000 seat on campus (Expandable unlike Gampel) Football Stadium.

 

[Alum86]

Who wants the 12 K stadium in Storrs? that’s a step down from the old Memorial Stadium which sat 16,200 not counting the hill.
View attachment 79205

They built a new hockey arena that holds as much as the local VFW. You trust them to build a football stadium this day and age, in Storrs? Ha. 7500 seats tops and bring on Trinity.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

For basketball the Carrier Dome has 30,000 seats and 20,000 of them are lousy.

True but that makes it easier to watch a zone defense. Nothing's uglier than watching a zone defense from good seats.

 

[Woof 101]

True but that makes it easier to watch a zone defense. Nothing's uglier than watching a zone defense from good seats.

Oh but! For those not at the game the zone gives the camera guy time to zoom in on Jim, ya know, picking his nose.

 

[Salty Dog]

So building the stadium in East Hartford was a mistake? So I guess you would say that moving to FBS was also a mistake because it wouldn't have happened without the stadium. The vast majority of UConn fans were happy to get a new stadium period. It still serves its purpose and needs to be kept up to date and in good repair.

Come on man. YES. Building the stadium in East Hartford was a mistake, a big one. Moving to FBS and building a new stadium in the first place was not a mistake. It is entirely plausible to have the right intentions (building a new stadium and moving to FBS) but absolutely butchering the execution. The Hartford groupies on this board stink.

 

[Bongo Fury]

People only pay attention to college BB in March/April after football playoffs and NFL are done.

 

[uconnric]

Come on man. YES. Building the stadium in East Hartford was a mistake, a big one. Moving to FBS and building a new stadium in the first place was not a mistake. It is entirely plausible to have the right intentions (building a new stadium and moving to FBS) but absolutely butchering the execution. The Hartford groupies on this board stink.

If you think building the stadium in East Hartford where it is easily accessible to our fan base (including Fairfield and New Haven Counties) and was our only option at the time, you're sounding like a troll.

Explain to me how building a stadium on campus instead of keeping the Rent up to date and in good repair has an iota of an effect on the success of the program without some lame gibberish.

 

[John]

Come on man. YES. Building the stadium in East Hartford was a mistake, a big one. Moving to FBS and building a new stadium in the first place was not a mistake. It is entirely plausible to have the right intentions (building a new stadium and moving to FBS) but absolutely butchering the execution. The Hartford groupies on this board stink.

how old are you exactly? Wondering if you ever went to games at Memorial Stadium.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[BlueandOG]

Because it's such a waste of time. There is no enthusiam statewide to give UConn FB any more money. None. Except for a handful of you guys on this board. There is even less enthusiasm for casual fans to drive to Storrs. UConn can't even sell out hoop on-campus. It's maddening how clueless you all are.

The negativity of your post belies the "Mr. Positive" tagline on your avatar.

 

[CL82]

If you think building the stadium in East Hartford where it is easily accessible to our fan base (including Fairfield and New Haven Counties) and was our only option at the time, you're sounding like a troll.

No, he’s not. At the time, Just coming off the loss of the Pats moving to Hartford, building a stadium in East Hartford was the only thing on the table.

Explain to me how building a stadium on campus instead of keeping the Rent up to date and in good repair has an iota of an effect on the success of the program without some lame gibberish.

At this point, I kind of doubt you’re being sincere since you’ve asked this repeatedly, and ignored the answers,but in the vague hope that you might be, let me answer the question.

Students are the life’s blood of a college football program. I having an on-campus stadium makes it easier for than to attend and get in the habit of Connecticut football on autumn Saturdays. I can’t say for sure, but I would think that the vast majority of the diehards on the football board, and probably majority of the season ticket holders all got their start going to games at Memorial Stadium on campus.

I completely understand how people say, look, I can’t get from Fairfield County to stores on a weeknight for a 9 o’clock game and get home in any kind of a reasonable hour. It makes perfect sense to me. What I don’t understand is the notion that I can’t travel an extra 30 minutes on a Saturday afternoon. Night games, OK I kind of see that, and but the extra hour given that with tailgating you’re probably going to be there a full day… Shrugs. There are a lot of fans of other colleges who manage to drive 2 1/2 hours or longer and go to their home games six times a year.

As I often say I like Rentschler field, and the tailgating is phenomenal, but tailgating in the middle of East Hartford and tailgating on campus or two different things. It gives you a lot of options before and after the game. For those of you who are worried about being stuck in traffic leaving a game, I say save that for the guys who are all barreling out at the end of the third-quarter. When I visit away stadiums, I stay to the end of the game watch the post game festivities and walk around the campus. If I haven’t been invited to a tailgate, which happens surprisingly often, I then drive out of the stadium parking with virtually no traffic. ( As noted in a recent article, there are traffic management techniques that could be used to funnel people out of the stadium without major infrastructure improvements). That’s one of the benefits of being on the campus, rather than a field in East Hartford.

So there’s your answer. Hope it helps.

 

[Nostical]

While I appreciate Stratton Stave's thoughtful opinion on the subject of where the stadium should be located, in my view, he comes to the wrong conclusion. Of course there are bureaucratic pitfalls and regulatory roadblocks to overcome before a stadium can be approved, funded and built on campus. As HC Mora says, "hard things are hard". But that doesn't mean you don't begin to galvanize the effort, enthuse the fan base, engage the donors, identify the best site, and work with the leaders in Mansfield and Hartford to build support.

It requires visionary leadership.

You don't wait for the team to start winning, you accelerate its potential by putting faith in the program. Patching up the Rent for $63+M is a huge waste of resources. CL82 addressed a crucial point in this discussion: game days on campus provide the quintessential collegiate experience. Alumni get to return to a familiar setting, fans of visiting teams get to appreciate the majesty of our campus and its incredible facilities--and who knows how many come away impressed (surprised perhaps) and suggest their kids and friends now take a look at UConn as they explore college options. And our fans, both statewide and beyond get to drive a bit further but arrive to enjoy a vibrant tailgating atmosphere (as good as the Rent) but where spending the entire day becomes a joy, not a rush to leave. That only happens on six football Saturdays in the fall when fans and visitors get to roam the campus and appreciate all that is there. What was built over many years with lots of State support needs to be promoted to an audience that doesn't have a clue of what UConn really is. I've been to games at almost every B1G and ACC school, as well as ND and several in the SEC, each with an on campus stadium and an amazing scene throughout the day. That should be us. Our future in this fluid period of conference realignment is yet to be written. Let's get ready now. Let's begin the effort to "come home" to what can (and will) become one of the greatest college football settings in the nation.

 

[Bongo Fury]

I am not an alumni. I enjoy going to the Rent. Hard to believe it is already considered old.

 

[uconnric]

No, he’s not. At the time, Just coming off the loss of the Pats moving to Hartford, building a stadium in East Hartford was the only thing on the table.

At this point, I kind of doubt you’re being sincere since you’ve asked this repeatedly, and ignored the answers,but in the vague hope that you might be, let me answer the question.

Students are the life’s blood of a college football program. I having an on-campus stadium makes it easier for than to attend and get in the habit of Connecticut football on autumn Saturdays. I can’t say for sure, but I would think that the vast majority of the diehards on the football board, and probably majority of the season ticket holders all got their start going to games at Memorial Stadium on campus.

I completely understand how people say, look, I can’t get from Fairfield County to stores on a weeknight for a 9 o’clock game and get home in any kind of a reasonable hour. It makes perfect sense to me. What I don’t understand is the notion that I can’t travel an extra 30 minutes on a Saturday afternoon. Night games, OK I kind of see that, and but the extra hour given that with tailgating you’re probably going to be there a full day… Shrugs. There are a lot of fans of other colleges who manage to drive 2 1/2 hours or longer and go to their home games six times a year.

As I often say I like Rentschler field, and the tailgating is phenomenal, but tailgating in the middle of East Hartford and tailgating on campus or two different things. It gives you a lot of options before and after the game. For those of you who are worried about being stuck in traffic leaving a game, I say save that for the guys who are all barreling out at the end of the third-quarter. When I visit away stadiums, I stay to the end of the game watch the post game festivities and walk around the campus. If I haven’t been invited to a tailgate, which happens surprisingly often, I then drive out of the stadium parking with virtually no traffic. ( As noted in a recent article, there are traffic management techniques that could be used to funnel people out of the stadium without major infrastructure improvements). That’s one of the benefits of being on the campus, rather than a field in East Hartford.

So there’s your answer. Hope it helps.

It would help but you still can't explain how a stadium in Storrs would help the program. It really does not matter. Plenty of students attend games in East Hartford. You just have to win.

I'm an alumnus who started watching games at Memorial and had season tickets there also. I"m glad we have the stadium we have and that Pratt (UT) gave us the land to build it on.

Getting back to reality, there is no appetite in the state right now to build a new stadium, and we don't need one anyway.

 

[MKH2317]

Does anyone know if there’s legitimate consideration from the UConn athletic department to build an on-campus football stadium?

 

[Kolumbo]

Pragmatically, The Rent should be fixed up because UCONN needs a place to play for the immediate future. That said, the state should be doing everything possible to put as many other events in it as possible. The stadium hasn't been that expensive based on cost and years so since it exists, it might as well be maintained if it can be used more frequently. I also don't know if $63 mill is too high or too low but it just seems high based on the age of the stadium and the way it looks. Keep the seats clean and the beer flowing.

If it is more likely that The Rent has very few other takers, then the state should consider cutting bait and putting the money into a new stadium on campus. UCONN is going to keep playing football no matter what others say. And if it should come to pass that UCONN were forced to drop to FCS, all the more reason to play on campus.

So in conclusion . . .

 

[CL82]

It would help but you still can't explain how a stadium in Storrs would help the program.

Uh, yeah, I kind of did.

I fully agree with your point though, that in the near term it’s not happening. I’ll even take you one step further, in the near term it should not happen, given the current status of the program. But I absolutely think that the CDRA‘s requested $64 million investment and should be evaluated with the possibility in mind that an on-campus facility might be suitable at sometime in the future. By all means, make all the necessary repairs, including the deferred maintenance that really should’ve been done out of the operating budget.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Is on campus in the master plan?

 

[huskymedic]

Is on campus in the master plan?

University Master Plan down bottom:

Here is the Environmental Impact Evaluation for the selection of the site for the Toscano Family Ice Forum. It discusses some of the challenges they had w/ the Industrial Tract, Separatist Tract and Mansfield Apartment/Moss Sanctuary sites for development. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/UConn/Ice-Hockey-Arena-Development/FINAL_UC_HOCKEY_EIE_021320.pdf (first couple of dozen pages are high enough level to get a sense of the depth of the required review for an on campus/near campus football stadium and the potential issues/hurdles to overcome).

Here is the University of Connecticut Master Plan from 2015 that is referenced.

 

[Iceman03]

So, Given it will take a few years to get a stadium on campus, the 1st thing The University has to do is make it clear that they do not wish to renew the lease for any more than a year to year basis. This allows the State to properly evaluate whether or not it makes sense to throw $64 million down a Rabbit Hole (My Recommendation would be NO). Start the On Campus Stadium process YESTERDAY, and get it done ASAP.