Gophs checking out architects for construction of the basketball practice facility

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It would be great for Populous(they changed there name from HOK, they did TCF and Target Field) but they might be a little spendy for a basic practice facility. On the other hand the AD is dealing with a somewhat odd shaped piece of land so going with best might be a good thing. IMO they do the best work of any of the sports architecural firms(HNTB/360/Ellerbe-Beckett, etc).

Here is there Wikipedia page so you can see what they have done, its really impressive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populous_(architects)
 


No offense to the Iowa State fans here but Iowa State built the basic modern basketball practice facility. Nothing really special. Basicaly its a basketball court on either side with a middle space with offices, lockerrooms, weight room etc. I would expect something a little more creative for the Gophers. Partly due the different space of the area, partly because overall the Gophers have a bigger profile in college basketball than the Cyclones. As for cost I would think it would more than the 8 million that ISU spent but no where near the $30 million that Kentucky spent.
 

I'd imagine that the alumni could potentially build a nice facility on their own if the U is willing to let go of some prime real estate. Winfield,Thompson, Mchale, Saunders, and Tucker could lead the charge. Humphries should send some $$. Won't hold my breath on Pryzbilla contributing.
 


mnboiler said:
No offense to the Iowa State fans here but Iowa State built the basic modern basketball practice facility. Nothing really special. Basicaly its a basketball court on either side with a middle space with offices, lockerrooms, weight room etc. I would expect something a little more creative for the Gophers. Partly due the different space of the area, partly because overall the Gophers have a bigger profile in college basketball than the Cyclones. As for cost I would think it would more than the 8 million that ISU spent but no where near the $30 million that Kentucky spent.
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Right, its pretty basic. I was a little disappointed, but it's better than nothing obviously. At least it looks modern, like you said.
 

SkitchPatterson said:
Right, its pretty basic. I was a little disappointed, but it's better than nothing obviously. At least it looks modern, like you said.
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SP there is no problem with being basic and simple. Although the one thing really I didn't like about was the exposed block walls in the player's lounge. Otherwise it looked very functional.

Or you could the other way like Purdue is and go elaborate and complex. Granted Purdue's practice facility is more than just a practice facility but it going to be very unique. It is also cost about 11 times more ISU's practice facility. The link here is to Purdue's Mackey Project. It is quite the project with a large scope.

http://www.purduesports.com/genrel/mackey-project.html
 

The Mackey project is definitely more than a practice facility. The new practice facility will have a full court and three breakout shooting areas, but I'm not sure how much of the nearly $100 million budget is going to the new practice facility. The renovation also includes a new sports medicine facility, several new locker rooms, and a widened concourse.
 

Judging from TCF Stadium, I am sure that whatever the Gophers get, it will be done right. If one thing can be said about Maturi's reign, he did a great job getting that stadium built.
 





Where is the practice facility planned on being built?
 

GL actully the cost of the Yum Center(U of L's practice facility) was 15.2 mil according to the website. And it is amazing. I would guess that the practice facility would be in that $15 mil range. A factors that might drive up the cost is that the practice facility is going to be connected to Williams that will drive up the cost. Also you have inflation but right now its cheaper to build than it was in 2007 so take your guess on cost.
 



Gold Vision said:
Where is the practice facility planned on being built?
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I was told last summer that it would be built between the east entry and Station 19. My source is pretty credible with ties to the Regents, Alumni Association and sports in general.
 

My office is involved with numerous architects that are bidding on this project, just like we were with TCF Bank Stadium (I won't name the architects since no one has been awarded the project yet). I looked into it a little today and from what I can tell, it's east of Williams and will have at least 2 gyms stacked on top of each other. I assumed one level would be below ground and one above. The fact that these gyms are stacked will make this building quite expensive per square foot. I'll post when I have more info.
 

GopherLady said:
For about 1/3 of what Kentucky spent, Louisville's practice facility looks phenomenal:

Louisville Practice Facility
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UK's was a multi-level facility that had to fit into the architectural profile of Memorial Coliseum as well. Not to mention it also houses the entire Athletic Department, ticket offices, locker rooms for both men's and women's basketball, coaches offices, weight rooms and player lounges in addition to the actual basketball courts. Plus, the renovations that were done to Memorial to better support women's Volleyball and Gymnastics were included to that 30 Million Dollar price tag.
 



16FeetUnder said:
My office is involved with numerous architects that are bidding on this project, just like we were with TCF Bank Stadium (I won't name the architects since no one has been awarded the project yet). I looked into it a little today and from what I can tell, it's east of Williams and will have at least 2 gyms stacked on top of each other. I assumed one level would be below ground and one above. The fact that these gyms are stacked will make this building quite expensive per square foot. I'll post when I have more info.
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I find it interesting that they are going to "stack" the gyms. I believe the general rule of thumb for a gym is that you need atleast 30 feet of head space but I couel be off. When you stack two courts like that it wouldn't take long to get a fairly tall building.

Also 16FeetUnder do you know if its going to basketball only or is it going to include space for volleyball, wrestling, etc. also?
 

Whatever they do they need to fix up the University Avenue entrance to Williams. This area is the perfect area for this practice facility and can't believe they are talking about adding to the area they recently added to Williams. And how is this going to look from inside the football stadium? Isn't the facade of Williams on the East end sort of iconic now? They are just going to rip it off or cover it up with another addition? Not good if you ask me.
my idea:
Putting the facility along University (the whole length of the pavillion and Williams) allows soooo much potential for game day amenties to be added to this facility. More restrooms, more concessions, a better club area....plus practice courts and administration.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
And how is this going to look from inside the football stadium? Isn't the facade of Williams on the East end sort of iconic now? They are just going to rip it off or cover it up with another addition? Not good if you ask me.
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I think the plan is to build it as a stand along building along the SE corner of that intersection, near Station 19. I don't think they will add it on to Williams.


GoGophers2005 said:
Putting the facility along University (the whole length of the pavillion and Williams) allows soooo much potential for game day amenties to be added to this facility. More restrooms, more concessions, a better club area....plus practice courts and administration.
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I'm not sure on this, but I don't think it is feasible to put it along University. There simply isn't enough space on that "apron" area of Williams Arena. That can only be 50-60 feet wide after you leave space for sidewalks. Plus, it serves as the loading dock area for the arena and sports pavilion. Lots of stuff gets loaded and unloaded from that apron area.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
Whatever they do they need to fix up the University Avenue entrance to Williams. This area is the perfect area for this practice facility and can't believe they are talking about adding to the area they recently added to Williams. And how is this going to look from inside the football stadium? Isn't the facade of Williams on the East end sort of iconic now? They are just going to rip it off or cover it up with another addition? Not good if you ask me.
my idea:
Putting the facility along University (the whole length of the pavillion and Williams) allows soooo much potential for game day amenties to be added to this facility. More restrooms, more concessions, a better club area....plus practice courts and administration.
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I agree that the East side of The Barn is iconic. And I agree that adding on to the University Ave side of Williams/Sports Pavillion is a great way to add amenities to the facility. But I'd have to question whether there would be enough room for this type of facility along University. The strip of land between the street and the existing structure is not very wide. I'm not sure that you could easily configure it to hold multiple practice courts, offices, training/weight/locker facilities, ticket offices, bathrooms, etc. And that is without considering how much more narrow that space might be when zoning/easements/etc are considered (because I doubt they can just build right up to the sidewalk).

Whatever happens, I'd greatly prefer that the east facade of Williams remain unchanged. But I'm willing to admit that this might not be possible.
 

tjgopher said:
I'm not sure on this, but I don't think it is feasible to put it along University. There simply isn't enough space on that "apron" area of Williams Arena. That can only be 50-60 feet wide after you leave space for sidewalks. Plus, it serves as the loading dock area for the arena and sports pavilion. Lots of stuff gets loaded and unloaded from that apron area.
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Beat me to it tj. :)
 

mnboiler said:
I find it interesting that they are going to "stack" the gyms. I believe the general rule of thumb for a gym is that you need atleast 30 feet of head space but I couel be off. When you stack two courts like that it wouldn't take long to get a fairly tall building.

Also 16FeetUnder do you know if its going to basketball only or is it going to include space for volleyball, wrestling, etc. also?
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I agree, that's why I said it would be an expensive building. We'll see when the winner is declared if it is stacked or if they found a better solution. Sorry, no idea on which sports are included. I'll post when I hear more, but I'd guess it'll be a couple of months until any word trickles through.
 

I think there is plenty of space on the university ave side for basketball courts...we are talking about practice gyms, not field houses or gyms that require any sort of seating. I also thought I heard that the locker rooms are still going to be located beneath Williams and that they are not going to include that in the programing for the practice facility....why double up if its all connected?

They can build right up to the sidewalk just as they did on 4th street.

Regardless, they need to do something with this entrance on University....they need to make it a true entrance into Williams Arena.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
Whatever they do they need to fix up the University Avenue entrance to Williams. This area is the perfect area for this practice facility and can't believe they are talking about adding to the area they recently added to Williams. And how is this going to look from inside the football stadium? Isn't the facade of Williams on the East end sort of iconic now? They are just going to rip it off or cover it up with another addition? Not good if you ask me.
my idea:
Putting the facility along University (the whole length of the pavillion and Williams) allows soooo much potential for game day amenties to be added to this facility. More restrooms, more concessions, a better club area....plus practice courts and administration.
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Personally I think this idea is great buiI agree with the others who have posted here that there might not be enough space there for a practice courts. Using Google Maps I am estimating there is roughly 100 feet between the edge of Williams and University Ave. Granted thats my best estimate and its most likely not very accurate. If you are going to build a basketball court you are going to need roughly 70 feet wide and 114 feet long that includes courts plus out of bounds/safty area. Because you really don't want the wall right next the court. Length wise you have more than enough room. But if you put the practice courts there you could do something cool with a pregame buffet on the practice court, etc.

I came up with these drawing last time this topic came around. I'll repost them but keep in mind I have no formal training as a engineer, designer, architect but I do have a pretty good interest on sports arenas/stadiums/practice facility and like to think I know quite abit on the issue. Overall they aren't very detailed but if people would like I can go more detailed.
 

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GoGophers2005 said:
I think there is plenty of space on the university ave side for basketball courts...we are talking about practice gyms, not field houses or gyms that require any sort of seating. I also thought I heard that the locker rooms are still going to be located beneath Williams and that they are not going to include that in the programing for the practice facility....why double up if its all connected?

They can build right up to the sidewalk just as they did on 4th street.

Regardless, they need to do something with this entrance on University....they need to make it a true entrance into Williams Arena.
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I'm not saying it is impossible, but to say there is "plenty of space" is silly. There is no more than 100 feet (and that is being generous) between University and Williams. You also don't have the sliver of land for the full length of the building because of the Kappa Sigma house. The Sports Pavilion end of the building also has the loading dock which will need to be kept or replicated. As you move closer to Williams you run into one of the main entrances. This will also have to be incorporated into the new facility in some way. The pictures attached below show what I'm talking about.

The court without sidelines is 94' x 50'. They may not need seating but they will want room for sidelines to allow for additional hoops. So call the space for one practice court 105' x 60' (and that's probably much tighter than what safety will allow). What I'm saying is, there isn't enough room to put 2 courts side by side in the strip between Williams/SP and University. Assuming that you put them end to end, I'm hard pressed to see how you also incorporate office space, a new side entrance to Williams/SP, bathrooms, training facilities, meeting space, and the loading dock. And that is without considering what happens to replicate the space currently used to park the TV trucks. Also, there is no guarantee that current zoning laws will allow them to go right up to the sidewalk (what happened decades ago is useless when it comes to zoning). The only way I can see it happening is if they do the 1 court on top of the other plan alongside William/SP.

So not impossible. In the end I want the same thing as you...a nice practice facility along University. But there are plenty of "ifs" that make it dicey...not the sure thing you envision. And that's why I'm prepared to see something different.

However, I agree that it would make sense to improve the South entrance to Williams regardless of where the practice facility goes.
 

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GoGophers2005 said:
I think there is plenty of space on the university ave side for basketball courts.
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What kind of rough estimates do you think they'll need to build a practice facility that will supposedly hold two full courts, a weight room, some office space, storage, and a few other things? What dimensions do you think they'd need?
 

MnBoiler...nice renderings, but please take off the cilo's.
That is pretty much what I expect they will do. I envision the whole length of the building along University to be glass and able to see inside.
The photo's that GoAupher attached makes me even more confident that this area could easily contain basketball courts. That is a large space guys.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
MnBoiler...nice renderings, but please take off the cilo's.
That is pretty much what I expect they will do. I envision the whole length of the building along University to be glass and able to see inside.
The photo's that GoAupher attached makes me even more confident that this area could easily contain basketball courts. That is a large space guys.
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I don't disagree that it can contain 2 courts. My concern is can it do everything they need it to do beyond the basketball courts. That is offices, team meeting rooms, weight room, training table, sports medicine, entrance to the arena, possible new bathroom/concession facilities for the arena, etc.

Again, not saying it can't be done. But it becomes a lot more difficult when you start planning for more than just 2 basketball courts. Whether or not it can be done will likely come down to what other needs the U wants the facility to fill and if its cheaper/easier to build somewhere else.

As for the glass, that will only happen if the windows don't look directly on to the court. No way they have a practice courts with windows right to the street.
 

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