Gampel update | Page 2 | The Boneyard
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Gampel update

Kolumbo said:
More importantly, why spend another $100 million additional on what was a mistake in the first place
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Same exact reason they just spent $145 million to renovate PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford. Because nobody was willing to put up the money it would cost to build a brand new arena and because the economics to build a new arena in Hartford don't work.
 
HooperScooper said:
Same exact reason they just spent $145 million to renovate PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford. Because nobody was willing to put up the money it would cost to build a brand new arena and because the economics to build a new arena in Hartford don't work.
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It would be helpful to see some renderings, if they have any. Given the extreme success of women's and men's hoops, we really should be able to pack more students into our on-campus arena.

The Dean Dome cost $34 million in 1986 and has been renovated a few times and seats 21k. They're considering a new facility

Rupp Arena cost $55 million in 1976 and holds 21k

WrenchFan69 said:
Along Jim Calhoun Way, both in the existing and likely-now-unnecessary AD offices and onto the sidewalk. Take away the ~8 spots of street parking and extend the sidewalk into the current roadway.
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So they would be adding amenities but not adding seats, would that be the case? Calhoun Way would need to remain though because that is the way to reach the other athletic facilities
 
UCLJ0211 said:
Where can they expand the building?
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I have a better question: how can they expand the building? It's a round, single pour concrete structure. There is no way to increase the diameter of the building.

If they attempted to raise the roof and add a level seating, the appearance afterwards would be horrendous and access to that level would need to be installed from outside of the main structure. There would also be a significant gap between the top existing rows and where the first rows of the new level would begin. That's without taking costs (including quite a bit if engineering) into consideration.
 
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I wonder if the inside could be completely gutted and rebuilt as an upper and lower bowl with a concourse? The building has its limits as already said.
 
KingAG said:
I love our old cheesy building. It has its charm. And when i'm watching a big game there I couldn't care any less if there a fancy new amenities. Do your little updates, just keep winning championships
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It's nice but it always looks smaller than other arenas and there aren't enough students there. At some point it makes sense to just start over and do it right because there is only so much you can do with a concrete silo. UConn is always hamstrung and in this case it's the dual home courts. So now it has an arena in Hartford, it has Gampel, and it has separate practice courts

Some of these schools have smaller gyms on campus but primarily play in larger arenas than UConn's Gampel. Gampel is just not big enough

18k Creighton
20k Georgetown
19k Marquette
12k PC
19k SHU
20k SJU
20k Nova
 
Kolumbo said:
I didn't get to see the game last night and videos like this may have been posted but whoa nelly! We really sold ourselves short when we built Gampel. I always feel like we're throwing more money at past projects but always come up short. Whatever they do with Gampel, they should only do it if it increases seating by another 5k which seems impossible. And $100 million? That seems like a brand new pavilion with 15k seats.

This place is insane!! Check out the video

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I love that place but it's not even up to fire code. You can't build it today. Lawrence FD threatened to shut it down in the 90s and was told to shut up if they wanted their department to be funded.

Construction costs in CT, with all the additional regulations and union mandates is much higher than in FL or TX. I watched them build Gampel and we all thought it was too small and a bad design at the time and that hasn't changed. Round is just not the right shape for a sport played on a rectangle. The roof is aesthetically nice, but a waste from a cost perspective.

Glad they are updating it, but there's no chance they'd tear it down and build from scratch.
 
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Kolumbo said:
It would be helpful to see some renderings, if they have any. Given the extreme success of women's and men's hoops, we really should be able to pack more students into our on-campus arena.

The Dean Dome cost $34 million in 1986 and has been renovated a few times and seats 21k. They're considering a new facility

Rupp Arena cost $55 million in 1976 and holds 21k


So they would be adding amenities but not adding seats, would that be the case? Calhoun Way would need to remain though because that is the way to reach the other athletic facilities
Expand ...
$55 million in 1976 is the equivalent to $312 million today.

They spent an additional $326 million in recent years renovating Rupp.
 
Kolumbo said:
It's nice but it always looks smaller than other arenas and there aren't enough students there. At some point it makes sense to just start over and do it right because there is only so much you can do with a concrete silo. UConn is always hamstrung and in this case it's the dual home courts. So now it has an arena in Hartford, it has Gampel, and it has separate practice courts

Some of these schools have smaller gyms on campus but primarily play in larger arenas than UConn's Gampel. Gampel is just not big enough

18k Creighton
20k Georgetown
19k Marquette
12k PC
19k SHU
20k SJU
20k Nova
Expand ...
What do all of those places have in common? Every one of those schools plays in a city or highly populated area. Even Lawrence, KS has about 100,000 population. UConn could maybe have gone to about 14k, tops. Should have been at least 12k.
 
Kolumbo said:
Rupp Arena cost $55 million in 1976 and holds 21k
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I went to a game at Rupp once many years ago. It was a dump. Worse than PBA before the renovations. I'm sure they must have renovated it somewhat recently.

Edit: superjohn just answered my question. I figured they did.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I love that place but it's not even up to fire code. You can't build it today. Lawrence FD threatened to shut it down in the 90s and was told to shut up if they wanted their department to be funded.

Construction costs in CT, with all the additional regulations and union mandates is much higher than in FL or TX. I watched them build Gampel and we all thought it was too small and a bad design at the time and that hasn't changed. Round is just not the right shape for a sport played on a rectangle. The roof is aesthetically nice, but a waste from a cost perspective.

Glad they are updating it, but there's no chance they'd tear it down and build from scratch.
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I remember when a crane collapsed and bent right over the side of the cylinder. I guess they should have taken it as an omen. I've never been able to find a picture of it.
HuskyHawk said:
What do all of those places have in common? Every one of those schools plays in a city or highly populated area. Even Lawrence, KS has about 100,000 population. UConn could maybe have gone to about 14k, tops. Should have been at least 12k.
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There are always excuses but the end result is the same. we need more students at the games
 
FfldCntyFan said:
I have a better question: how can they expand the building? It's a round, single pour concrete structure. There is no way to increase the diameter of the building.

If they attempted to raise the roof and add a level seating, the appearance afterwards would be horrendous and access to that level would need to be installed from outside of the main structure. There would also be a significant gap between the top existing rows and where the first rows of the new level would begin. That's without taking costs (including quite a bit if engineering) into consideration.
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With the caveat that I am not an architect and have not done a walk-through. I think there are a few things that can be done. There are existing offices and space dedicated to other teams (the golf simulator comes to mind), which could be utilized to create concourse space.

Alternatively, I wonder if an elevated external (think of external walkways between buildings) concourse could be created which would effectively create a covered walkway around the building.

Once a dedicated walkway, either using existing office space or an elevated external walkway is created, then the internal concourse could be used to add seats. It's been years since I've been in Gampel, but I would think you probably would get two maybe three rows in there?

The other thing I think you could do is extend the building outward in the front and rear to create additional concourse space for concessions and bathrooms, etc.

Again, this is just off the top of my head, but that is what comes to mind in terms of potential buildable options. The natatorium is a another factor that limits expansion.

I actually think there is a rendering of an expanded Gampel in either the most recent master plan, or probably the one immediately prior to it.
 
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Until the mentality with the state's leadership and Hartford's leadership changes dramatically, we won't be able to build an on campus arena that holds more than Gampel currently holds. They believe the school needs to provide economics to Hartford and the threat that the arena would provide to the Civic Center (that will always be the real name) would set off half of the politicians in the state.

There was a reason they needed to lie about Gampel's initial capacity (first reports were 5,600 seats) and claimed that it could never expand (nearly 1,900 seats were added a half dozen years after it opened).

We have always faced a ton of resistance every time we tried to behave like a major university (I still don't get building Toscano with a 2,700 seat capacity). We need to comfort ourselves with the fact that Gampel is basically the same size as Cameron and accept that having Gampel as our home hasn't hindered us from winning championships l.
 
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Kolumbo said:
It's nice but it always looks smaller than other arenas and there aren't enough students there. At some point it makes sense to just start over and do it right because there is only so much you can do with a concrete silo. UConn is always hamstrung and in this case it's the dual home courts. So now it has an arena in Hartford, it has Gampel, and it has separate practice courts

Some of these schools have smaller gyms on campus but primarily play in larger arenas than UConn's Gampel. Gampel is just not big enough

18k Creighton
20k Georgetown
19k Marquette
12k PC
19k SHU
20k SJU
20k Nova
Expand ...
I'll tell you what: why don't you put together a proposal for a new on-campus arena that would cost $100m and I will make sure ADBD considers it. I'd love to see what you'd come up with. Unless you are planning to build a new fancy arena out of Amazon boxes, you're not going to get very far. I love your optimism and don't mean to be a pessimist to your idea, but it's impossible.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
Until the mentality with the state's leadership and Hartford's leadership changes dramatically, we won't be able to build an on campus arena that holds more than Gampel currently holds. They believe the school needs to provide economics to Hartford and the threat that the arena would provide to the Civic Center (that will always be the real name) would set off half of the politicians in the state.

There was a reason they needed to lie about Gampel's initial capacity (first reports were 5,600 seats) and claimed that it could never expand (nearly 1,900 seats were added a half dozen years after it opened).

We have always faced a ton of resistance every time we tried to behave like a major university (I still don't get building Toscano with a 2,700 seat capacity). We need to comfort ourselves with the fact that Gampel is basically the same size as Cameron and accept that having Gampel as our home hasn't hindered us from winning championships l.
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I'm not sure a larger on campus basketball arena is a good thing for us, at least not an 18,000 or 21,000 arena. As noted above, it's been a while since I've been to a game at Gampel, but I love the place notwithstanding the limited legroom, the limited concessions, and the limited restroom situation.
 
Kolumbo said:
It's nice but it always looks smaller than other arenas and there aren't enough students there. At some point it makes sense to just start over and do it right because there is only so much you can do with a concrete silo. UConn is always hamstrung and in this case it's the dual home courts. So now it has an arena in Hartford, it has Gampel, and it has separate practice courts

Some of these schools have smaller gyms on campus but primarily play in larger arenas than UConn's Gampel. Gampel is just not big enough

18k Creighton
20k Georgetown
19k Marquette
12k PC
19k SHU
20k SJU
20k Nova
Expand ...
Out of those arenas you named Creighton and Providence are the only ones who routinely fill up their place

Fertitta Center Houston 7,100

Foster Pavilion Baylor 7,500

Finneran Pavilion Villanova 6,500

Cintas Center Xavier 10,250

Crisler Center Michigan 12,707

Exactech Arena Florida 10,500

Moody Center Texas 10,763

McCarthy Athletic Center Gonzaga 6,000

Cameron Indoor Duke 9,314

The Gampel Hartford split works for UConn.
 
DW1361 said:
Does anyone know where the $100m is coming from?
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The legislature, unsurprisingly.

If I recall correctly, money to upgrade gamble was a part of the deal, implied if not expressly, for the university continuing to play games in Hartford. Essentially the athletic department argued that playing in Hartford takes away revenues that we would otherwise have which we could use to update Gampel.
 
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superjohn said:
Out of those arenas you named Creighton and Providence are the only ones who routinely fill up their place

Fertitta Center Houston 7,100

Foster Pavilion Baylor 7,500

Finneran Pavilion Villanova 6,500

Cintas Center Xavier 10,250

Crisler Center Michigan 12,707

Exactech Arena Florida 10,500

Moody Center Texas 10,763

McCarthy Athletic Center Gonzaga 6,000

Cameron Indoor Duke 9,314

The Gampel Hartford split works for UConn.
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Yeah but I can't help it if they stink. They have more seats. I was surprised to learn Baylor only built a 7,500 seat arena. Houston also surprises me, they need an upgrade
 
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