'Complete' $110 Million+ Renovation Planned for Welsh-Ryan
- Thread starter Medill '03
- Start date
Timing would work for them the play at the brand new McCormick Place Events Center, DePaul's future home.
That would be just like '83 when the Stack, Jenkins, Rathel team played at DePaul while WR was being renovated and then went on to the NIT.
This is the best news to come out of the athletic department in a long, long time. Even more needed than the lakeside facility.
Well done to Dr. Jim, thank you to Pat Ryan, and best of luck to Chris Collins who finally has the tools to build this program into a legitimate strength.
I am thrilled beyond words.
Well done to Dr. Jim, thank you to Pat Ryan, and best of luck to Chris Collins who finally has the tools to build this program into a legitimate strength.
I am thrilled beyond words.
definitely an interesting redo. It looks to be a complete internal overhaul but the structure stays the same. Behind the basket get many new levels and sections while it looks like the length of the court seats are drastically reduced I think it is misleading. It looks like the lower section will be a few rows "higher" then a set of "boxes" with the second level on top of that.
If accurate, the pitch/angle os seats looks steeper making the viewing even better. I have argued for decades that this is what could be done at Dyche to immediate improve the experience and make the stadium significantly louder.
If accurate, the pitch/angle os seats looks steeper making the viewing even better. I have argued for decades that this is what could be done at Dyche to immediate improve the experience and make the stadium significantly louder.
Anybody else notice the Shurna images among the spectators behind the far basket?
GOUNUII
Well for all the pessimists out there it looks like Collins will be here for a while. Now about the potholes in the west lot. Great news!
The west lot is being entirely redone....not just resurfaced but major landscaping and design changes. It'll look like a park. With a giant parking lot in the middle of it.
Hear I am. I've heard about the west lot but as the saying goes, "seeing is believing". I also have said that something/ anything needed to be done to W-R, if NU expected to keep Collins. Yea to both projects!
I hope it lives up to the hype, but I'll admit to having mixed expectations.
I LOVE the second and third levels behind the baselines. Get those areas rolling, and that could create a brutal home court advantage.
On the other hand, I'll play the Debbie Downer role. I'm not in love with the reduced capacity. I'm not saying I'd build it for much more than 10,000, but reducing the capacity says you never expect to reach a certain level.
Also, I'm not sure I agree with the theory that NU will fill luxury suites, but can't draw 10,000 fans.
I'll also assume the renovation includes many more player amenities than the initial press release outlined.
Anyhow, it should be fun. NU FINALLY earned an increase in my annual donation.
I LOVE the second and third levels behind the baselines. Get those areas rolling, and that could create a brutal home court advantage.
On the other hand, I'll play the Debbie Downer role. I'm not in love with the reduced capacity. I'm not saying I'd build it for much more than 10,000, but reducing the capacity says you never expect to reach a certain level.
Also, I'm not sure I agree with the theory that NU will fill luxury suites, but can't draw 10,000 fans.
I'll also assume the renovation includes many more player amenities than the initial press release outlined.
Anyhow, it should be fun. NU FINALLY earned an increase in my annual donation.
While I'm extremely surprised and initially excited that $$$ is finally being sunk into hoops (thank you yet again Mr. Ryan!), this is my biggest question as well.
If CC is happy with the redo, then I'm all for it. He knows what NU needs in order to compete with the conference elites on the recruiting trail. I could care less about a WR upgrade if it doesn't help Collins and his staff land the type of student athlete they are looking for.
If NU is thinking about LU the new Gentile Arena seats almost 5,000(2000 stadium seats). There is an extremely convenient parking garage 100 yards from arena and you can walk indoors almost the whole way.The Gentile is right across the street from the Loyola El Stop and I am thinking the new Hampton Inn right on Sheridan Rd about a block from Gentile should be completed very soon. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Brunos right across the street serves a good beer. EVERYTHING is close to the action although I still miss the old Alumni gym.
However I did notice that when NU soccer had to move they did not go to LU. I am thinking the B10 has rules on capacity that may rule LU out as an option.
7500 is plenty. 600 less seats available to visiting fans is a good place to start.
Because I was curious, I checked out the size of the SMU rebuild. 7000 seats. I felt it was a good comparable.
I'd be more worried about NU allowing you to keep your section 112 seats than the size of the stadium. Seriously, all those Purple Seaters are going to be looking to upgrade to the lower bowl on the bleacher side.
Because I was curious, I checked out the size of the SMU rebuild. 7000 seats. I felt it was a good comparable.
I'd be more worried about NU allowing you to keep your section 112 seats than the size of the stadium. Seriously, all those Purple Seaters are going to be looking to upgrade to the lower bowl on the bleacher side.
yes but which Big Ten arena seats less then 10,000? Got to keep up with the competition. Heck, even the new taxpayer funded DePaul arena seats about 10,000.
Are there additional artist renditions available. Curious what it may look like from the outside, the lobby and concourses. What going to happen to the two other video board? Can't imaging they would dump them after a couple of seasons.
Teddy G. said there is a model. I think I also read there is a press conference on Thursday where Collins will speak.
Thanks. I also now remember reading of Thursday presser as well. Guess they might show some other drawings or models then.
Big step forward. It came much earlier than I expected. It shows the confidence the Ryan's and the administration have that Collins is the right coach to take us to the promised land.
That and a recognition that our facilities have been unacceptable for decades now.
You're reading my mind, Max. Will I get booted? Will I be required to make a donation? What will be the face value of tickets in the new arena?
I was told in either the Byrdsong years or early O'Neill years that it requires approximately five years of very moderate donations to move below the aisle from the upper level of purple seats.
It would be interesting to know how many STHs have had the points to move below the aisle. My guess is there haven't been an abundance - or at least a ton who have kept their tickets all this time. In the meantime, I've been building my points for this day. I always knew it had to come sooner or later.
I'll also be interested to see ticket prices. However, I've always said the STH price is almost laughably low, so I'm going to give NU a lot of wiggle room. They've been very generous for a long time.
Seems like there will be a lower bowl of premium seats which will more than offset any loss of Purple seats from the South side of the current WRA.
And ticket prices? Up, up and away.......
I don't know the cost of a tix but $40 per times 15 games times 600 seats eliminated comes to about 432k. Let's say each box generates 15k times 6 boxes. That's 95k then raise ticket prices $4 and you actually have a 100k surplus over those 600 lost seats.
The season ticket holder base is so small and the longtime season ticket holders are even fewer. My guess is NU will give a right of first refusal offer to those who have been in the same seats since '83. In all honesty, from a tv perspective if they just let the purple seat owners takeover they would face the prospect of an empty and silent bowl for all but a few games a year.
If those 600 lost seats are the last 600 to be filled, they are not lost for every game and may be complimentary tickets anyway. NU doesn't sell out every game does it?
I think you are making it a bit too complicated. First of all, the seats eliminated are not going for $40/game over the whole season, no way. But in any event, for simplicity we are removing 600 out of 8100 seats, which is 7.5%. In order to break even on revenue average ticket price to go up 8% (1/0.925).
I strongly suspect the average ticket price will go up at least 8%. I would guess more like +12-15% for a normal seat, and as you note there are the boxes too. Now obviously there are short-term negatives like being offline for a year, but on an annual basis going forward this should be a + for revenue from tickets alone. Not to mention all the other ancillary benefits.
Sparty: Take a look at most any photo of Cameron Indoor Stadium and what do you see? OMG, exposed steel beams going right down to the seats!! I guess the Duke program would be better if they raised the roof!
