New Arena To Cost $45 Million | Page 2 | The Boneyard

New Arena To Cost $45 Million

Leaving aside the wisdom of spending money that's not there, it's just a crummy deal.

QU built adjoining hockey and basketball arenas for $52 Million. Their hockey arena seats 3300, all chairbacks. For $45 Million ten years later, we should be able to get 3500-4000 and no benches.
 
$45M seems like an awful lot for such a cut rate facility. Colgate's Class of '65 arena was about $35M for 2,200+ seats, all chairbacks, in a glass and stone building. It included not just new locker rooms and team areas for the hockey teams, but new locker rooms and team areas for several outdoor sports as well (M&W soccer, M&W lacrosse). Instead UConn will have 500 chairbacks (out of 2,500) and renovated hockey locker rooms in a connected building.
 
Pudge said:
Absolutely and totally disagree with the notion that the Hockey East upgrade was poor. Cavanagh start-up is a successful venture.

I am very curious about the $22.5m Developer deal. YES, I can name 50 State University projects done this way ... and there is plenty of capacity in Municipal Finance for these deals today.

The Brand - we need to do these things very well. Yes I still believe Hockey and another ancillary sport are our POSSIBLE keys to upgrade in Conference.
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You’re lawst if you think Hockey East is getting us into a P5 conference. Some of this stuff is laugh out loud funny.

Other than your personal enjoyment I’d like to hear just ONE benefit to this upgrade.
 
Jimmy Serrano said:
You’re lawst if you think Hockey East is getting us into a P5 conference. Some of this stuff is laugh out loud funny.

Other than your personal enjoyment I’d like to hear just ONE benefit to this upgrade.
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It's tricky- UConn hockey's expenses are likely down (closer travel vs AHA), revenue is up (tickets), but then you have to factor in scholarships. The one thing I'd say towards that is AHA was likely going to impose a scholarship floor anyway, so the difference is 18 vs, say, 12.
 
Excalibur said:
Leaving aside the wisdom of spending money that's not there, it's just a crummy deal.

QU built adjoining hockey and basketball arenas for $52 Million. Their hockey arena seats 3300, all chairbacks. For $45 Million ten years later, we should be able to get 3500-4000 and no benches.
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Best comp is Bentley- they built that thing in a way more expensive part of the country for construction and got more than this proposes to get.
 
Jimmy Serrano said:
You’re lawst if you think Hockey East is getting us into a P5 conference. Some of this stuff is laugh out loud funny.

Other than your personal enjoyment I’d like to hear just ONE benefit to this upgrade.
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You're correct about Hockey East doing virtually nothing for a P5 invite.

According to this website: Equity in Athletics
2016 Men's Hockey Expenses: $2,953,352
2016 Men's Hockey Revenue: $3,415,625
 
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zls44 said:
It's tricky- UConn hockey's expenses are likely down (closer travel vs AHA), revenue is up (tickets), but then you have to factor in scholarships. The one thing I'd say towards that is AHA was likely going to impose a scholarship floor anyway, so the difference is 18 vs, say, 12.
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You left out the new $45 million boondoggle that will likely cost the school closer to $70 million with the stupid lease agreement.

Hockey Is a money loser for the elite hockey schools. So of course the nitwits in charge throw more money at it. At this point Benedict would get more bang for his buck if he lit his cigars with crisp hundos.
 
Jimmy Serrano said:
Hockey Is a money loser for the elite hockey schools.
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The elite hockey schools are literally the only people who its a money maker for, so
 
zls44 said:
The elite hockey schools are literally the only people who its a money maker for, so
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I know for a fact hockey is revenue-positive at BU. Or in some years they reinvest that money back into the program via facility/equipment upgrades, increased recruiting budget, coaching salary increases, etc.
 
45 million and I read somewhere it’s going to take 4 years. Are they building Rome or a minuscule hockey arena?
 
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This is mind numbing. I wonder what the Football recruiting budget looks like. Hockey, is the only sport at present playing in a conference affiliation that makes recruiting relatively easy.

Nobody ever accused Connecticut beaurocrats of being intelligent.
 
Wordbomar said:
Only 500 chair backs is ridiculous. If you're gunna make it small, at least make it a good facility to watch a game. This is amazing. Brand new arena with bench seating. Unbelievable.
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Come on they want to rent those lovely Husky cushions that they will rent to you for a small fee.

I hate it and there should be at least a couple thousand chair backs, but this is UConn doing things half butt
 
huskymedic said:
UConnBlog: If UConn Won’t Build New Hockey Rink Right, They Shouldn’t Build it at All
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This is a combination of budget issues within UConn and the UConn Athletic Department and meddling by the politicians in Hartford who want to use UConn to save Hartford, specifically the XL center, allied with the locals who would like to see UConn's campus rolled back to the 1960's.

College hockey should be on campus except for maybe a special game or two a season. UConn's fate should not be tied to Hartford.

This plan does the minimum to meet Hockey East standards, makes the XL supporters happy, and does not meet the future needs of the program.
 
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It should either be a shack that seats at least 6k or the most state of the art 3000 seat barn there is at that price and considering our needs. A tiny arena with mostly bleachers and new paint in the Freitas locker room is absolutely insane. Especially if HE is going to just let us keep playing at the XLCenter.
 
Last edited:
First the Werth Champions Center... a $35M practice facility for basketball.
Now, a $45M Hockey practice facility.
 
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This news is beyond embarrassing. UConn continues to display a very special level of ineptitude in all venue design/construction projects. Here's the recap of UConn sports venues in my lifetime:

1. built Gampel waaaaaaaaaay too small and way too cheap for two elite powerhouse hoops programs. Inevitable expansion limited based on design. Zero luxury box seating;
2. continues to enter into non-profitable lease agreements with the state and/or city of Hartford to play games at the dinosaur XL Center;
3. cut corners and capacity at Rentschler Field that is often cited as a reason for not being accepted into a P5 conference...when attendance was 40K, failed to expand/renovate off campus stadium to meet P5 preferences;
4. on-campus football facility donor asked to have name removed from complex after Pasqualoni hire;
5. took 3 decades of national championships to convince leadership to construct on-campus basketball facility, which (of course) had to be private funded. Lost several top prospects until built;
6. announces private fund raising campaign to renovate/expand soccer, baseball, and hockey facilities - 3 sports that won't get us any closer to getting out of AAC and becoming a self-sustaining AD;
7. will spend $45M to build the smallest facility in Hockey East and will only play there a handful of times a year against the worst opponents on the schedule in front of a couple dozen students;
8. city of Hartford/state of CT continues to fumble through yet another XL Center "renovate or build new" study while putting $0 into bringing the building into the 21st century...hurts recruiting.

Just horrendous leadership and vision.
 
huskymedic said:
UConnBlog: If UConn Won’t Build New Hockey Rink Right, They Shouldn’t Build it at All
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If 2,500 seats meant that there were 2,500 chair backs and the arena was state-of-the-art, that would be one thing, but this is just the Frietas Ice Forum — capacity of 2,000 and deemed not fit for the men’s hockey team to compete at all — with 500 chair backs added in.

This. It's not that I'm against a more modest rink but it seems like compromise has produced a penny wise, pound foolish decision. The UConn Blog guys get it.



Sadly apparently the UConn BOT does not read the UConn Blog.
 
CL82 said:
If 2,500 seats meant that there were 2,500 chair backs and the arena was state-of-the-art, that would be one thing, but this is just the Frietas Ice Forum — capacity of 2,000 and deemed not fit for the men’s hockey team to compete at all — with 500 chair backs added in.

This. It's not that I'm against a more modest rink but it seems like compromise has produced a penny wise, pound foolish decision. The UConn Blog guys get it.



Sadly apparently the UConn BOT does not read the UConn Blog.
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Yup. Quite literally putting lipstick (500 chair backs) on a pig (Freitas). And guess what - Freitas is still an undersized pig that won't produce a nickel of profit until 2048. Spectacular mismanagement by UConn but we've all come to expect mismanagement I suppose.
 
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