Evanston City Council Mtg - Live Updates
- Thread starter Sheffielder
- Start date
I think they're still talking.
Godot is going to show up before this stadium business gets settled.
Godot is going to show up before this stadium business gets settled.
Finally all the way done. Let the wrecking balls swing.
6-2 — stadium approved. I’ve heard there’s construction equipment assembled and staged in the west lot, so NU looks poised to get this thing going very soon, it seems.
Still 15,000 too small of a stadium for a school that calls itself Chicago's Big Ten team. Absurd to limit seating 35,000 when average attendance was more than that for the last decade. Oh well. Get your wallets out for several hundred dollar seats.
Question, was that more than 35,000 average attendance over the last decade ever 50% or more Purple? It will be interesting to see if the objective of increasing NU fan attendance while decreasing opposing fan attendance will become a reality with the smaller stadium.
You are obviously very misinformed (some might say delusional) as there is/was no way in the world Evanston was going to approve a stadium expansion; none whatsoever. The reduction barely got approved.
Not to rain on anyone's parade but in Maryland we had a similarly contentious project approved and construction started for over six months - light rail with a small portion through an upscale neighborhood adjacent to a country club with mucho lawyers - and then a lawsuit was filed for an environmental matter - snail darter or equivalent. An in the bag judge approved that the lawsuit could proceed and the project was stopped for a couple of years. The project eventually restarted but the downstream effects were a change in contractor, four year delay and a $1.5 bil cost increase. In other words, I would be surprised if this is over yet.
You don’t need to worry about getting your wallet out. Me, I’ll be overjoyed not to have to sit next to a bunch of yahoo’s in striped overhauls with corn on their head.
It was not.
Blunt reality is that except for maybe a few years in the mid-90s, we've never had a purple crowd of over 35k consistently since the 1960s.
And with all the other entertainment options and post-pandemic behavioral changes, I'm pretty sure that the only way we see a 35k purple crowd is if we're really running up a string of great seasons.
This stadium capacity is pretty much perfect for the program for the modern day. And it will allow us to hopefully have solidly purple crowds when we have good teams that face off against the biggest programs.
If we can keep 25-27k seats purple when Ohio State or Michigan visit, that would mean a great deal if we have a good team with a chance to knock them off.
Hopefully in 2026 when RF is ready to reopen, we'll be able to get the season ticket base back to where it was pre-pandemic if Braun has the program humming.
Last edited:
As a former Cleveland Indians fan, I remember the excitement about replacing the old cavern with the new stadium. There was no disruption, it was built at a different location. Some similarities - shiny/new and big capacity reduction. They sold out every game for like 4 1/2 years. It was fun, great atmosphere, but I did miss the ticket availability at the old stadium. This may be similar, although I doubt we will have a multi-year sellout streak. But those of us that are single game buyers will likely have to become STH with PSL just to assure decent availability. I was able to go to every home game this year except Wrigley. It was convenient to be able to decide late. I bought my MN ticket 3 hours before game time. Oh, well. The only constant is change
The MOU had everything to do with the Concerts being approved. Stadium Capacity Reduction did NOT. The COE still would've approved the stadium at 47,000........Concerts and other events would've had CAPS on Capacity allowed.
Evanston (COE) will have final say on Traffic Plans Around Sports Complex
There will be new surcharges on......STH Parking, Beer/Wine, Concessions
Surcharge increases on all Ticket Sales
Also do not expect parking again on the Canal Shores Renovated Fairways. The new hills are nice and the Fairways at Golf-Central and Golf South have nice hills now
Evanston (COE) will have final say on Traffic Plans Around Sports Complex
There will be new surcharges on......STH Parking, Beer/Wine, Concessions
Surcharge increases on all Ticket Sales
Also do not expect parking again on the Canal Shores Renovated Fairways. The new hills are nice and the Fairways at Golf-Central and Golf South have nice hills now
Last edited:
Vote was....... 5-4 in favor of re-zoning to allow concerts, etc. Mayor broke tie
Vote was.......6-2 allowing new stadium construction
Vote was.......6-2 allowing new stadium construction
I suspect that after the novelty wears off, there will be plenty of single game tickets available on the secondary market. No need for season tickets.
I too am a lapsed Indians fan. Hated going to the Mistake By the Lake for baseball, although cheap bleacher seats were OK.
Agreed, will likely depend heavily on team performance after the first 2 years.
All the more important for Braun to get his staff choices optimized over the next 2 years before he leads a team into new RF.
It’s not about the last decade. It’s about the next several decades and how sports and live event viewership and experiences will evolve.
Will you be there to photograph the end of Dyche/Ryan?
I'm checking to see if we can use that FedEx plane from a few weeks ago that took the Pandas back to China via Anchorage can be used to ship a convoy of Moose to Evanston to help with the de-struction.
This part actually worries me a lot. I noticed in the marketing materials they seemed to really trumpet alternative ways to the game (biking, CTA, rideshare). I couldn't tell if that was to appease the NIMBYs or because they knew we'd be dealing with a serious parking deficit that might not be offset by the smaller capacity.
I wouldn't be able to get my STH friends to keep coming if we need to take the brown to red to purple lines back and forth on a Saturday morning.
I think it’s a little bit of both. NU would REALLY like more people to start using public transit and other methods of transportation, but a lot of that is because parking will be tighter closer to the stadium without the East Lot or golf course lots... though I will say that the West Lot was hardly ever anywhere near capacity this year.
Not sure where you’re at in the city, but the Metra is actually quite a pleasant way to get to the game. If you can easily get to the Clybourn stop (should work out OK if you can get on the brown line) or Ogilvie (red line), then it’s about a 15- or 20-minute ride to Central St.
Doesn’t run a ton on Saturdays, but lands you at Ryan Field ~9:00 AM, ~11:00 AM, ~1:00 PM, ~3:00 or ~5:00 PM. Return trips are at ~3:00 PM, ~5:00 PM, or ~8:00 PM so better for day games, but could also just grab a bite to eat (or post-game tailgate) for afternoon games. Tough for night games.
I'm checking to see if we can use that FedEx plane from a few weeks ago that took the Pandas back to China via Anchorage can be used to ship a convoy of Moose to Evanston to help with the de-struction.
Alaska, somewhere in a drawer here I have a picture of me sitting next to a likely lightly drugged panda at their facility in Chengdu. My son's wife is from Chengdu and on a visit a family friend set up the photo opportunity - which is apparently an honor. That plus a couple hundred dollars.
They are peripheral fans who have generally come to humor me. For years NU put on some serious thrillers and game them their money's worth...then the pandemic hit and two years of futility. This year has obviously been a nice turn in the right direction but now two years of carpetbagging...we'll see how things hold up.
Pay to park in Evanston?? Unless you're talking people with mobility issues it's a 15 minute walk to free street parking around the stadium.
I suspect they'll try to get Metra to run extra trains on gamedays, similar to what Metra does with Ravinia. Maybe NU can get the CTA to run some Evanston Express trains and increase 201 service on gamedays. Considering the post-COVID ridership declines those agencies might be open to these ideas.
First off, stop publicizing the best kept secret! Second, I assume the city will shut that down for the new stadium.
I don't doubt that Evanston and/or Wilmette will expand the gameday parking restriction zones but Evanston Civic Center lot ain't going anywhere. Parked there quite a bit for games once upon a time.
