Gampel

[superjohn]

Eh it’s a dump. Not much is good about the place other than it’s special.

Gampel is great. It's an on campus arena, it's not supposed to be a brand new palace. It's a very good layout with no bad views and the place rocks for big games. This is a case of people b****** for the sake of b******.

 

[CTBasketball]

Gampel is great. It's an on campus arena, it's not supposed to be a brand new palace. It's a very good layout with no bad views and the place rocks for big games. This is a case of people b****** for the sake of b******.

I don’t buy your take.

 

[Robertelamin]

I think it’s a dump too but there is no chance they are replacing it anytime soon

 

[CL82]

Do you think the roof doesn't look good now? Or should I say post-initial construction as a whole? I would say it's pretty neat.. a cool feature to associate with a program that has a lot of history.

I don’t disagree. It was interesting and unique. It is problematic to maintain in ways that were not anticipated.

I note how you distinguish the way the roof looks now versus the way it worked initially. The contractors who did the repair struggled with the rewrap of the insulation and the interior so it isn’t uniform and has some sag in it. I suspect it will not age well. They would’ve been better off subcontracting that out to upholsters who would’ve done a flawless job.

 

[GoatHouse]

Yeah, personally I don’t get the whole “Gampel is a dump take”. Sure, it doesn’t have the same amenities as some of the newer arenas and could sorely use upgrades, but by no means does that make it a “dump”. I completely agree that Gampel has great sight lines to the court.. there really isn’t a bad seat in the place.

It would be tough to see Gampel torn down for a new arena but if the current structure of the building really limits renovations then I’m for it.

For hypothetical gampel renovations (with a decent amount of $$), I would LOVE (not expect) to see:

1. Luxury/suite boxes (maybe carve out the concrete above the top row of seats? Lol)

2. Chair backs throughout... let’s get those bleachers out of here.

3. A center hung video scoreboard... they can leave the two on opposing ends of the arena or maybe make they a stats scoreboard during the game (very expensive I know).

It might take away from the aesthetic of the dome... but I would be okay with taking some of the retired numbers/husky wall of honor, etc. and making them banners that can be hung around the inside on the dome itself. This could make room for more luxury suites/boxes and maybe even more advertising that can be done on the walls.

 

[jdb50]

Not sure of your reasoning here. If the original interior roof panels (decorative as I understand it) lasted from 1990 to 2015, that's 25 years. Why should the replacement panels only last 10 to 15 years?
Also, how does wi-fi fix a condensation problem?

The wi-fi work was rolled into the condensation fix for financial request reasons. Different projects but both were needed. To deal with the condensation problem plastic piping had been set up when the building was not being used for an event. To fix the interior white fabric on the panels they had to remove the panels from the roof structure. It is all the seams in the exterior aluminium panels that are potential leak candidates that limit the lifespan of the recently done fix. It is possible the white fabric material only has a 15 year lifespan guarantee. When they built the place they did not consider the snow and ice sliding off the roof. Had to add protection for pedestrians at entrances and sidewalks. Not a surprise back then as people remember the library being built with cantilevered floors that did not consider the weight of the books resulting in a fix on a fairly new building. And we have a good engineering school. Go figure.

 

[raf46]

Let’s be honest. Both arenas we have are dumps and out of date.

Winning basketball brings fans back, and hides both buildings blemishes. Losing hoops, in new arena's does not bring fans back.

 

[uconnric]

I think it’s a dump too but there is no chance they are replacing it anytime soon

If you think Gampel is a dump, can't wait for your take on Cameron Indoor Stadium. Imagine your horror at Allen Fieldhouse.

Replacing the bleachers with chairbacks would probably cut close to 1,000 seats from the seating capacity.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Gampel was built for $28 million finished in 1990. It was built on the cheap for many reasons but remember the corner seats were not there. The corner bleacher seats have some extra room but not much. The roof needed repair by 2015 and $10 million was spent giving the roof an expected 10 to 15 year extension in lifespan with the job finished by 2018. So in 10 to 15 years we do it all over again? Then a condensation problem was discovered with a fix that includes better Wi-fi coming in at $1.8 million. As homeowners know a condensation problem can quickly lead to a mold problem which is a big deal. With all the seams in the roofing structure we are told there are no leaks but with aluminium and all the hot /cold stresses this system will need to be changed permanently in the near future.
My point is there are major limiting factors to really improving the existing structure to be a modern arena even if we spent another pile of money on a concourse improvement. There is a real decision to be made here with State financial constraints seeming endless. This is the same boat the XL is in. With UConn committing big money to a new hockey arena they will be unable to really deal with Gampel's problems.

I watched it being built as a student while going to games at the Field House and Civic Center. Had season tickets that first season, the Willy Wonka golden ticket version behind the basket. It seemed wonderful to me then, but still I wondered why there was so much open space in the arena and so little in the concourse area. It's pleasant enough, but it's not a great arena. Definitely prefer Allen Field House as a venue.

That said, it's fine and certainly not in the XL category. I think we are making the same mistake on the hockey arena, making it smaller and just "less" than it needs to be, mostly for the same reason, so the state can continue to milk UConn games at XL.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you think Gampel is a dump, can't wait for your take on Cameron Indoor Stadium. Imagine your horror at Allen Fieldhouse.

Replacing the bleachers with chairbacks would probably cut close to 1,000 seats from the seating capacity.

Allen Field House is a way better place to see a game. But it's certainly not loaded with modern convenience by any stretch of the imagination. I doubt they've even brought it up to fire code.