Stadium Expansion

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gopherluv said:
There's no question that Williams Arena is a detriment to Gopher Basketball recruiting. The place is a dump. Yeah, I know, but it's our dump. Time to move on ...
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You can argue that the spectator experience is flawed, but recruiting? No question? C'mon man. I really don't think the modernity of the concession stands is a major factor in a player's decision. They care far more about game atmosphere over arena, and when Williams gets going it can rival anywhere in the B1G.
 

If Williams arena and the pavilion were to be torn down, then the replacement would need to go on the same site, necessitating the basketball teams going elsewhere for at least a season, likely to Target Center. The Pavilion sports like Volleyball and wrestling would also need to go elsewhere, perhaps to Roy Wilkins Auditorium or maybe to the fieldhouse with some temporary stands. A new building would need to be very retro in style and have some class. A version of what Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State have would not do. Those places are plain and charmless. Mizzou Arena is an example of how to create a new building with an old school feel. It has a good look inside and out. It doesn't feel like it came off an assembly line.

If the arena is to be kept, then a major renovation is required. The last one occurred in 1993 and given the time it takes to get something like this together, we're looking at 30 years after that at best before something new would happen. That was a significant renovation. A future one would require something much more drastic, along the lines of leaving the roof and outer walls standing, but completely gutting the inside to create a steeper seating bowl, better concourses, better suites and club seating, better team facilities, no more obstructed views, and a smaller capacity since the Gophers rarely sellout anymore. It would be expensive and one might ask what the point of saving the place would be with such a radical rebuild, but it might be more doable from political and PR standpoints..

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The stadium was built so that expansion was an option, but I don't believe there was ever any timeline. It just could be expanded if demand grew sufficiently to merit it, but demand would have to increase by a lot. Modest demand increase could be met with temporary seating. If we added 10,000 seats, it might be nice when Michigan comes to town, but there might not be that much demand when Tennessee Tech comes to town.
 

SuperSenior13 said:
I know when it was built, TCF had the capability of expanding to 80,000+ and had a desired timeline for doing so.

Does anyone have any kind of update on this? Not saying that they currently need it, was more just curious if there's been movement of any kind on the front.
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No Expansion...we've discussed this many times. TCF is perfect size now. Why on earth would you want to expand?
 





SuperSenior13 said:
hey sorry i don't have time to go thru weeks and months of threads... was an honest question.

thanks for the responses.
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I've been here for all the discussions about stadium expansion, and most everything else, too. The fact is there's nothing new under the sun, nothing new to talk about.

I will never understand why some people think they need to be the discussion board cop and browbeat anyone who raises an old subject. What do you get out of it? A feeling of importance? A sense of superiority? A tidy little board with a minimum of posters and discussion? Get over yourself.

SS13, I suspect we'll always wonder about expansion. The stadium is designed for it, and the most likely scenario is adding 5000 seats in the open end, 10,000 seats on top of the visiting side, or both.
 



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