Sid: Kaler not interested in building a new arena and tearing down Williams Arena

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Sid:

• One suggestion University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler won’t listen to is the building of a new basketball arena and tearing down Williams Arena. Currently a big remodeling job is being done on Northrop Hall, and Kaler rates Williams Arena as a similar sacred fixture on campus and will agree to remodeling Williams Arena but not to a new arena.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/210508101.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Sid:

• One suggestion University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler won’t listen to is the building of a new basketball arena and tearing down Williams Arena. Currently a big remodeling job is being done on Northrop Hall, and Kaler rates Williams Arena as a similar sacred fixture on campus and will agree to remodeling Williams Arena but not to a new arena.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/210508101.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
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That is good news.
 

All options should be left open. I don't see the U having the money to build new for a long time. Maybe that is what Kaler is really saying.
 

station19 said:
All options should be left open. I don't see the U having the money to build new for a long time. Maybe that is what Kaler is really saying.
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Or maybe he is saying what he is saying. He will not consider tearing down Williams.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Or maybe he is saying what he is saying. He will not consider tearing down Williams.
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I think he's saying what he's saying. After all, like Northrop, renovating sometimes costs more than building new. That doesn't always mean you go for the cheaper option of building new when there's a historic venue in place.
 


year of the gopher said:
I think he's saying what he's saying. After all, like Northrop, renovating sometimes costs more than building new. That doesn't always mean you go for the cheaper option of building new when there's a historic venue in place.
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Other than being old, what is so special/great about the Barn? It is 85 years old. Other than the front addition 20 years ago it's a Quonset hut. Kohl Center no - - the new arena at Missouri is beautiful.
 

Amen to that... I love the Barn and having a unique venue. Kaler +1
 


station19 said:
Other than being old, what is so special/great about the Barn? It is 85 years old. Other than the front addition 20 years ago it's a Quonset hut. Kohl Center no - - the new arena at Missouri is beautiful.
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It isn't special, it's unique.
 



station19 said:
Other than being old, what is so special/great about the Barn? It is 85 years old. Other than the front addition 20 years ago it's a Quonset hut. Kohl Center no - - the new arena at Missouri is beautiful.
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Just about everything, the raised floor, closeness of the seating, you can almost feel the vibrations when the place starts to rock, with the exception of the few obstructed seats it is almost perfect.
 



Johnnyboy18 said:
I think recruits would like a new arena.
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This is clearly why recruits are flocking to Kentucky, for a 40 year old arena with terrible scoreboards, no chair-backs in the upper deck and zero suites. Kansas and Duke are also flourishing with their brand new arenas.
 



Johnnyboy18 said:
I think recruits would like a new arena.
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I don't think the actual arena matters all that much honestly. I think a lot of recruits would respect the Barn and it's place in history. But what you have to do is surround that "old" facility with "fresh" in the other facilities, in particular, a beast practice facility where they will probably spend more of their time anyway.
 

AO54 said:
This is clearly why recruits are flocking to Kentucky, for a 40 year old arena with terrible scoreboards, no chair-backs in the upper deck and zero suites. Kansas and Duke are also flourishing with their brand new arenas.
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+1, On a recent family trip, we swung through Lawrence and I saw their arena. Nothing special. What people like is what happens inside and the history of the building in which it's happening. That's what we can get back to.
 

AO54 said:
This is clearly why recruits are flocking to Kentucky, for a 40 year old arena with terrible scoreboards, no chair-backs in the upper deck and zero suites. Kansas and Duke are also flourishing with their brand new arenas.
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Kentucky, Duke and Kansas have a few other things to sell about their basketball programs that the Gophers don't, no? Their arenas are ancillary to things like being able to challenge for a national title every year, elite coaches, new practice facilities and decades of rich tradition. I love the Barn and have tons of great memories of games there, but if a new arena helped us be more competitive for recruits (because if gleaming new practice facilities do that, why wouldn't a new arena have a similar impact?) and put us on the road to being on par with Kentucky, Duke and Kansas, then I'd be up for it. Put it this way, if I had won the $600 million lottery I would have earmarked seed money for a new Barn with a very generous donation to my alma mater.
 


WindyCityGopher said:
Kentucky, Duke and Kansas have a few other things to sell about their basketball programs that the Gophers don't, no? Their arenas are ancillary to things like being able to challenge for a national title every year, elite coaches, new practice facilities and decades of rich tradition. I love the Barn and have tons of great memories of games there, but if a new arena helped us be more competitive for recruits (because if gleaming new practice facilities do that, why wouldn't a new arena have a similar impact?) and put us on the road to being on par with Kentucky, Duke and Kansas, then I'd be up for it. Put it this way, if I had won the $600 million lottery I would have earmarked seed money for a new Barn with a very generous donation to my alma mater.
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Gleaming new arenas are for fans, practice facilities and locker rooms are for players. Five Star recruit guy could care less about the bathrooms and concourses that the fans use.
 

AO54 said:
Gleaming new arenas are for fans, practice facilities and locker rooms are for players. Five Star recruit guy could care less about the bathrooms and concourses that the fans use.
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+1 - they care about the spaces they use like locker room, lounges, and a place to work on their game. But all of that stuff is lower down on the list of things to care about compared to their relationship with the coaches and fit with the program. I think people in general make too big of a deal about the facilities impact in recruiting. Facilities are a bigger deal for things on the program level, not player level - player development, marketing/selling tickets, creating atmosphere
 

BleedGopher said:
per Sid:

• One suggestion University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler won’t listen to is the building of a new basketball arena and tearing down Williams Arena. Currently a big remodeling job is being done on Northrop Hall, and Kaler rates Williams Arena as a similar sacred fixture on campus and will agree to remodeling Williams Arena but not to a new arena.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/210508101.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
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To me this tips their hand as it's related to what the facilities master plan has in it for the future with regard to the basketball arena. Don't be surprised to see upgrades to Williams be a part of the plan when it comes out here in a few weeks.
 

The Barn is awesome! The only thing they need to change is the lighting. They should turn down the house lights during the game so the crowd isn't lit up like a Wal-Mart.
Lighting sets the tone at a restaurant and a sporting event.
They don't leave the lights on when your at the movie theater do they?
 



AO54 said:
As I said, you spend $10 Million on the facilities the players use, not $200 Million on a whole new arena if you want to attract recruits.
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Both are needed.
 



Johnnyboy18 said:
Both are needed.
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One isn't needed to compete and is an incredible waste of money. The other will marginally help competitiveness and is somewhere between a minor waster of money to a tepidly smart investment depending on your point of view.
 

oldrodent said:
Keep the Barn as it is, except... tear out all seating, create better sight lines. If you have to raise the roof to get more room so be it. Add new to the old!
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Any renovation of the Barn will included new restrooms, larger concourses and improved concession areas. If you're going to also tear out all seating, create better sight lines and raise the roof, don't you think it might be wiser to start from scratch?
 

station19 said:
Other than being old, what is so special/great about the Barn? It is 85 years old. Other than the front addition 20 years ago it's a Quonset hut. Kohl Center no - - the new arena at Missouri is beautiful.
Click to expand...

What's so special about a remodled buffalo wild wings?
 

station19 said:
Any renovation of the Barn will included new restrooms, larger concourses and improved concession areas. If you're going to also tear out all seating, create better sight lines and raise the roof, don't you think it might be wiser to start from scratch?
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Yep. Ideally I'd probably build a new arena, but include some 'history' from The Barn. I love Williams Arena - it's a special place. At the same time, it's not great at serving its purpose.

Maybe by 2050?...
 

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