Updates on the Gampel Roof repairs?

[HoopsFan21]

So it's raining in Connecticut today, does anyone know what happens to the court with those giant holes in the roof letting in all the rain?

 

[huskymedic]

So it's raining in Connecticut today, does anyone know what happens to the court with those giant holes in the roof letting in all the rain?

 

[Biff]

So it's raining in Connecticut today, does anyone know what happens to the court with those giant holes in the roof letting in all the rain?

That's why they hired this guy....

 

[UConnNick]

10 million $$$. That's sad. The Patriots built 60,000-seat Schaefer Stadium for 7 mil in 1971. We could have built a larger arena than Gampel in the 1970's for what it's now costing just to replace the roof on this one. UConn has always been 20+ years behind the times.

A friend of mine who attended UConn before the Field House was constructed spent four years on campus and never could get in to see a game in the old Hawley Armory...every game was SRO. His friends finally decided he was going to get to see at least one game while he was still a student. They went to the entrance, lifted him up over their heads mosh pit style, and sort of catapulted him over a mob of people waiting to get in. That was the one and only UConn game he ever got to see as a student. That place was obsolete the day it opened, and so were the Field House (1954) and Gampel (1990).

 

[huskymedic]

10 million $$$. That's sad. The Patriots built 60,000-seat Schaefer Stadium for 7 mil in 1971. We could have built a larger arena than Gampel in the 1970's for what it's now costing just to replace the roof on this one. UConn has always been 20+ years behind the times.

LOL - 46 years ag0?? So what would the cost of Schaefer been in 2017 dollars?

In 1990 it cost $28 million to build GP.
($51.3 million in 2016 dollars)

 

[UConnNick]

46 years ag0?? So what would the cost of Schaefer been in 2017 dollars?

In 1990 it cost $28 million to build GP.
($51.3 million in 2016 dollars)

Schaefer would cost 42 mil in 2016 dollars, but what difference does that make? The point is we were at least 15 years behind when we built Gampel, and it was obsolete from day one. We had to add the 2,000 seats in the corners within what, the first few years? It should have been built at the very latest when we joined the Big East Conference, when it would have cost half as much or less than what it cost in 1990.

 

[huskymedic]

Schaefer would cost 42 mil in 2016 dollars, but what difference does that make? The point is we were at least 15 years behind when we built Gampel, and it was obsolete from day one. We had to add the 2,000 seats in the corners within what, the first few years? It should have been built at the very latest when we joined the Big East Conference, when it would have cost half as much or less than what it cost in 1990.

Lol - OK - but the roof (which is what the thread is about) would still have had to be replaced maybe twice based on your logic?

 

[CL82]

Schaefer would cost 42 mil in 2016 dollars, but what difference does that make? The point is we were at least 15 years behind when we built Gampel, and it was obsolete from day one. We had to add the 2,000 seats in the corners within what, the first few years? It should have been built at the very latest when we joined the Big East Conference, when it would have cost half as much or less than what it cost in 1990.

The capacity of Gampel was a political compromise, not a failure of projections.

 

[UConnNick]

The capacity of Gampel was a political compromise, not a failure of projections.

Regardless of the reasons, it doesn't change the fact that it was obsolete the day it opened. Now it's been obsolete for 27 years.

 

[UConnNick]

Lol - OK - but the roof (which is what the thread is about) would still have had to be replaced maybe twice based on your logic?

Maybe, or maybe not. It depends on whether they used the exact same roof design or not. It's obviously a pretty high maintenance choice, given the cost to replace it is what, more than a third of what it cost to build the entire place 27 years ago?

 

[huskymedic]

Maybe, or maybe not. It depends on whether they used the exact same roof design or not. It's obviously a pretty high maintenance choice, given the cost to replace it is what, more than a third of what it cost to build the entire place 27 years ago?

Okay - You win. You can continue to play down and around this hijacked rabbit hole.

 

[CL82]

Maybe, or maybe not. It depends on whether they used the exact same roof design or not. It's obviously a pretty high maintenance choice, given the cost to replace it is what, more than a third of what it cost to build the entire place 27 years ago?

Keep in mind that work that is being done is more than just the replacement of the tiles. For what is worth, Gampel doesn't have the worst roof of any location the team has played in by a long shot. The field house leaked like a sieve and you might remember that the Civic Center had a bit of a problem as well.

Would you feel better about it if we had just paid $370,000 a year in maintenance costs?

 

[UConnNick]

So it's raining in Connecticut today, does anyone know what happens to the court with those giant holes in the roof letting in all the rain?

I think I saw a photo of the floor covered, although my guess is they took the wood floor apart and removed it completely, and probably put the cover over the floor underneath that to keep any water off of it.

 

[Biff]

I think I saw a photo of the floor covered, although my guess is they took the wood floor apart and removed it completely, and probably put the cover over the floor underneath that to keep any water off of it.

A gallery of work in progress here

Gampel Pavilion Ceiling Renovation

 

[UConnNick]

View attachment 23358


A gallery of work in progress here

Gampel Pavilion Ceiling Renovation

Perhaps we could utilize the effect of all these brightly colored triangles in our official logo. Maybe the husky head should be superimposed inside of a white triangle, with brightly colored national flag blue and red borders?

 

[DaddyChoc]

Schaefer would cost 42 mil in 2016 dollars, but what difference does that make? The point is we were at least 15 years behind when we built Gampel, and it was obsolete from day one. We had to add the 2,000 seats in the corners within what, the first few years? It should have been built at the very latest when we joined the Big East Conference, when it would have cost half as much or less than what it cost in 1990.

you do know a there wasn't a banner raised in Gampel until 1995... no one expected UConn to get as big as they have. Why build something bigger than you need.

Is Gampel selling out these days?

 

[CL82]

View attachment 23358


A gallery of work in progress here

Gampel Pavilion Ceiling Renovation

I think that this is about 30 days old +. I'd be interested in seeing the current status. Anyone feel like sneaking into a construction site and snapping a few pictures?

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I had posted this on several other threads but it applies here also
IMO when they got the $ for the New Training Center they should have built a NEW Gampel where the TC now sits and build the new TC where Gampel now is!
They could have put around 20,000 to 25,000 seating capacity (all theater seats, no bleacher seating), modern concession stands, improve the bathrooms, fix up locker rooms and trainers room, add a site for a UCONN BB Museum where all MBB & WBB memorabllia could be housed instead of a site across campus, in other words have an arena top of the line for the 21st century+!
Then follow the same plans for the TC but in the present Gampel's footprints!
They could have gotten added donations and asked their MBB and WBB Alumni that struck it rich on the professional level to donate big time! Renaming Gampel, UCONN Alumni Arena, with plaques honoring the donators and the amount they gave to cover the cost of the NEW Gampel!

 

[TitleTown]

I had posted this on several other threads but it applies here also
IMO when they got the $ for the New Training Center they should have built a NEW Gampel where the TC now sits and build the new TC where Gampel now is!
They could have put around 20,000 to 25,000 seating capacity (all theater seats, no bleacher seating), modern concession stands, improve the bathrooms, fix up locker rooms and trainers room, add a site for a UConn BB Museum where all MBB & WBB memorabllia could be housed instead of a site across campus, in other words have an arena top of the line for the 21st century+!
Then follow the same plans for the TC but in the present Gampel's footprints!
They could have gotten added donations and asked their MBB and WBB Alumni that struck it rich on the professional level to donate big time! Renaming Gampel, UConn Alumni Arena, with plaques honoring the donators and the amount they gave to cover the cost of the NEW Gampel!

Gampel rarely sells out the 10,000 seats it has now and you think a 25,000 seat arena is needed? Nothing is worse than a half filled arena.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Gampel rarely sells out the 10,000 seats it has now and you think a 25,000 seat arena is needed? Nothing is worse than a half filled arena.

If there were say 20,000 seats they can get out of the XL Center lease and just play their games on campus! More students and save about $200,000 in lease fees. Hartford sucks and most UCONN fans wouldn't go to Hartford if it wasn't for the games! I know I wouldn't be caught dead in Hartford except for game day!
UCONN can't be the ones keeping Hartford afloat!
An on campus, modern arena will draw the additional fans that don't go to Gampel now!

 

[TitleTown]

If there were say 20,000 seats they can get out of the XL Center lease and just play their games on campus! More students and save about $200,000 in lease fees. Hartford sucks and most UConn fans wouldn't go to Hartford if it wasn't for the games! I know I wouldn't be caught dead in Hartford except for game day!
UConn can't be the ones keeping Hartford afloat!
An on campus, modern arena will draw the additional fans that don't go to Gampel now!

I agree that Hartford sucks but Storrs barely has the infrastructure to support 10,000 on game day with a lot of them being students. Now imagine doubling that and parking, traffic, etc would be an absolute nightmare. That is if you could even sell out 20,000 seats.

 

[triaddukefan]

Interesting thread.

 

[TitleTown]

Not that it matters much, but in my opinion, the perfect replacement arena for Gampel would seat around 13,000. It would have all the newer concessions, comfortable seating, luxury boxes, jumbotrons, etc. while still being "small" enough to be intimate. As loud as Gampel gets during crunch time of big games is a big home court advantage and I don't want to lose that.

 

[UConnNick]

Not that it matters much, but in my opinion, the perfect replacement arena for Gampel would seat around 13,000. It would have all the newer concessions, comfortable seating, luxury boxes, jumbotrons, etc. while still being "small" enough to be intimate. As loud as Gampel gets during crunch time of big games is a big home court advantage and I don't want to lose that.

I agree, but try getting the Town of Mansfield's tree hugger brigade to get on board with this proposal. They didn't want Gampel when it was built. These are some of the same folks that completely shut down the extension of I-84 to Providence back in the 1970's. They argued eastern CT is some sort of pristine wilderness area, which is a laugh. That's why Hartford and Providence remain the only two major cities in New England that are not connected by an interstate highway. They also effectively killed Pfizer's attempt to build a world class partnership research facility on the UConn campus. Politically torpedoing the idea of a 13,000+ capacity arena on the UConn campus will be mere child's play for them.

The other problem is attendance is declining for both the men's and women's teams over the past several seasons. There's no justification for greatly expanding capacity if the new or remodeled arena is only half full all the time. They could have explored adding additional seating to Gampel by simply raising the roof and adding rows around the entire arena, since they're replacing the roof anyway. There simply isn't enough ticket demand right now to justify the extra expense, not to mention the dire financial position the state government is in right now.

 

[Alydar]

Schaefer would cost 42 mil in 2016 dollars, but what difference does that make? The point is we were at least 15 years behind when we built Gampel, and it was obsolete from day one. We had to add the 2,000 seats in the corners within what, the first few years? It should have been built at the very latest when we joined the Big East Conference, when it would have cost half as much or less than what it cost in 1990.

You are right but that is the nature of public institutions. To get anything passed through the legislature you need the support of the big cities and Hartford wasn't eager to see an arena that would compete with the HCC. That's a big reason why Gampel was small and lacking in amenities like seat backs throughout. You also have to remember that CT was in a deep recession during the 70's.