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

[freescooter]

Yeah maybe, but I’m not so sure. I mean why spend $63 million to fix up an old rusty Pontiac? Build and design something new. It costs more but so what.

If you build something new, you do realize that you will face exactly the same issues in 20 years, right? Oh, plus the cost of the new stadium and the cost of doing whatever you do with the current one. Of course in an ideal world, you would have put away a modest replacement reserve from day 1 because you know that you wii have to replace the roof at some point, but even when you have to do that because someone, like your lender, requires it, few actually do it, and even fewer do enough. Government agencies NEVER do it.

 

[ZooCougar]

The Rent does not have only 10 more years of useful life. The whole point of updating and repairing it is to ensure that isn’t true.

 

[Devland]

Some of those threads took place when we were having sellouts or near sell outs pretty consistently. At that particular moment in time, it made some sense.

That was my point. Just a little irony.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Has anyone checked the University Master Plan to see if a football stadium is part of it? For argument sakes, if there was a stadium on the docket, it would say where it would be located and what size. If it were my call and the state would do it, I would build a 45K retractable dome stadium. Then you could have basketball games there (and not charge an arm and a leg). And unlike the Carrier Dome, it would have air conditioning. So yes, graduation could be in one spot, and you could have other teams use the facility as well. The fact that everyone has their new stadiums tells me this isn't on the docket.

 

[CL82]

The same BC that blackballed our entry into the ACC now wants to establish regional rivalries and wants UConn to be among them.

Do you have a source for this? I know that they are willing to play us periodically, as well as UMass, but I haven’t heard anything that would lead me to believe they would support us joining the ACC. It’s my assumption that if it makes sense for us to join the ACC the rest of the conference will just say “shut up BCU” since they are the @Dove of the ACC.

 

[CL82]

The Rent does not have only 10 more years of useful life. The whole point of updating and repairing it is to ensure that isn’t true.

And so tell me which of the items in the existing proposal extends its life beyond 30 years. The caulk? Because I don’t think it’s the caulk. The fiber optic system, which is the big ticket item? Because I don’t think that’s gonna do it either. The new elevator? I mean maybe you can make an argument for repairing the roofs.

 

[CL82]

Has anyone checked the University Master Plan to see if a football stadium is part of

The picture below suggests that it is.

 

[huskymedic]

… The fiber optic system, which is the big ticket item?

Not to your point of extending the life of the stadium but as an aside - in the scope of the total proposed project, updating the cabling is “relatively cheap”:

The video production upgrades adds another $1m:

 

[CL82]

Not to your point of extending the life of the stadium but as an aside - in the scope of the total proposed project, updating the cabling is “relatively cheap”:

View attachment 79106


The video production upgrades adds another $1m:

View attachment 79107

I actually I like the alternative where the broadcaster provides the components to make it functional.

 

[Waquoit]

A new stadium on campus would cost $500M minimum. And that's not even counting the infrastructure it would take the support the place. All for something that wouldn't sell one extra ticket.

 

[CL82]

A new stadium on campus would cost $500M minimum. And that's not even counting the infrastructure it would take the support the place. All for something that wouldn't sell one extra ticket.

Based on what? That seems high to me.

 

[AzHusky]

I believe that a stadium could be built on campus for less than 500M when you look at what it cost to build the Rent. Found this in a google search Construction cost: $91.2 million; ($134 million in 2021 dollars). Guessing the number's it looks like the Rent could be built on campus for around 200 million or so.

 

[HartfordHank]

Times change and so do perspectives. The same BC that blackballed our entry into the ACC now wants to establish regional rivalries and wants UConn to be among them.

Other than you no one, especially at BC, say they want to establish a regional rivalry with UConn. In most cases just the opposite.

 

[ZooCougar]

And so tell me which of the items in the existing proposal extends its life beyond 30 years. The caulk? Because I don’t think it’s the caulk. The fiber optic system, which is the big ticket item? Because I don’t think that’s gonna do it either. The new elevator? I mean maybe you can make an argument for repairing the roofs.

I think you are confused. Do you even have an argument?

There has already been enough information provided here. Feel free to read it.

I’m not an engineer but if they don’t do something to fix the damage done to the place caused by the elements then it will reach the end of its useful life very prematurely. The “caulking” you speak of is more than just “caulking”.

In typical Boneyard fashion you are oversimplifying this to a ridiculous degree.

 

[ZooCougar]

I actually I like the alternative where the broadcaster provides the components to make it functional.

You’re literally complaining about one of the least expensive line items that also provides one of the biggest ROI.

 

[uconnbill]

It was a piece of garbage when I first went in 2005. The most basic design. Want people there? Put covers over the seats like most European soccer stadiums. Even the 20-30k seaters have it

Suck it

 

[ZooCougar]

Next time you guys wonder out loud why Rutgers and Louisville are in and we are out.
Look no further than uninformed nitwits in this who are such tightwads they are against fixing the leaks and the cabling at The Rent.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Bryant Denny Stadium has been the Alabama on campus stadium since 1929. Expanded in 1950, 1961, 1966...added on to in 1988 and 1998 (to 83,000).

Yes..Bama did play some of their games at Legion in Birmingham but moved major conference games to Denny after 1998 and they stopped playing at Legion Field altogether 19 years ago.

Of course, Legion Field became known as the neutral site for the annual Alabama-Auburn game (the Iron Bowl).

You may want to do a little research bud. Beyond the Iron Bowl, there was a nearly three decade stretch when Alabama's home games against Tennessee and LSU (alternating years before the SEC expanded to 12) were all played in Birmingham. Additionally non conference games against significant opponents (the 1970 USC game being the most famous) were also played there. There were quite a few seasons that Bama played at least as many home games at Legion Field (until the expansion of Bryant-Denny in the late 1980's Legion had more capacity) as they did on campus.

This does not mean that having an off-campus stadium doesn't have inherent disadvantages, it just means that the disadvantages can be overcome.

 

[Kolumbo]

Just watched Florida State defeat L-ville. Competitive game. Remember when L-ville and Cincy were nobodies in c-usa. They moved on to the Big East, AAC, etc. Both invested in their stadiums big time. On campus. It makes a huge difference.

 

[uconnbill]

Based on what? That seems high to me.

agree on what is that based on?

I do think the infrastructure would be costly

I will say in some states it could be built at
Protective Stadium

Team: UAB Blazers

Capacity: 47,100

Cost: 174 Million

Opening Date: July 7th, 2021
Let's be honest in Connecticut it would be double the price due to Connecticut laws.

 

[CL82]

I think you are confused. Do you even have an argument?

There has already been enough information provided here. Feel free to read it.

I’m not an engineer but if they don’t do something to fix the damage done to the place caused by the elements then it will reach the end of its useful life very prematurely. The “caulking” you speak of is more than just “caulking”.

In typical Boneyard fashion you are oversimplifying this to a ridiculous degree.

Well, let me just sum it up in a sentence for you. Do any of the items that make up the 64 million purport to extend the life of the stadium beyond its normal useful life? Not that I’ve seen, but I haven’t read the whole report yet. Was that easier to understand?

 

[CL82]

You’re literally complaining about one of the least expensive line items that also provides one of the biggest ROI.

No, I’m literally reading the language that was posted. It lays out two alternatives one is that the broadcaster upgrade the cabling and the other is that the CDRA does it at a cost of about 2 million. If CBS Sportsnet decides it’s more convenient for them to have cabling in place, and want to put it in, God bless. if not, I go back to my question from several posts ago, what businesses have chosen not to use Rentschler field because it wasn’t pre-wired with fiber optics. The answer to that question needs to be something more than “well golly we imagine that if we had it we would get more people.”

 

[huskymedic]

Alternate access link here <<<

-> “Looking at the financial picture of our athletics program as a whole, I think there things we do that make it look much more precarious than it really is,” said Dan Toscano, UConn Board of Trustees chairman. “We may be the only program in the country, a state university that plays in a state-owned facility and has to pay rent for it. It’s sort of right pocket, left pocket. The unintended consequence is, it shows up in our financial statements and you have people saying, my God your’re running this huge deficit. I say, if we get funding from the state and we turn around and pay $5 million back to the state, not a dollar of the $5 million has actually changed hands. And yet, you’re creating a big hole.

“I find that whole thing somewhat odd. At some point we’ll try to sit down with OPM and the CRDA folks and the governor’s office and figure it out once and for all.” <-

-> The legislative session will kick off in January and the CRDA will soon have an idea what's available to finance the work. Gov. Lamont has been vocal supporter of Mora and UConn football, but it is a challenging economic time to seek funds for a sports venue. Freimuth and the CRDA are preparing for scenarios in which the state offers less funding. The priorities are the roof and the technology issues, so those will be top-of-the-list issues.<-

-> “Right now, it’s the only place that we have an option to play football,” Toscano said. “We can play basketball on our campus when you think about XL (Center) being part of the CRDA landscape, we have options for that. And come Jan. 14, we’ll have options for hockey as well. But when it comes to football, that is our sole venue.

“I think the state will decide how it moves forward and we’ll adapt to that. I don’t know what that is. I think ultimately that will a Governor and Speaker of the House discussion about what they want to do.” <-

(Keep the partisan politics out of any discussion)

 

[Exit 4]

Crazy possible outcome; operations of the Rent are given to the university to manage?!?!?

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I believe that a stadium could be built on campus for less than 500M when you look at what it cost to build the Rent. Found this in a google search Construction cost: $91.2 million; ($134 million in 2021 dollars). Guessing the number's it looks like the Rent could be built on campus for around 200 million or so.

The more steel you use in its construction vs concrete, the cheaper the cost. However the flip side of that means maintenance costs go way up when the use of steel increases, either by itself or in reinforced concrete. It’s the reason the Yale Bowl and the Rose Bowl have lasted well over a hundred years as both used relatively little steel compared to concrete and earthen fill. Just wanted to point that out.