Gampel improvements starting tomorrow | The Boneyard

Gampel improvements starting tomorrow

Here is a story about the renovations.

"An aspect of the pavilion’s second phase design is the expansion of concessions and merchandising space and “premium” offerings, like loge seating and club spaces for season ticketholders and donors.

“We need to try to address our premium offerings, which we have very little of, which means, how do we create some club spaces?” Benedict said. “How do we create better points of sale and options from a concession standpoint? And the biggest thing is how our fans can move in and out and around the building, which is difficult, because we don’t have an outer concourse, so it really clogs things up. We want to be sold out and that creates problems with bathrooms and points of sale and concessions.”

The updated budget also includes an additional $750,000 for telecommunications upgrades."

dailycampus.com

Second phase of Gampel Pavilion renovations to roll on with $63.4 million boost

The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees approved a proposal to use a total of $99.4 million to fund a second phase of upgrades to the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, the on-campus home of the sch…
dailycampus.com dailycampus.com
 
Really like the courtside club concept. I was lucky enough earlier this year to experience courtside seats at a Clemson game, which had access to a lounge like what they are showing in the renderings. About 25 minutes before the game started, one of the assistant coaches comes into the lounge and breaks down their scouting report of the opposing team. If you're a basketball junkie, it's a pretty cool experience.
 
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cohenzone said:
How about making all seat back seatings, dump the bleacher seats which are bad on older backs especially.
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Not sure whose idea the bench seating was but it was a terrible idea. I'm sure it had to do with saving money and trying to get more people into a smaller area but it doesn't work. How much more money would it have cost to put seats in? There's just not enough room for as many people as is supposed to be in each row. I think it was designed for all teenage girls. And I'm not a big guy but heaven forbid you have a couple Big Red sized guys in your row. Between that and no seat backs it's extremely uncomfortable. Yeah I know, worry about winning and forget about comfort.
 
HooperScooper said:
Not sure whose idea the bench seating was but it was a terrible idea. I'm sure it had to do with saving money and trying to get more people into a smaller area but it doesn't work. How much more money would it have cost to put seats in? There's just not enough room for as many people as is supposed to be in each row. I think it was designed for all teenage girls. And I'm not a big guy but heaven forbid you have a couple Big Red sized guys in your row. Between that and no seat back it's extremely uncomfortable. Yeah I know, worry about winning and forget about comfort.
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Agree with you on this one - the bench seats are hard, they allot limited width per seat and the depth is a challenge for anyone like me over 6’1” tall. It would be great if they can convert all those bench seats to seats with backs and arm rests.
 
HooperScooper said:
Not sure whose idea the bench seating was but it was a terrible idea. I'm sure it had to do with saving money and trying to get more people into a smaller area but it doesn't work. How much more money would it have cost to put seats in? There's just not enough room for as many people as is supposed to be in each row. I think it was designed for all teenage girls. And I'm not a big guy but heaven forbid you have a couple Big Red sized guys in your row. Between that and no seat back it's extremely uncomfortable. Yeah I know, worry about winning and forget about comfort.
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I'm going to guess they'd lose a LOT of seats if there weren't benches. If Fenway replaced the old original wooden seats (torture devices), their capacity would go from something like 37,000 to 34,000. Translation: The benches aren't likely going anywhere no matter how many old guys whine.
 
Besides seating, the biggest thing that would have fan impact is improving the concourse. I've often thought that a partially external concourse would work well, but it seems as if they're just removing stuff from the interior Gampel, like the golf simulator, to create room.
 
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I'm excited to the updates. But I'm confused about one thing, didn't we recently replace all the roof tiles? What's the plan for the new roof? Is this structural because of the changes we're going to be making inside?
 
CL82 said:
Besides seating, the biggest thing that would have fan impact is improving the concourse. I've often thought that a partially external concourse would work well, but it seems as if they're just removing stuff from the interior Gampel, like the golf simulator, to create room.
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This sounds to me like they are creating a concourse that goes under the stands?

From: UConn Athletics Announces Planned Renovations to Gampel Pavilion - University of Connecticut Athletics

New grab-and-go food concessions will replace the current concession stands on each of the four corners of the bowl, alleviating congestion at the existing concession venues. As a side benefit, congestion outside the nearby restroom entryways will also be eased with the continuous flow through the stands.
 
UConn Dan said:
This sounds to me like they are creating a concourse that goes under the stands?

From: UConn Athletics Announces Planned Renovations to Gampel Pavilion - University of Connecticut Athletics

New grab-and-go food concessions will replace the current concession stands on each of the four corners of the bowl, alleviating congestion at the existing concession venues. As a side benefit, congestion outside the nearby restroom entryways will also be eased with the continuous flow through the stands.
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I read that same passage a few times as well. I just don't know what that means. Arguably the existing internal concourse is "continuous flow through the stands." if you could figure out a way to have good flow outside the existing seats, then you could take that internal concourse and add seats their increasing capacity. Or, alternatively, you could use it for premium seating/club seating.
 
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is this supposed to be a new exterior concourse? And what is upstairs? are they raising the roof? Sure, try to entice us with the fully stocked bar

1774375372460.png
 
cohenzone said:
How about making all seat back seatings, dump the bleacher seats which are bad on older backs especially.
Expand ...
How much would the capacity be reduced if that was the case? Serious question! The upper bleacher sideline has multiple extra rows of seats and multiple extra people per row than the chair back side.
 
HooperScooper said:
Not sure whose idea the bench seating was but it was a terrible idea. I'm sure it had to do with saving money and trying to get more people into a smaller area but it doesn't work. How much more money would it have cost to put seats in? There's just not enough room for as many people as is supposed to be in each row. I think it was designed for all teenage girls. And I'm not a big guy but heaven forbid you have a couple Big Red sized guys in your row. Between that and no seat backs it's extremely uncomfortable. Yeah I know, worry about winning and forget about comfort.
Expand ...
I have seats in section 10 (the tiny corner section with 4 seats per row). Every game I see shocked faces for folks who are going to their first game at Gampel and are in the massive section to my left. To say it's cramped is an all time understatement. There was a family with little kids towards the back one of the last games there this year. There is no way the kids saw anything based on the low height difference between rows. For the prices, the bench seats are awful. Even without the prices, the majority are still awful.
 
Deepster said:
I'm going to guess they'd lose a LOT of seats if there weren't benches. If Fenway replaced the old original wooden seats (torture devices), their capacity would go from something like 37,000 to 34,000. Translation: The benches aren't likely going anywhere no matter how many old guys whine.
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Unfortunately, you're right. The bench seats are much less space than real seats. You can't even sit there with your knees together if you're over 5'6".
 
mjmoney23 said:
How much would the capacity be reduced if that was the case? Serious question! The upper bleacher sideline has multiple extra rows of seats and multiple extra people per row than the chair back side.
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That certainly is a question. The extended sideline seats is where I wound up for the women NCAA. Yes they would lose some capacity. The bleacher type seats jn the student sections arguably are fine for 20 year olds.
 
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UConn Dan said:
This sounds to me like they are creating a concourse that goes under the stands?

From: UConn Athletics Announces Planned Renovations to Gampel Pavilion - University of Connecticut Athletics

New grab-and-go food concessions will replace the current concession stands on each of the four corners of the bowl, alleviating congestion at the existing concession venues. As a side benefit, congestion outside the nearby restroom entryways will also be eased with the continuous flow through the stands.
Expand ...

Kinda gross to have bathrooms continuously flowing through the stands, no???
 
Kolumbo said:
is this supposed to be a new exterior concourse? And what is upstairs? are they raising the roof? Sure, try to entice us with the fully stocked bar

View attachment 118588
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My best guess is that they're putting a new glass enclosed concourse on what would be the exterior portions on the co-op side and on the Fieldhouse side.
IMG_6861.jpeg

IMG_6860.png


But if you look at the rendering that doesn't appear to be what's happening. I'd love to see the actual plans.
 
Deepster said:
I'm going to guess they'd lose a LOT of seats if there weren't benches. If Fenway replaced the old original wooden seats (torture devices), their capacity would go from something like 37,000 to 34,000. Translation: The benches aren't likely going anywhere no matter how many old guys whine.
Expand ...
Another example of Connecticut trying to build a stadium on the cheap. So short sighted with never a thought to future expansion.
 
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