Stadium on campus?

[huskidork]

on campus stadium talks until the Big 12 votes against us? god I hope I'm wrong

 

[CL82]

As great as this would be -- and there is nothing better than walking through a college campus to the stadium on gameday -- it's not happening. Too many cranky Mansfield/Willington/Coventry/etc. Yankees. Rent expansion more realistic. If UCLA can suck it up to get to Pasadena .... you get the point

The site I showed in the graphic above in the athletic campus requires no approvals from Mansfield residents.

 

[CL82]

Six Saturdays every fall wouldnt kill ya. The MAJOR question I have is ...
what happens to The Dairy Bar?

It gets an insane amount of business and six weekends a year?

 

[CL82]

EO Smith is where a stadium should go. Already a football field, parking nearby, on campus, next to Storrs Center,

The university offered to buy EO Smith in a deal where we would build them a new high school at the at the Mansfield depot campus and give them cash in exchange for the existing EO Smith property.

It was a stunningly generous offer. Mansfield turned it down.

 

[Platt81]

There is no reality in the near term future an on campus stadium is considered. Rentschler has decades of life left and the state isn’t going to abandon it, let’s just be realistic. Adding capacity as it was designed for would be a definite possibility as well as some upgrades, but when the team competes and names people care about come in it’s a great atmosphere. It’s those two components that have made it a ghost town the last decade, when West Virginia and Baylor start coming back again, so do the fans.

 

[CL82]

Industrial Tract and the southern location near the rest of the athletics make the most sense to me. I'd listen to arguments made for either location, and if I had a vote on it, wouldn't put up much of fight between the two. Horsebarn hill seems like more of a stretch.
Industrial Tract has more existing parking nearby a proposed stadium and is closer to the arteries leading to the major roads.
The southern location would be more of a collegiate feel as more fans would be going through Storrs (Downtown? Proper? Central?) and around the other athletic facilities.

This is exactly the way I see it Chin.

If we were to build in the vicinity of Horse Barn Hill, I would do it in the woods behind it so that none of the existing fields are disrupted. Could you imagine having to drive through those to get to the stadium? It would be beautiful and unique.

That said, the athletic campus makes the most sense to me. I really like the concept of having all the buildings together. It is in close proximity to Burton and Shankman. You could use the stadium parking lots as overflow lots for baseball and hockey. It's the site that makes the most sense. They're also were environmental studies done there when we built Toscano, and there were no environmental problems at the site. Finally, if I recall correctly, that particular site requires no approvals from Mansfield. It seems like a winner all the way around.

The industrial tract site has shorter access access to 44, but if you made Calhoun Way, Hillside Avenue and discovery Drive one way in before the games and one way out after the games I think you could move traffic fairly quickly off-campus.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

on campus stadium talks until the Big 12 votes against us? god I hope I'm wrong

Where have you been? They already voted, it’s a done deal, only thing still up in the air is how long does football have to wait for a full share. The only thing that could kill it is UConn’s BOT don’t like the terms and THEY vote against it.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

There would be no finer spot for a picturesque Michie Stadium-ish structure than Horsebarn Hill. Can you imagine the blimp/drone shots in October? .... but, the anti-any development of any kind (and anti-sports) forces will mobilize quicker than Seal Team 6 as they have time and time again. Nothing nastier than an army of Edith Pragues (RIP).

Horsebarn Hill would be perfect but will never happen. The site on the depot campus I posted would be equally as beautiful and have multiple access points

 

[LoyalFanCT]

There is no reality in the near term future an on campus stadium is considered. Rentschler has decades of life left and the state isn’t going to abandon it, let’s just be realistic. Adding capacity as it was designed for would be a definite possibility as well as some upgrades, but when the team competes and names people care about come in it’s a great atmosphere. It’s those two components that have made it a ghost town the last decade, when West Virginia and Baylor start coming back again, so do the fans.

I don't think the B12 leadership is going to be impressed with an off-campus stadium unless a pro football team plays there. The Rent was a bad idea from the start. Also, an on-campus stadium would allow uconn to have a single site for graduation ceremonies. Central CT State Univ can take the Rent over. They deserve a boost in their football program.

 

[CL82]

Horsebarn Hill would be perfect but will never happen. The site on the depot campus I posted would be equally as beautiful and have multiple access points

A stadium at the depot campus could be really beautiful with plenty of room for tailgating, a separate RV lot etc. The only downside is that it is off-campus. If we are going to go through the expense of building and on campus stadium, we should actually build it… on campus.

 

[Windham4th]

I am just glad we stopped arguing starting qb's

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Horsebarn Hill would be perfect but will never happen. The site on the depot campus I posted would be equally as beautiful and have multiple access points

Too far to walk for the students and employees, and Mora and his crew, campus police would hate it, everyone would have to drive to it. Ingress and egress would be a nightmare. Horsebarn Hill is the obvious choice for an on campus stadium, the question is how big, does it have a north/south alignment, who do they name it after, etc.

 

[Platt81]

I don't think the B12 leadership is going to be impressed with an off-campus stadium unless a pro football team plays there. The Rent was a bad idea from the start. Also, an on-campus stadium would allow uconn to have a single site for graduation ceremonies. Central CT State Univ can take the Rent over. They deserve a boost in their football program.

I frankly don’t think B12 leadership cares about location. It’s 20 minutes from the airport and has more accommodations closer to the venue. I think from a logistics standpoint they would prefer its location, but would require upgrades to capacity and amenities. I think it’s vastly overthought about by people here that want it on campus.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

There is no reality in the near term future an on campus stadium is considered. Rentschler has decades of life left and the state isn’t going to abandon it, let’s just be realistic. Adding capacity as it was designed for would be a definite possibility as well as some upgrades, but when the team competes and names people care about come in it’s a great atmosphere. It’s those two components that have made it a ghost town the last decade, when West Virginia and Baylor start coming back again, so do the fans.

What planet are you from?

 

[huskymedic]

There would be no finer spot for a picturesque Michie Stadium-ish structure than Horsebarn Hill. Can you imagine the blimp/drone shots in October? .... but, the anti-any development of any kind (and anti-sports) forces will mobilize quicker than Seal Team 6 as they have time and time again. Nothing nastier than an army of Edith Pragues (RIP).

… and environmentalist. The juice won’t be worth the squeeze. I can’t see Horsebarn Hill being a relative option.

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[Platt81]

What planet are you from?

One based in reality. We aren’t even 24 hours removed from “maybe” joining the Big XII and people on here are ready to drop $1 billion like we’re being handed a blank check. It’s not like this potential move is happening and we’re still playing in Memorial.

 

[JoCo]

The site I showed in the graphic above in the athletic campus requires no approvals from Mansfield residents.

I was involved in lobbying many years ago at state capitol as a former football guy! Unfortunately the town of Mansfield put up barriers, traffic etc for about 6 weekends a year! Short sighted... they have the land from Huskies to the North, you'd walk by the Alumni Center toward the stadium!
Just think of this: Alums on campus,hotel or 3, food sales etc etc! Great for the economy of the area, my son went to PSU, there were a few great condos in the that alums would own , make it a 3 day weekend on campus, take in a show at Jorgensen, nice restaurants, no fore sight! I now live outside CT , would love to bring Grandies to a weekend, worth the travel to show them where I went! UConn alum would support it! And it would help small businesses immensely!

 

[CONN78SEJ]

One based in reality. We aren’t even 24 hours removed from “maybe” joining the Big XII and people on here are ready to drop $1 billion like we’re being handed a blank check. It’s not like this potential move is happening and we’re still playing in Memorial.

You want reality? Why don’t you go into your front yard and start drawing a perfectly plumb and straight line and keep going until you’ve come back to where you started from.

 

[Platt81]

You want reality? Why don’t you go into your front yard and start drawing a perfectly plumb and straight line and keep going until you’ve come back to where you started from.

I don’t have a front yard, that’s not a feature on planet reality.

 

[CL82]

I am just glad we stopped arguing starting qb's

Haha momentarily, anyway.

 

[CL82]

I frankly don’t think B12 leadership cares about location. It’s 20 minutes from the airport and has more accommodations closer to the venue. I think from a logistics standpoint they would prefer its location, but would require upgrades to capacity and amenities. I think it’s vastly overthought about by people here that want it on campus.

This is actually a possibility. It's logical and pragmatic, particularly from their perspective as visiting teams. Based upon the comments that I read in our two prior flirtations with them, though, I don't think that it's the case.

 

[Kowalski]

There is no reality in the near term future an on campus stadium is considered. Rentschler has decades of life left and the state isn’t going to abandon it, let’s just be realistic. Adding capacity as it was designed for would be a definite possibility as well as some upgrades, but when the team competes and names people care about come in it’s a great atmosphere. It’s those two components that have made it a ghost town the last decade, when West Virginia and Baylor start coming back again, so do the fans.

The only real problem with the Rent is it’s not close to campus and I agree that, with upgrades, it’s got at least 20 years life left in it. So I think the stadium itself is up to power conference standards but not ideal because of where it’s located. I just don’t get why the B12 presidents would care about Uconn student access to the Rent (the B1G doesn’t seem to to care about UCLA’s)

And yet reports are that any B12 agreement will be contingent on certain Uconn financial commitments to football. What else is that about if it’s not about a new stadium?

 

[CL82]

… and environmentalist. The juice won’t be worth the squeeze. I can’t see Horsebarn Hill being a relative option.

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It could be really stunning, but I agree it's never going to happen. It's far more pragmatic to build in the athletic campus a short walk from Burton and Shenkman.

 

[CL82]

The only real problem with the Rent is it’s not close to campus and I agree that, with upgrades, it’s got at least 20 years life left in it.

Agreed, though I would say 20 more years at most, not at least. The question is will the state legislature want to pay the, let's call it, 175 million, to upgrade the Rent or would they rather put that toward a brand new stadium in Storrs which will have a useful life of at least 30 years? I don't know the answer to that.

Rentschler Field is a great place to see a game, though. They're literally is not a bad seat in the house and tailgating is great. As you point out, it's biggest flaw, other than its age and need for updates, is 30 minutes too far West.

 

[Platt81]

The only real problem with the Rent is it’s not close to campus and I agree that, with upgrades, it’s got at least 20 years life left in it. So I think the stadium itself is up to power conference standards but not ideal because of where it’s located. I just don’t get why the B12 presidents would care about Uconn student access to the Rent (the B1G doesn’t seem to to care about UCLA’s)

And yet reports are that any B12 agreement will be contingent on certain Uconn financial commitments to football. What else is that about if it’s not about a new stadium?

Salaries for coaching staffs, commitment to a certain number for NIL.