New Basketball Facility

[Kait14]

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/122911aab.html

 

[EricLA]

this is totally awesome and hopefully jump starts the facility. for those who don't want to check the link out, it's on the UCONNHuskies web page and a couple from Connecticut, the Werth's, are donating $4.5 million towards the facility. i assume it will be called "The Werth Complex/Facility" or something like that...

i've read that now we have about $16 million or so, and if the facility costs between $25 and 30 million, we are over halfway there. certainly enough $ to break ground and hopefully other donors begin to step up as well. i wonder what the ETA for finishing the complex is?

 

[mr006]

now if only someone could pledge to improve the seating further up the bowl at Gampel...

 

[cferraro04]

For what it Werth, I think this is fantastic...it is sure to help with future recruiting and it will assist Geno and his staff it proving that coming to UConn is notewerthy.

 

[pap49cba]

Wonderful news. Hope this means they can start construction sooner rather than later.

 

[Kait14]

Wonderful news. Hope this means they can start construction sooner rather than later.

I tweeted Pat McKenna to see if there was a timeline for it, but haven't heard anything yet

 

[Olde Coach]

I tweeted Pat McKenna to see if there was a timeline for it, but haven't heard anything yet

Hey Kait, get out your checkbook and make a donation.

I just mailed in my check for $45.

It's great to have you back on the Boneyard.

Olde Coach

 

[Sonny44]

When is it anticipated?

 

[Kait14]

Hey Kait, get out your checkbook and make a donation.

I just mailed in my check for $45.

It's great to have you back on the Boneyard.

Olde Coach

Haha I wish!! I'm a broke college student! I'll just sit back and wait until it's built, than admire it when I'm in grad school at UConn haha

 

[Kait14]

When is it anticipated?

No response from McKenna, so I guess we're just going to have to wait until more info comes out

 

[Icebear]

And more money comes in.

 

[RoyDodger]

this is totally awesome and hopefully jump starts the facility. for those who don't want to check the link out, it's on the UCONNHuskies web page and a couple from Connecticut, the Werth's, are donating $4.5 million towards the facility. i assume it will be called "The Werth Complex/Facility" or something like that...

i've read that now we have about $16 million or so, and if the facility costs between $25 and 30 million, we are over halfway there. certainly enough $ to break ground and hopefully other donors begin to step up as well. i wonder what the ETA for finishing the complex is?

The article says $30 million, which sounds low for today's construction costs of a facility of that size. And they're only half way to the 30 mil. I wouldn't count on seeing this facility anytime soon.

 

[DaddyChoc]

The article says $30 million, which sounds low for today's construction costs of a facility of that size. And they're only half way to the 30 mil. I wouldn't count on seeing this facility anytime soon.

they say 2014-15

this isnt a arena (with 10,000 seats).... just a oversized gym

 

[Icebear]

Way more than a gym given the type of support facilities these things include today.

 

[pap49cba]

they say 2014-15

this isnt a arena (with 10,000 seats).... just a oversized gym

Geno Auriemma after UConn's 93-40 win over Fairfield...
On the $4.5 million donated by the Werth Family to the athletic department..
"I just know there are state regulations concerning how much of the project money needs to be in your hands before you can put a shovel in the ground. I am not certain how much that is, but we are working under the assumption that the basketballl practice facility will be open by September 2013. If that's the goal, that's the goal. That's the timeline that was thrown out at me."

 

[RoyDodger]

Oh, not an arena, just a practice facility. Is this a vanity project or do they really need a practice facility. Gampel's not good enough?

 

[Icebear]

Oh, not an arena, just a practice facility. Is this a vanity project or do they really need a practice facility. Gampel's not good enough?

Not in today's world of competitive recruiting.

 

[HuskyNan]

Oh, not an arena, just a practice facility. Is this a vanity project or do they really need a practice facility. Gampel's not good enough?

UConn has two elite basketball teams that need to share time on the court with not only one another but also with the volleyball team and probably the cheerleaders as well. If you're entertaining a top-rated recruit, you need to show them that the bball team is important to the UConn community, like the UConn football team which has a multi-million dollar indoor practice facility. You can't believe how many recruits the Schenkman Practice Facility has landed for the football team.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Way more than a gym given the type of support facilities these things include today.

come on Ice... I exaggerated a lil, point being 25-30 mill is enough for a PF

 

[RoyDodger]

UConn has two elite basketball teams that need to share time on the court with not only one another but also with the volleyball team and probably the cheerleaders as well. If you're entertaining a top-rated recruit, you need to show them that the bball team is important to the UConn community, like the UConn football team which has a multi-million dollar indoor practice facility. You can't believe how many recruits the Schenkman Practice Facility has landed for the football team.

Nan, I see, that certainly answers my question. I also note that an organization named Populous is planning the facility. Populous is probably the leading sports facility design organization in the world. One of their many projects was Oriole Park at Camden Yard which opened in the early 1990s. They previously designed an upgrade for Gampel, and other UConn facilities, including that football practice facility Nan mentioned.

Amusingly, and I often seem to find a Dodger connection, I saw this morning that Steve Cohen, a hedgefund billionaire from Greenwich, who is hoping to buy the Dodgers, has apparently already hired Populous to consider a renovation of Dodger Stadium. Mr. Cohen is obviously a man who knows what he wants.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Burton's Center costed 48 Millions... to hold a FOOTBALL team 50+ players/coaches, equipment etc. seating for all to watch tape, computer lab for maybe 1/2 of them at a time

"The Shenkman center has been hailed as one of the best football practice facilities in the country - with a 120-yard indoor field, a 120-seat auditorium, and a 110-foot ceiling so that punters can practice sending their booming kicks skyward." from a Courant article

for basketball... up to 30 players

 

[HuskyNan]

Burton's Center costed 48 Millions... to hold a FOOTBALL team 50+ players/coaches, equipment etc. seating for all to watch tape, computer lab for maybe 1/2 of them at a time

"The Shenkman center has been hailed as one of the best football practice facilities in the country - with a 120-yard indoor field, a 120-seat auditorium, and a 110-foot ceiling so that punters can practice sending their booming kicks skyward." from a Courant article

for basketball... up to 30 players

Right, but it's not going to be paid for with taxpayer money so I say they should build the best facility they can with the donations the University is able to raise.

 

[Icebear]

come on Ice... I exaggerated a lil, point being 25-30 mill is enough for a PF

I think many people to not realize the sophitication and extent of these type of facilities today.

 

[Icebear]

Burton's Center costed 48 Millions... to hold a FOOTBALL team 50+ players/coaches, equipment etc. seating for all to watch tape, computer lab for maybe 1/2 of them at a time

"The Shenkman center has been hailed as one of the best football practice facilities in the country - with a 120-yard indoor field, a 120-seat auditorium, and a 110-foot ceiling so that punters can practice sending their booming kicks skyward." from a Courant article

for basketball... up to 30 players

Most major college football teams have 80-100 players and then the staff. 86 scholarships is the limit for football, I think.

 

[Ruffian75]

$30 mil would probably be enough dough to put a 20 foot wide concourse with concessions and more rest rooms around Gampel with enough left over to install real seats. That seems a lot more important to me. It is time the people that support the teams be rewarded with a comfortable arena, and it doesn't have to be a new one. .

What is the field House used for now? Spend some money renovating that pre-existing building rather than wasting it on a brand new ground up one.

Sometimes I just don't understand the lengths gone to in the construction industry. Why are they levelling all the I-95 rest areas and starting from scratch rather than merely giving the existing ones a facelift? The ones now being done in Milford don't appear to be any larger than the ones they tore down. Makes no sense to me.