UPDATE: XL upgrades back on track

[Palatine]

Critical votes on long-delayed CT arena renovation back on track. Here’s what changed.

Republican legislative leaders raised concerns about Attorney General William Tong’s involvement in federal antitrust litigation tied to partly to the ticketing company that provides services…

www.courant.com

 

[GemParty]

When’s it begin?

 

[nomar]

When’s it begin?

 

[GemParty]

How sweet would it be if the facility was as good as the teams that use it.

 

[Palatine]

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Try running an arena without ticketmaster. It's unfortunate but it is reality. This should have NOTHING to do with whether the upgrade goes though or not.

Besides ticketmaster's role with XL will be reduced inside of a year.

 

[gampelcrazies]

$145 million is just not enough to make it a good arena. To make XL a good/great venue would take at least $300 million

 

[UCann]

$145 million is just not enough to make it a good arena. To make XL a good/great venue would take at least $300 million

At that point just demolish it and build a new one for $300-400m more. At some point adding up all the “upgrades” will total the cost of a new arena.

 

[gampelcrazies]

At that point just demolish it and build a new one for $300-400m more. At some point adding up all the “upgrades” will total the cost of a new arena.

If you are building a new one it’s going to cost a minimum $600 million

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Thought I heard somewhere that money is approved for both XL and Gampel renovations. Wouldn’t it make sense to host all home games at XL one year then Gampel the other? I imagine that will cause some issues with season ticket holders.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Thought I heard somewhere that money is approved for both XL and Gampel renovations. Wouldn’t it make sense to host all home games at XL one year then Gampel the other? I imagine that will cause some issues with season ticket holders.

When it comes to the Gampel renovation we really don’t know what it’s for. It’s possible they could do it during the offseasons. Similar to how MSG did it a few years ago

 

[CL82]

$145 million is just not enough to make it a good arena. To make XL a good/great venue would take at least $300 million

And a few bulldozers.

My principal problem with all the CDRA plans is that they all seem to be based on the "if you build it, they will come" school of planning. There's no data or research to specifically back up what they plan on doing. Instead, the approach seems to be "let's take a shot with hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money and see what happens."

My second problem with all of the CDRA plans is that they actually involve the CDRA, an organization that has never run a single venture for a profit in their history. If Hartford and the state is actually serious about attempting to run the XL at a profit, firing the CDRA would seem to be a critical first step.

 

[CTBasketball]

If you are building a new one it’s going to cost a minimum $600 million

Just call it $800M to $1B because this state has no clue how to choose good contracting companies and the costs will balloon. Lots of short sighted decisions.

And if the state is spending $1B on an arena, they better be doing it in downtown Hartford and better have a concrete plan to bring a hockey team here.

 

[Stew Crew]

Just call it $800M to $1B because this state has no clue how to choose good contracting companies and the costs will balloon. Lots of short sighted decisions.

And if the state is spending $1B on an arena, they better be doing it in downtown Hartford and better have a concrete plan to bring a hockey team here.

Much of the time, it's not the contractor, it's the customer. The two sweetest words to a contractor are, "change order." that's where they make their money. Once the upfront money is committed, they can charge whatever they want on the inevitable change orders.

I don't see how any amount of money could make XL attractive by today's standards. The site is essentially landlocked on a piece of land that is too small for a modern facility with enough seating.

 

[uconnric]

Much of the time, it's not the contractor, it's the customer. The two sweetest words to a contractor are, "change order." that's where they make their money. Once the upfront money is committed, they can charge whatever they want on the inevitable change orders.

I don't see how any amount of money could make XL attractive by today's standards. The site is essentially landlocked on a piece of land that is too small for a modern facility with enough seating.

You're right, the footprint is too tight. The original seating, before the roof collapse, was around 11,000.

We'll just have to make the best of it and stop the complaining. Hopefully the upgrades will make both venues more attractive.

 

[Palatine]

Even now, the XL Center is not a bad place to watch hockey or basketball. The long standing problems are operating costs that makes it expensive to operate. Basic stuff like utilities, lighting, heat, air conditioning, plumping, pest control, and costs associated with maintenance like cleaning and inspections, plus human costs like staffing, security, how efficient are the concessions and merch, then, as always, insurance costs.

The point is, that's the important stuff. Little of it has a major affect on visitor enjoyment of an event. The XL has nice sight lines and information signage. But it could use some boxes and such to make it more profitable for the sponsors of an events. That would help XL to draw more attractions to the venue.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Even now, the XL Center is not a bad place to watch hockey or basketball. The long standing problems are operating costs that makes it expensive to operate. Basic stuff like utilities, lighting, heat, air conditioning, plumping, pest control, and costs associated with maintenance like cleaning and inspections, plus human costs like staffing, security, how efficient are the concessions and merch, then, as always, insurance costs.

The point is, that's the important stuff. Little of it has a major affect on visitor enjoyment of an event. The XL has nice sight lines and information signage. But it could use some boxes and such to make it more profitable for the sponsors of an events. That would help XL to draw more attractions to the venue.

It's not a good place to watch games. Has some horrific sightlines and the upper deck has seats that are 5 miles away. I really wanted them to go with the reduce seating model that was proposed years ago

 

[Scoe]

It's not a good place to watch games. Has some horrific sightlines and the upper deck has seats that are 5 miles away. I really wanted them to go with the reduce seating model that was proposed years ago

At least they have multiple restrooms.

 

[Scoe]

If you are building a new one it’s going to cost a minimum $600 million

The state can afford that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Much of the time, it's not the contractor, it's the customer. The two sweetest words to a contractor are, "change order." that's where they make their money. Once the upfront money is committed, they can charge whatever they want on the inevitable change orders.

I don't see how any amount of money could make XL attractive by today's standards. The site is essentially landlocked on a piece of land that is too small for a modern facility with enough seating.

Is the site too small if they took it all the way to Trumbell?

Is there anyplace else they could build one? I don't go to Hartford enough to have considered that question. The lot across from Dunkin Park? Trumbell/Main & Pleasant?

 

[Stew Crew]

Even now, the XL Center is not a bad place to watch hockey or basketball. The long standing problems are operating costs that makes it expensive to operate. Basic stuff like utilities, lighting, heat, air conditioning, plumping, pest control, and costs associated with maintenance like cleaning and inspections, plus human costs like staffing, security, how efficient are the concessions and merch, then, as always, insurance costs.

The point is, that's the important stuff. Little of it has a major affect on visitor enjoyment of an event. The XL has nice sight lines and information signage. But it could use some boxes and such to make it more profitable for the sponsors of an events. That would help XL to draw more attractions to the venue.

respectfully, I do not agree with your assessment. There are a lot of bad seats at XL. The geometry is terrible. The number of concessions has improved over the years but they still woefully lack enough facilities like restrooms. I am fortunate enough to have aisle seats near a men's room so I can bolt right at a TV timeout and avoid the lines, but most cannot.

The fundamental problem with XL is that it is underutilized. The casinos have the money and glitz to attract all of the best acts. Before Mohegan Sun, XL was filled with concerts year round. Now, they are lucky to get 3 good acts there per year. I think the last concert I saw at XL was Fleetwood Mac and that was well before Covid.

 

[Stew Crew]

Is the site too small if they took it all the way to Trumbell?

Is there anyplace else they could build one? I don't go to Hartford enough to have considered that question. The lot across from Dunkin Park? Trumbell/Main & Pleasant?

I suppose but that would result in displacing a bunch of businesses. Aside from the years of litigation, it kind of defeats the purpose of attracting people to downtown to support local businesses. Costs would also skyrocket as it would require significant destruction and probably a complete rebuild of the arena.

The lot across from Dunkin was recently purchased and is being developed. I used to park there for UConn games but they shut the lot down late last season. There is space farther north but I am sure the intent is to get people downtown.

 

[Storrs South]

 

[auror]

Even now, the XL Center is not a bad place to watch hockey or basketball. The long standing problems are operating costs that makes it expensive to operate. Basic stuff like utilities, lighting, heat, air conditioning, plumping, pest control, and costs associated with maintenance like cleaning and inspections, plus human costs like staffing, security, how efficient are the concessions and merch, then, as always, insurance costs.

Plumping ain't easy.

 

[John]

It's not a good place to watch games. Has some horrific sightlines and the upper deck has seats that are 5 miles away. I really wanted them to go with the reduce seating model that was proposed years ago

What sections are horrific sightlines?