Reusse: Unlike the Gophers’ coaching situation, the solution for Williams Arena is simple: Blow up The Barn

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PMWinSTP said:
Could use Mariucci for basketball with some configuration updates. Not sure how fast the current boards can be removed.
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Would be wierd sighlines, no? With Olympic sized ice? Problem solved with a removable elevated floor?
 


Sodaksam said:
Our facility isn’t the problem. C’mon.
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That facility is not only antiquated, it has by far the worst sightlines for seated guests in the history of post-prison modern. The only fair use of Williams is for remakes of Alcatraz or of Hoosiers.
 



GoodasGold said:
There’s no demand for corporate or high revenue seating.
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Why would there be? Just getting to those "suites" is like walking the county line or ascending the stairs at Split Rock. Liberty destroyers had better ward rooms. I've seen trophy wives leave the suites complaining to their spouse, "Do you hate me," then pelting the dear man with a program across the face.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Twins Wild and Vikings are all at the legislature asking for renovation funds. The U should be in that line as well.
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Especially since the legislature (the state) actually owns the University.

The pulltabs paid off the Vikings stadium two decades early. The U should absolutely tap into some of the remaining years of the pulltabs and build a new arena.

Does anyone at the U have the guts to go demand it from the lawmakers?
 

howeda7 said:
The Barn does need to be replaced. Not because it will help recruiting but because it's 100 years old and not fixable.
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If they replace it, I hope they keep a similar, close to the action, seating arrangement minus the obstructions. You just don’t get that crowd is part of the game feeling at most other arenas.
 



tjgopher said:
Especially since the legislature (the state) actually owns the University.

The pulltabs paid off the Vikings stadium two decades early. The U should absolutely tap into some of the remaining years of the pulltabs and build a new arena.

Does anyone at the U have the guts to go demand it from the lawmakers?
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No.
 
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howeda7 said:
A smaller modern replica should be the goal.
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A combination of Ole Miss, Baylor, Missouri, and DePaul would be great. They are all "newer" arenas that have some old school charm, plus the modern amenities to draw upon.
 




Dave H said:
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Multipurpose arenas suck...especially basketball hockey. They are concrete wastelands with terrible sounds and atmospheres. They are halfway decent for basketball (if filled) but flat out awful for hockey.

You need only look at the Kohl Center (even when the BADgers are good in hockey) to see how awful that place is. There are others and the atmosphere always sucks.
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The Bryce Jordan cavern...it's like a library for a basketball game.
 

swede2 said:
The U screwed up when it built Mariucci and renovated the Barn. It should have built a new multipurpose arena. But seldom does the U do the right thing when it comes to athletics.
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Dumb take, multipurpose arenas are terrible.

Ever been to the Kohl Center? It totally sucks.

Renovate the Barn at all costs.
 

I’ve stated on other threads that the barn floor should be turned. Gut the interior and turn the court so it runs perpendicular to the way it runs now. Seats between the baselines would increase and sight lines improved. Hinkle Fieldhouse is about 10 feet narrower than the Barn(according to Google Earth). Space underneath grandstands would improve. Maybe capacity decreases by a thousand or two but you’d be able to create a suite level above main floor and not in the rafters. Welsh-Ryan Arena and Hinkle Fieldhouse are great examples of using existing space. Someone mentioned Marquette earlier in this thread but they play at Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks play and they would much prefer their own on campus arena, in fact, if the Big East invitation had come a year or two earlier, they would have made the McGuire Center a bigger arena and had their games there instead of Bradley Center and now Fiserv.
 

swede2 said:
Sure. Possible it happens. Quite improbable though. The temporary seating erected for the Vikings could have been built as a permanent addition for a relatively insignificant sum of money but here we are, how many years and coaches after the facilty was built, and we didn't need 2500 extra seats.
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Totally agree. As someone who really likes PJ, and even with some sustained success, there is little demand to add more seats. I think 9k would be perfect for BB, and around 50K is good for FB.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Totally agree. As someone who really likes PJ, and even with some sustained success, there is little demand to add more seats. I think 9k would be perfect for BB, and around 50K is good for FB.
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I've said many times the only addition I would make is bar/restaurants around top east side of the stadium. It is perfect sized to football is today's environment.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
The held punches against Johnson is insane. Mentioned it before but it's unreal the difference in treatment for Johnson compared to other Gopher coaches.

As for the Barn, I think it's more of a reasonable point of discussion. I love historic college buildings, but if the aesthetic could be kept it would be alright I think. If a new arena was built with a similar framework, "barn-shaped" so to speak, similar raised floor, but with better tech, concourses, etc. I think that could work. Barn 2.0 maybe?

The Bank was built with that brick exterior, and is a mix of modern and old-school college football. Could do the same with the basketball facility.
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100% on the held punches. This is similar to the bizarre AAU chat of 5 years ago.
 

gregbrady said:
I’ve stated on other threads that the barn floor should be turned. Gut the interior and turn the court so it runs perpendicular to the way it runs now. Seats between the baselines would increase and sight lines improved. Hinkle Fieldhouse is about 10 feet narrower than the Barn(according to Google Earth). Space underneath grandstands would improve. Maybe capacity decreases by a thousand or two but you’d be able to create a suite level above main floor and not in the rafters. Welsh-Ryan Arena and Hinkle Fieldhouse are great examples of using existing space. Someone mentioned Marquette earlier in this thread but they play at Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks play and they would much prefer their own on campus arena, in fact, if the Big East invitation had come a year or two earlier, they would have made the McGuire Center a bigger arena and had their games there instead of Bradley Center and now Fiserv.
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Agree. I would hate to see the Barn "blown up" and replaced by a new facility. Imagine what could be done with that solid brick shithouse bldg (a good thing) if the renovation involved a complete or near complete internal demolition. Would cost a few seats which is fine, but if everything was rethought inside of the brick walls it could be amazing and iconic.
 

With the direct hit on research grants by the current administration, I'm guessing funding a new or renovated arena is about as far from a priority for the U as it can be. At this point, colleges and universities are in pure survival mode, including the University of Minnesota. That may explain the Big Ten's courting of private equity.
 


PMWinSTP said:
Using the building of an excellent on campus stadium as the school's lack of commitment is silly, you disagree?
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You understand the logistics that would have to go into shifting Mariucci from Basketball to Hockey right? This isn't Chicago stadium we aren't just going to put floorboards on top of the ice and call it good. Maybe I could see it if the seasons weren't intertwined but they are so it is going to be a mess even without the sightline issues and such.
 

gregbrady said:
I’ve stated on other threads that the barn floor should be turned. Gut the interior and turn the court so it runs perpendicular to the way it runs now. Seats between the baselines would increase and sight lines improved. Hinkle Fieldhouse is about 10 feet narrower than the Barn(according to Google Earth). Space underneath grandstands would improve. Maybe capacity decreases by a thousand or two but you’d be able to create a suite level above main floor and not in the rafters. Welsh-Ryan Arena and Hinkle Fieldhouse are great examples of using existing space. Someone mentioned Marquette earlier in this thread but they play at Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks play and they would much prefer their own on campus arena, in fact, if the Big East invitation had come a year or two earlier, they would have made the McGuire Center a bigger arena and had their games there instead of Bradley Center and now Fiserv.
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There should be a committee that you should be on.
 

Dave H said:
You understand the logistics that would have to go into shifting Mariucci from Basketball to Hockey right? This isn't Chicago stadium we aren't just going to put floorboards on top of the ice and call it good. Maybe I could see it if the seasons weren't intertwined but they are so it is going to be a mess even without the sightline issues and such.
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Basketball has been played in Mariucci. It's not built for it though.
 


gregbrady said:
I’ve stated on other threads that the barn floor should be turned. Gut the interior and turn the court so it runs perpendicular to the way it runs now. Seats between the baselines would increase and sight lines improved. Hinkle Fieldhouse is about 10 feet narrower than the Barn(according to Google Earth). Space underneath grandstands would improve. Maybe capacity decreases by a thousand or two but you’d be able to create a suite level above main floor and not in the rafters. Welsh-Ryan Arena and Hinkle Fieldhouse are great examples of using existing space. Someone mentioned Marquette earlier in this thread but they play at Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks play and they would much prefer their own on campus arena, in fact, if the Big East invitation had come a year or two earlier, they would have made the McGuire Center a bigger arena and had their games there instead of Bradley Center and now Fiserv.
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I've stated the same. The U should be looking at Hinkle in terms of how to deal with the Barn. The buildings are similar in age and design, and what they did to renovate that building is beautiful.
 

FinnGopher said:
So, you're not there to watch the game. For me, I don't go to the refreshment stands, I walk in and I watch the game. It's all about wanting to watch good basketball. The game is enhanced, for me, by recognizing the history that has played basketball on that court. Why would I want to throw that away? The problem we have today is that few people come to watch the game. Instead they come to be entertained by distractions off the court. This is why I love older arenas. Give me a seat at Pauley Pavilion and Cameron Indoor Stadium and I will be happy. I couldn't care less about the amenities. Just, please, give me some good basketball.
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You can continue to be the old man yelling at clouds, but the fact is, college football and basketball are big time entertainment. Period. As such, the Gophers are competing for finite sports/entertainment dollars in this market, and part of that is the overall atmosphere. People do not want to spend those dollars to sit on benches and pee in troughs when they get a much better atmosphere for their money at literally every other major sporting venue in the Twin Cities. This is just reality.
 


swede2 said:
Would be wierd sighlines, no? With Olympic sized ice? Problem solved with a removable elevated floor?
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As mentioned earlier, the ice size was reduced. Just a suggestion when folks started posting building a basketball arena that seats 9-10K. With it being a single level with permenent seats, the lower seats on the ends would seem to be the biggest challenge.
 

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