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

[CONN78SEJ]

Part of what's so frustrating with these pipe dreams is that they just ignore stuff. Like the reason the highway between Hartford and Providence was never built. Because Rhody doesn't want it.

No one wanted it, it just never made economic sense to build a highway for cars and trucks thru an economic wilderness to a little city like Providence RI. What does Providence have that they need to ship to Hartford and vice versa, that can come up 84 and 91 to Hartford or up 95 to Providence? Providence is not exactly an economic giant, however it does have a deep water port of which 95 services both from the north and the south west.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Part of what's so frustrating with these pipe dreams is that they just ignore stuff. Like the reason the highway between Hartford and Providence was never built. Because Rhody doesn't want it.

Rhody is worst for it eastern CT and Western RI are really rough rural places. Both areas need better transportation options.

 

[JohnFSilver]

No one wanted it, it just never made economic sense to build a highway for cars and trucks thru an economic wilderness to a little city like Providence RI. What does Providence have that they need to ship to Hartford and vice versa, that can come up 84 and 91 to Hartford or up 95 to Providence? Providence is not exactly an economic giant, however it does have a deep water port of which 95 services both from the north and the south west.

Oh man. Missing the point with that. There would be business situated along the way and suburbs that would have served both cities making it a sister city relationship. If you connected the cities people could have worked between them. Getting to providence from Hartford is awful.

 

[Iceman03]

The Point is, that for 6 day a year, the current roads are absolutely FINE

 

[Kolumbo]

With the added bonus of helping UMASS, lol.

Regional rivals can't hurt, Mr DeFilippo.

 

[Kolumbo]

Oh man. Missing the point with that. There would be business situated along the way and suburbs that would have served both cities making it a sister city relationship. If you connected the cities people could have worked between them. Getting to providence from Hartford is awful.

I don't know. You can still take highways by going Route 9 to 95 or Route 84 to Mass Pike. It's gonna take 90 minutes to 2 hours. It's New England. A stone's throw. If there were a highway straight through, what would it take, 80 minutes? I'm not gonna quibble.

 

[ScottVib]

I don't know. You can still take highways by going Route 9 to 95 or Route 84 to Mass Pike. It's gonna take 90 minutes to 2 hours. It's New England. A stone's throw. If there were a highway straight through, what would it take, 80 minutes? I'm not gonna quibble.

It's 72 miles or so along the intended path.. so it'd be right around an hour. (I think the planned build was about 64 miles but some of that is part of the current 84)

It's currently about 112 miles if you were to go 9 to 95 so about an hour and fifty minutes and about 2 hours again if you're going to stick to highways going 84 to the Mass Pike.

Ultimately there was a lot of economic opportunity that was lost by those rural communities by their inability to easily tap into the urban core as reasonable suburbs for folks working in Hartford or Providence.. but in the end I'm sure there's a big chunk of the population there that prefers it that way.

 

[CL82]

A large percentage of those who live more than 20 miles east of Hartford would be against it.

And you know this how exactly?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

And you know this how exactly?

Just read the above posts.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Oh man. Missing the point with that. There would be business situated along the way and suburbs that would have served both cities making it a sister city relationship. If you connected the cities people could have worked between them. Getting to providence from Hartford is awful.

No, you’re missing the reality of the interstate highway system. There is no highway along Connecticut’s northern border that goes west to east, they all go north to south, even 395 in the eastern part of the state runs north to south, and 84 turns north before entering Massachusetts. No state or federal agency is going to advocate building a billion dollar highway so 5000 or 10,000 retired residents can drive their Prius, or Civic, or Tesla from Hartford to Providence. Even if they had toll booths along said highway, they would take in less money than a 5 and Dime in Mansfield. It just doesn’t make economic sense.

 

[freescooter]

It's 20 years old next year. It should start to show its age in major systems. The life of the stadium is probably 25 years without upgrades. No one builds stadiums for 100 years anymore since it costs too much.

Look at the Atlanta Braves, they went from Fulton County, to Turner FIeld and now have a new stadium like 20 years later.

This state is something. We build something 20 years ago, and then after 20 years we are surprised it is old and needs a facelift. I think they should do work to give the stadium 10 more years and then decide to move it back to Storrs.

This is right. And most of the stuff on the list falls into 2 categories:
1. replacement of material and equipment that has reached the end of its useful life. In simple terms, it is similar to your car. After 40,000 miles you need to replace your tires. Well, we have reached that point with some of the equipment and fixtures at the Rent.
2. upgrades to reflect new technology. This should hardly come as a surprise. When the Rent opened, people carried pagers and blackberries. That was the state of technology. They’ve adapted and modified things, to Adapt to changes, but that results in a disjointed system. At some point you need to overhaul the entire system to make it more rational and quite honestly, more adaptable to changes to come. Those of you still using pagers, call your offices.

 

[CL82]

Just read the above posts.

I have. Everyone one. There’s nothing in the posts above that supports it. Not a single thing.

That’s the thing that kills me about this thread. People manufacture reasons why a stadium in Storrs “can’t” happen without any basis in reality. It’s weird.

People really want a reason not to build a stadium in Storrs, the obvious one is that we already have a stadium in East Hartford. That doesn’t mean that we cannot build in Storrs, just that we will not in the near future.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I have. Everyone one. There’s nothing in the posts above that supports it. Not a single thing.

That’s the thing that kills me about this thread. People manufacture reasons why a stadium in Storrs “can’t” happen without any basis in reality. It’s weird.

People really want a reason not to build a stadium in Storrs, the obvious one is that we already have a stadium in East Hartford. That doesn’t mean that we cannot build in Storrs, just that we will not in the near future.

Agree here. Logistics and engineering are possible.

The expense can be managed and figured out.

The biggest hurdle is political viability.

I think we should run Rentschler until 2030 and then decide where program is and what to do.

 

[uconnric]

I have. Everyone one. There’s nothing in the posts above that supports it. Not a single thing.

That’s the thing that kills me about this thread. People manufacture reasons why a stadium in Storrs “can’t” happen without any basis in reality. It’s weird.

People really want a reason not to build a stadium in Storrs, the obvious one is that we already have a stadium in East Hartford. That doesn’t mean that we cannot build in Storrs, just that we will not in the near future.

Not manufactured, unless you want to totally ignore the opposition from Mansfield last time the stadium was proposed on campus. The worst part is that Storrs is about as inconvenient a location for most of our fans than any other location in the state.

 

[Waquoit]

Why don’t you tell everyone why it wouldn’t be?

A claim was made, the onus is on the claiment. I didn't realize you were a minor child, my bad.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have. Everyone one. There’s nothing in the posts above that supports it. Not a single thing.

That’s the thing that kills me about this thread. People manufacture reasons why a stadium in Storrs “can’t” happen without any basis in reality. It’s weird.

People really want a reason not to build a stadium in Storrs, the obvious one is that we already have a stadium in East Hartford. That doesn’t mean that we cannot build in Storrs, just that we will not in the near future.

It is very possible once you reach the poi t where people will accept the costs. Those costs are financial, which will be considerable, and disruption of status quo, something that too many who live in the area oppose. Hell, we have people in this thread complaining about the idea of a highway connecting Hartford and Providence. How it is that you did not see that and don't realize that it us the core of the problem has me baffled as I always viewed you as being both open minded and intelligent enough to not conveniently ignore things if they don't support your argument.

I have had discussions, in the late 1980s with developers and politicians from the central part of the state inquiring about something that on the surface always appeared as a no-brainer (linking the two state capitals by highway) hadn't been done. The answer had always been the opposition by residents who would potentially have their lives "disturbed" by the project and their ability to use the projected costs to gain support to kill the idea before it got off the ground.

Again, if there were any feasible way to put a stadium on campus I would be at the front of the line, doing whatever I could to help make it work. The additional distance I would need to travel to home games would not bother me at all (for the record I have attended a number of games over the years where I drove from central New Hampshire, getting to Storrs from Stamford would not bother me). The fans like BL, Nostical, Money and yours truly aren't the problem. We will endure the difficulties, we've proven that over the years. My position (that it is not feasible and won't happen entirely because of that) isn't about convenience to attend the games. It is entirely based in the realities that we face including what our attendance has been over the past half dozen years. If the program had been maintained and the fan base had been properly cultivated and nurtured (keep in mind that we were basically a startup that over performed for its first eight years), we would now be in a position where we could play anywhere (within reason) and expect the entirety of our ticketholders to attend (at a far greater number than the Rent's current 40k). That did not happen. It sucks, at levels that infuriate me but there is nothing we can do to change the decisions from 2011 forward. All we can do is move on have sufficient reason to believe we got this hire right and hope there isn't too much of a lag in the return of the fan base. Asking them to add what would be an extra couple of hours both into and out of the parking lots will not help us add 20k+ fans per game at the moment.

 

[CL82]

Not manufactured, unless you want to totally ignore the opposition from Mansfield last time the stadium was proposed on campus. The worst part is that Storrs is about as inconvenient a location for most of our fans than any other location in the state.

I know, I remember all the people lined up at the meetings screaming about how they didn’t want the new stadium; I remember the lawsuits and in junctions to prevent the development; I remember how they linked the arms in front of the tractors to stop the ground from being cleared…

Oh, wait, I don’t remember any of that, because it never happened.

 

[CL82]

Hell, we have people in this thread complaining about the idea of a highway connecting Hartford and Providence. How it is that you did not see that and don't realize that it us the core of the problem has me baffled as I always viewed you as being both open minded and intelligent enough to not conveniently ignore things if they don't support your argument.

Uh, thank you?

In any event you understand that the 84 extension and building a stadium in Storrs are entirely different projects with dramatically different impacts and costs. Claiming that historic opposition to one means as a matter of course automatic opposition to the other has zero basis in fact. Do you understand that?

Again, if there were any feasible way to put a stadium on campus I would be at the front of the line, doing whatever I could to help make it work

Well, since, as has been discussed ad nauseaum in this thread, building in Storrs is entirely feasible, I’m glad we can count on your support if it ever comes to pass.

Again, it’s one thing to say “I don’t support building a stadium in Storrs for whatever reason, be it extra travel time, the expense of building a new stadium, whatever, but it’s quite another to invent imaginary reasons why it can’t happen. It absolutely could.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Not manufactured, unless you want to totally ignore the opposition from Mansfield last time the stadium was proposed on campus. The worst part is that Storrs is about as inconvenient a location for most of our fans than any other location in the state.

Things change. People die. The opposition to it was 25 years ago.

Hell, in 3 years time in Farmington we went from historic turnout on paying for a school. 2-1 no. To a 2-1 yes.

People sometimes get hung up on things they are uncomfortable with. Mansfield has changed so much since 1995-96 that I think it’s a much easier sell. UConn’s grown massively since then.

 

[uconnric]

I know, I remember all the people lined up at the meetings screaming about how they didn’t want the new stadium; I remember the lawsuits and in junctions to prevent the development; I remember how they linked the arms in front of the tractors to stop the ground from being cleared…

Oh, wait, I don’t remember any of that, because it never happened.

There was plenty of opposition from the town. It never even got the "lawsuit stage". That would imply it was approved. Never even got to that stage.

 

[CL82]

There was plenty of opposition from the town. It never even got the "lawsuit stage". That would imply it was approved. Never even got to that stage.

So, how exactly did this opposition manifest itself? To what exactly were they opposed to? The stadium deal in Hartford, or the stadium deal in East Hartford?

So you said it wasn’t approved? To whom was approval submitted? Did they go before any local planning boards? Perhaps it was environmental hearings? I mean, for something “not to have been approved“ they would’ve had to ask someone for approval, right?

You know what? Let’s try some thing more fundamental, where was the supposed proposed stadium site in Storrs?

 

[DoctorWho85]

I seem to be in the minority here, but I love The Rent. It has great views, ample parking, it's easy to get to and it's just a nice stadium to be at for a football game. I'm not saying I won't go to Storrs, because I absolutely will, but there is no way you're getting Hartford on board to build a stadium in Storrs after the state basically funded The Rent.

 

[CL82]

I seem to be in the minority here, but I love The Rent. It has great views, ample parking, it's easy to get to and it's just a nice stadium to be at for a football game. I'm not saying I won't go to Storrs, because I absolutely will, but there is no way you're getting Hartford on board to build a stadium in Storrs after the state basically funded The Rent.

I love the Rent as well and I absolutely agree with everything that you said. It doesn’t make sense to build in Storrs when there is a viable stadium in East Hartford. The question is how much money should be invested in East Hartford to extend the stadium beyond its normal useful life. When that question comes up, one of the things that ought to be thought about is investing in a new stadium which will have its entire useful life ahead of it, rather than extending Rentschler field beyond its useful life until we end up with a Hartford Civic Center situation.

Link

 

[UConnJim]

For now, the Rent is fine. As stated previously, why is anybody surprised that a 20 year old building needs maintenance? In my opinion, the issue is the Rent is owned by the state, managed by a quasi government agency, and used by UConn. That's crazy. Why would any rich alumnus donate to do upgrades at the Rent when it is owned by the state and not owned by the university? See how donors came forward for the new soccer field, football practice facilities, ...

As for an on campus stadium, in my opinion, the best location would be the current location of EO Smith High School. It's at the junction of 195 and 275. Heck, there is already a football field there. Move the high school to another location in Mansfield and continue to develop Storrs Center.

One day, Connecticut will have a governor that says UConn will be an economic growth engine for Eastern Connecticut and designate Storrs a town that is separate from Mansfield.

 

[CL82]

As for an on campus stadium, in my opinion, the best location would be the current location of EO Smith High School. It's at the junction of 195 and 275. Heck, there is already a football field there. Move the high school to another location in Mansfield and continue to develop Storrs Center.

I believe that was considered as a site for the new hockey stadium. The university offered to build Mansfield a new high school on the Mansfield training center property in exchange for their giving up the EO Smith property. Mansfield turned them down.

Stop and think about that. The geniuses in Mansfield had the opportunity to have a brand new state of the art high school on a beautiful campus and instead kept EO Smith.

Shrugs

 

[uconnfan68]

Things change. People die. The opposition to it was 25 years ago.

Hell, in 3 years time in Farmington we went from historic turnout on paying for a school. 2-1 no. To a 2-1 yes.

People sometimes get hung up on things they are uncomfortable with. Mansfield has changed so much since 1995-96 that I think it’s a much easier sell. UConn’s grown massively since then.

And UConn would be so much more between I84 and I384/whatever the road to Providence would be.

 

[WrenchFan69]

I believe that was considered as a site for the new hockey stadium. The university offered to build Mansfield a new high school on the Mansfield training center property in exchange for their giving up the EO Smith property. Mansfield turned them down.

Stop and think about that. The geniuses in Mansfield had the opportunity to have a brand new state of the art high school on a beautiful campus and instead kept EO Smith.

Shrugs

Anything to spite the driving force of every inch of that town's success

 

[uconnric]

So, how exactly did this opposition manifest itself? To what exactly were they opposed to? The stadium deal in Hartford, or the stadium deal in East Hartford?

So you said it wasn’t approved? To whom was approval submitted? Did they go before any local planning boards? Perhaps it was environmental hearings? I mean, for something “not to have been approved“ they would’ve had to ask someone for approval, right?

You know what? Let’s try some thing more fundamental, where was the supposed proposed stadium site in Storrs?

Horse barn Hill. Guess you weren’t paying attention.

 

[CL82]

Horse barn Hill. Guess you weren’t paying attention.

So you’re saying that the university announced a plan to put the stadium on Horsebarn Hill that was opposed by Mansfield residence and then abandoned? Interesting. I guess I must’ve missed that.

Do you have answers for the other questions as well?

 

[Kolumbo]

Build a brand new state of the art high tech stadium in Windsor Locks near the airport or the river which would be home to both the Huskies and the Minutemen. Split the cost and it would be used twice as often. A smaller version of SoFi Stadium

View attachment 79724

Tough crowd, I tell ya, I get no respect