XL Center Update | The Boneyard

XL Center Update

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UCONNJACK

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CTFAN4LIFE said:
All signs pointing towards things coming together on this.
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CTFAN4LIFE said:
All signs pointing towards things coming together on this.
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LOL. Imagine if they borrowed the $$$ when 1st brought up.

2020-2021 season would have been unknown at the time, but would have been ideal to get all the upgrades done with a literal shut down of all sporting and entertainment events.

Now, you’re gonna try and have to get it done and actually shut down again and lose out on revenue and interest rates are going up. $$$ will never be cheap as it was when they 1st asked for the 250
 
ct06111 said:
LOL. Imagine if they borrowed the $$$ when 1st brought up.

2020-2021 season would have been unknown at the time, but would have been ideal to get all the upgrades done with a literal shut down of all sporting and entertainment events.

Now, you’re gonna try and have to get it done and actually shut down again and lose out on revenue and interest rates are going up. $$$ will never be cheap as it was when they 1st asked for the 250
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True - too bad more people didn't put pressure on the dissenting legislators. The XL Center was a political football.
 
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Are the bones of the stadium OK? It seems if the stadium structure, site lights, seating, etc are OK then they should be able to do renovations to modernize the rest of the facility. The brown aluminum exterior or whatever that is seems easy enough to replace. But if the inside isn't designed to handle modern amenities, implode the sucker.

A few women's big east tourneys should be enough to help defray the costs.

xl.jpg
 
UCONNJACK said:
Private investor interested in contributing to XL Center renovations.
www.courant.com

Long-elusive, big-ticket renovation of Hartford’s XL Center could get major boost from private investor

A break in a two-year logjam over using $65 million in state funds to finance a major renovation of downtown Hartford’s XL Center could come this spring, as the arena’s new management c…
www.courant.com www.courant.com
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Ok...I'll believe it when CT brings back the Whalers..
Heard so many times that I'm not falling for it.
Yes, I still want to see a Stanley Cup in Hartford...
 
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From what I got from the Yard this year and past, we would rather see the games on campus. So what difference does it make. I love the students going crazy,
 
Im honestly torn on the renovations, specifically with the lower bowl. In one of the plans, I thought they were replacing the retractable seats in the lower bowl with enclosed luxury boxes. I do not think that is a good idea. You want fans and students near the court instead of hiding in a luxury box. Im all about the atmosphere, and I think that would hurt it like what happened at the New Yankee Stadium.
 
FatHank said:
Demolish and rebuild.
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The economics don't support it. Unless someone wants to pony up a lot of money for free.

Maybe Jeff Bezos or his ex-wife have a soft spot for Hartford and are willing to give a huge charitable donation. :)
 
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Hankster said:
From what I got from the Yard this year and past, we would rather see the games on campus. So what difference does it make. I love the students going crazy,
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I'd like to see all the games at Gampel but if they continue to play in Hartford, they need to fix the Hartford situation. What's it worth to keep the Wolfpack in town? Either renovate XL to accommodate hockey and hoops or build a nice basketball arena. Even Wintrust Arena which only seats 10k cost $173 mill. So renovating XL seems to make the most sense keeping hockey in play, at any level.
 
Kolumbo said:
Are the bones of the stadium OK? It seems if the stadium structure, site lights, seating, etc are OK then they should be able to do renovations to modernize the rest of the facility. The brown aluminum exterior or whatever that is seems easy enough to replace. But if the inside isn't designed to handle modern amenities, implode the sucker.

A few women's big east tourneys should be enough to help defray the costs.

View attachment 73814
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Don't hold your breathe on the women's tourney moving to Hartford. Mohegan Sun is an incredible venue for the women's tourney.
 
I don't understand why anyone in the state would support pouring hundreds of millions into renovating XL. Outside of UConn basketball, it hosts a bunch of worthless events. And UConn basketball essentially plays there as a favor.

We'd be much better off spending that money renovating Gampel, who needs a pretty significant overhaul anyway.
 
It would be great to have a modern arena in Hartford. I’m just not sure if that can effectively be done without knocking down the XL. Don’t get me wrong, we can have a renovated XL, but it will always be out of date given the existing building.

My big fear is that any private money will require UConn being locked in at an above market lease rate. I think UConn really needs to draw a line on the next extension agreement. Any arrangement to play Connecticut basketball games in Hartford has to make financial sense for the University. It makes zero sense for the university to absorb some of the CDRA‘s losses. It makes the athletic department look bad and it is inefficient.
 
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