SEC Athletics Facilities Race

[jbcarol]

KSR Battle of the Locker Rooms: Bama football v. UK basketball




LIGHTING




GRAPHICS



MURAL WALL



LOCKERS


FLOOR



Only Bama has the waterfall.

[jbcarol]

Jerry Tipton: For Jeanette Hislope, a proposed renovation of Rupp Arena that includes private suites, loge boxes and a members-only lounge is a desecration. It tears apart the Kentucky basketball family.

So to read last week about a survey asking fans if they'd buy suites, exclusive club memberships and other amenities to help pay for a re-invention of Rupp Arena disturbed Hislope's sense of right and wrong.

"I sat here and cried," she said in a telephone conversation Friday.

"It's like we're all in this together and we're all one big family," she said. "That's what I like. To me, it's all about being part of that crowd, and somebody you don't know yelling in your ear and high-fiving you when we make a three-pointer."

The proposed renovation of Rupp Arena brings home what Harvard profession Michael Sandel calls the "skyboxification of American life." People go their separate ways depending on what they can afford: Different schools, different jobs, different lives.

"Everybody is together, whether you're sitting in the nose-bleed section or down near the floor," she said. "It's all Big Blue Nation.

"I love Rupp because it's where a multi-millionaire can sit next to somebody who just got lucky and was able to scarf a ticket."

Those supporting a sweeping renovation of Rupp Arena are not unfeeling capitalists. They're simply looking for any and all ways to pay for a massive project to reinvent downtown Lexington during difficult economic times. Not to mention the awkward situation of UK President Eli Capilouto looking to fund an upgrade of campus buildings at exactly the same time.

Suites, loge boxes, lounges and other private clubs in a new Rupp Arena would help fund the renovation.

Bill Rhoda, the president of Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (one of the firms helping local government determine how to pay for the project), noted how prevalent suites, boxes and such luxuries are today. By one count, there are about 600 private suites within a 100-mile radius of Lexington. That includes Commonwealth Stadium, Keeneland Race Course, Churchill Downs and sporting venues in Louisville and Cincinnati.

On a more practical level, it might make unnecessary an increase in the sales tax, which was one of the ideas floated in the fan survey.

It is also a way to get blue bloods sitting on their hands or socializing during the game away from the floor.

[jbcarol]

Davis Wade Stadium hosts its first game of the year against Alcorn State on Sept. 7, everything is still on schedule.

The entire renovation won't be complete until the the first home game of the 2014 season against Southern Miss on Aug. 31.

But for the 2013 season, there is already plenty of new additions fans will experience. New luxury boxes, a unique area by the field in which fans can tailgate before and after games, as well as view the game if they'd like and an overall face-lift will be on display.

When the approximate $75 million renovation is officially done, here are some of the other amenities fans and others will enjoy:
– More than 6,000 more seats. The capacity will grow from 55,082 to 61,337. Premium seating will increase by 1,739 and the Scoreboard Club by 1,155. There will be 236 loge boxes, 22 suites with a capacity of 288 and 60 field-level suites.
–The current total of five elevators will more than double to 12.
– The number of restrooms will also more than double to 621.
– The number of permanent concession will grow to 156, from 110.

[jbcarol]

Rupp Arena, which has served since 1976 as the home of University of Kentucky basketball, will be getting a major facelift. Luxury suites, a private club and lounge, and loge boxes will be added in the re-invention. Initial conceptual rendering of the project (via link).

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/07/10/2709940/architectural-firm-construction.html

How to pay for the "re-invention" has not been finalized.

[jbcarol]

Amateur video of Bama's "Waterfall Room"

[jbcarol]

Fred Smith Football Center Update

Robbie Neiswanger ‏@NWARobbie 17 Jul
Bielema said Arkansas will move into new football operations center Monday.

[jbcarol]

When the naming rights idea for Rupp Arena took root recently, a Lexington company floated an idea on its website. How does "Big Ass Fans Rupp Arena" strike you?

The company's CEO (or as he's known colloquially, Chief Big Ass) Carey Smith sounded a tad defensive about the name of his company, which manufactures fans for industry that range in size from 60 inches to 24 feet. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with our name," he said last week. "I mean, everybody loves it. Everybody would love to see it on the side of a big building."

Adolph's son Herky was quoted as being opposed to any corporate name combined with his father's to rename the arena.

[jbcarol]

Partridge: "I was taken aback a little bit by how emotional they were. You kind of forget what these kids have been through for the last 18 months. And when they walked in there, it was almost like the final piece of, 'OK, we've moved forward. We've stepped into another timeframe.' There was some relief. There were some kids that got choked up. ... The facilities are off the charts, but there was another kind of symbolic, we're finally moving on feeling in that room."

http:// [[[Stop spamming your site, Eric.]]] .com/sections/razorbacks/notes-unveiling-facility-symbolic-razorbacks.html

[jbcarol]

A&M will finally auction athletics facility items

Later in August, A&M will auction four "Texas A&M" branded sections of the wood playing court and will sell pieces of the G. Rollie White Coliseum brick exterior. The court and brick availability will be subject to a successful salvage by the demolition contractor.

A&M also will auction items from other facilities in the near future as the school embarks on the redevelopment of Kyle Field and completes the lobby expansion at the Bright Complex.

http://www.aggiesports.com/football/article_09b509e4-f745-11e2-988f-001a4bcf887a.html

No word on whether Johnathon Football brand items will be placed on the block.

[TSWRAHOG87]

And I thought ours was state of the art, must be nice having Nike as your booster...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/video/ncaaf-video/20130731/oregon-athletic-facility-football-college.sportsillustrated/?sct=hp_t11_a3&eref=sihp

[ADavisTheGOAT]

Ours is crap compared to their new facility imo.

[Uncommon]

Ours is crap compared to their new facility imo.

The main thing that makes their facility better is those high ceilings.  Recruits love high ceilings.

[sportster365]

Wow, that's impressive. Awesome facilities, awesome unis this has got to score them some major recruits. All thats missing now is a proven HC. Not sure if Helfrich can get it done there.

[sportster365]

I almost wanted to watch that video twice.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Ours is crap compared to their new facility imo.

crap?...c'mon man.

$40 million vs. $68 million.

[McKdaddy]

Ours isn't crap compared to UO's facility, but is certainly underwhelming.

[clutch]

The bad thing is their previous facilities were still some of the nicest in the country. Going to be hard to keep up with them if they are upgrading every 4-5 years.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Phil Knight has another "playhouse". It may be bigger than their football stadium, which seats 54,000.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

The main thing that makes their facility better is those high ceilings.  Recruits love high ceilings.

Not to mention "anthracite" colored ones.

[Amityvillehogger]

Easy to do when you have the head of Nike cut you a blank check.

I'd really like to see a video of our facility. Showcase the thing room to room and show all the in's and outs.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

They have plenty of room to show off all of their national championship trophies that they've won. Oh....never mind.

[hogsfan31]

ehhh...it looks like a spaceship

[LZH]

I can't say ours is underwhelming, 'cause I've only seen a few pictures.  But it may be important to note that this was something BP wanted right away.  Could it be that there was a choice made to build a $40M facility ASAP as opposed to waiting a few more years to raise more money in order to build a $60M-$75M facility?

[titanhawg]

State of the art.

The issue with ours is that it appears they went half-way.  It's almost as if someone said, "we want our new facility to look really nice, but let's not be too flashy.  We want to look humble."

I'd much rather go the flashy route when it comes to something like this.  Heck...even Bama has a huge video gaming room in their FOC for their players.

[Chic-Hog-Oh]

I can't say ours is underwhelming, 'cause I've only seen a few pictures.  But it may be important to note that this was something BP wanted right away.  Could it be that there was a choice made to build a $40M facility ASAP as opposed to waiting a few more years to raise more money in order to build a $60M-$75M facility?

I believe there are significant "expandability" options and add-ons that will continue to enhance the complex.....to be incorporated as add'l $$ come in. They've been thought-thru so as to not look like disconnected, tacked-on appendages.

My understanding is that it was a HIGH priority to get the most critical features and a solidly attractive starting point done by summer 2013.

Plus, how often do we go head-to-head with Oregon for recruits? Seems to me USC and Stanford should be more worried about that. We just have to be better than or at least very close to our SEC brethren, plus OU, Texas, etc

[McKdaddy]

Could it be that there was a choice made to build a $40M facility ASAP as opposed to waiting a few more years to raise more money in order to build a $60M-$75M facility?

Very possible, Zep.

[RazorBassin]

Very impressive, wish ours had some of the details that their facility has.  Hopefully over time we add more detail/technology to the facility.

[pantload]

I don't like it.

[MissippHog]

It's nice but it's not located in Fayetteville.  That's all that matters to me.

[RazorPiggie]

Its nice but I'll wait until they do a video like that with ours before I will call ours crap (which I highly doubt it is). I bet the majority of us have only seen the pics they have put out there which probably only covers about a 1/3 of the complex.

[Steef]

It's nice but it's not located in Fayetteville.  That's all that matters to me.

It's not NWA.
And...it's Oregon.
And...it's not SEC.

[hogs25]

Looks like the Clinton library.  I like ours.  It would've really been a downer had we not done nothing.

[LZH]

It's nice but it's not located in Fayetteville.  That's all that matters to me.

I would like to invite you to post as often as your fingers can reach the keyboard.

[Pickwick Hog]

Meh. Theirs will be covered in moss within a week.

[termite]

It's not NWA.
And...it's Oregon.
And...it's not SEC.+++1

[longtimeHogfan]

All thats missing now is a proven HC.

Well, that and the SEC. 

[HogFoo]

I believe there are significant "expandability" options and add-ons that will continue to enhance the complex.....to be incorporated as add'l $$ come in. They've been thought-thru so as to not look like disconnected, tacked-on appendages.

My understanding is that it was a HIGH priority to get the most critical features and a solidly attractive starting point done by summer 2013.

Plus, how often do we go head-to-head with Oregon for recruits? Seems to me USC and Stanford should be more worried about that. We just have to be better than or at least very close to our SEC brethren, plus OU, Texas, etc

I agree with everything you said. 

For a place like Oregon they have to have over the top specialty type things. afterall they are Oregon.  they have plenty of room in their trophy case for all the NC's they've won over the years. 

As you said, hogs facilities have plenty of room for expansion and I can guarantee you that the hogs will keep up with anyone once more funds come in from our new tv deals.  The main thing was that the hogs HAD to have something right now.  It wasn't overly done right now for the sole purpose of just getting it done.  I can see many many more improvements to come in the future. 

[Pigsknuckles]

I approve of these facilities.

[SquidBilly]

The recruits that were in recently said our new facility was the best they had seen.  Oregon's is really nice but ours is nothing to sneeze at.

[PygmalionEffect]

I have to admit, that at a glance it appears that their interior design gay guys might be a little bit better than our interior design gay guys.


Or even worse, our interior design guys might not even be gay.

[hoghearted]

Easy to do when you have the head of Nike cut you a blank check.

I'd really like to see a video of our facility. Showcase the thing room to room and show all the in's and outs.

Wish our PR people were a bit more on the ball about this kind of stuff. From Dmac's Heisman campaign, to this, seems like they are always a step behind. 

[acua]

Structurally there are some interesting things but design is the most impressive thing.  We are all about beige, cardinal and that's it.  Very business-like.  UOs stadium is cool, different imaginative.  Seen it in person and everything from the enterance to the overall shape are cool. We are more concerned with big.  I think our stadium is nice enough but visually boring.  Too much beige stucco.

[LRHawg]

I have to admit, that at a glance it appears that their interior design gay guys might be a little bit better than our interior design gay guys.


Or even worse, our interior design guys might not even be gay.

LOL. Now my wife is wondering why i'm laughing hysterically at my laptop.

[Pathogen]

The main thing that makes their facility better is those high ceilings. 

Correct.  Nevermind the fact that all photos from our facilities seem to show the ceiling to be 2-2.5 times taller than 6'+ tall players and coaches, making the ceilings 12-16' tall.  Stupid short ceilings.

[Pathogen]

The issue with ours is that it appears they went half-way.  It's almost as if someone said, "we want our new facility to look really nice, but let's not be too flashy.  We want to look humble."

Seriously??  Ours isn't even done yet. 

[PorkSoda]

ugly as hell, just like their uniforms.  throwing money at something doesn't make it nice.  it just makes it expensive

[RollHogTide]

I think it is probably an outstanding facility, but I wish they would have spent more time showing the building, rooms, and what it does for the players instead of the folks telling us how great it is.

[The_Boot_stops_here]

screw Oregon

[#1Hogfan]

screw Oregon

This.

[go hogues]

I am a filmmaker who makes videos like this Oregon one often and it absolutely dumbfounds me that the UA has not released a promo film similar. (Yes, I have petitioned them to hire me to make one and I get crickets)