Hmmmm....what does 20 years late have to do with the current admin or this proposal? Funny you complain about slow movement on one project while complaining about possible movement on another. What renovations are you talking about that were prioritized? Softball? If that's your reference you are wrong, it wasn't prioritized over those other items.
They only viable alternative to adding chairback seating to the upper 60 rows of the E and W stands is to re-deck those entire stands, ie....Erector set. There is just too much rise and not enough run in that section to do otherwise unless they intend to jackhammer up every bit of concrete above row 30 or 32. I don't think even a $400M budget would allow that. Any proposed seating renovation item that triggers any type of ADA or fire code regulation that results in losing 1000's of seats to that purpose alone should be immediately rejected.
Just curious: How many $400 million stadium renovations DO you think they would have experience with? Do you seriously think projects like this walk through the door every week?
Slow movement cost us big-time on the football facility. Other than to make some minor seating changes and a full-on renovation of the concourses etc. what compelling reason do you see to move quickly with the Swamp? It still sells out even with a crappy product. Facility Projects Softball became the defacto priority when the original football facility project was shelved by Stricklin because the Baseball facility had to be completed first before Mckethan field could be demo'ed.
Dear God. Overreact much? The seating is going to be improved and made more comfortable. But if you like hard, bench seats, ask permission to sit on the stairwells for crying out loud. As for ADA and fire code changes that will cause the Swamp "to permanently cease to exist" can you offer any ideas as to what these changes might be? I am most curious.
There are plenty of fannies in the seats. Put a winning product on the field and fannies desiring seats will outnumber the seats.
I think that we’re all going to find out, in 2-3 years, that $400 million doesn’t go as far as it used to.
I'm all for comfort...I'm not all in on sacrificing 20,000 seats to make pampered fans feel more special. There is only so much comfort you can squeeze out of the Swamp on a sweaty, 92 degree day. There were some UAA preliminary architectural concepts posted on this sites several months ago that were downright ghastly. I hope they aren't being considered. You might be able to find them if you search the site.
So, Mr. ADA and fire code expert, can you answer me this: Why would REDUCING the number of people in attendance create crushing ADA and fire code restrictions that would "ruin the Swamp" as you know it? I "immediately reject" everything you have said on this thread as being complete, hysterical nonsense.
Of course its not. It was built in 1930. The only way to bring it up to code would be to pull a Texas A&M move and knock the entire thing down and start over. Problem is we don't have the Bil laying around to do it with.
Negative. The ADA has clear provisions that deal with financial feasibility in the case of renovations to existing structures. None of this ADA hysteria is warranted.
Yeah, and I am sure that the architects and engineers working on our design aren't as smart as you and don't have ANY clue about the ADA. No one is knocking anything down, and the designers are most certainly looking at ADA compliance before they would even contemplate renovations. Renovating an existing structure does not require strict compliance with ADA codes, if it requires ANY compliance with ADA codes. It depends on the circumstances and the financial feasibility of compliance.
I'm no expert, but I can at least exercise a little common sense which appears to escape you. Perhaps you haven't attended a game at the Swamp so I apologize if you weren't aware that one of the primary reasons the Swamp is so intimidating is that the fans are so damn close to the field, there is a lot of them, and the stands are steep. Due mostly to this unique nature the noise at field level can be deafening. Removing tens of 1000's of seats just so we can have wider aisles and rows would logically reduce the fan noise, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it would make the Swamp a less intimidating place for an opponent to play. In other words "permanently change the nature and uniqueness of the Swamp." You can reject the concept that the world is round and I couldn't care less. Hopefully though, I've at least made things clear enough that you might have a chance at understanding it now.
1.) To a certain extent $400 million is a huge amount for any college football reno. Kentucky’s of a few years ago was like $120M. 2.) I don’t see our firm having experience with even these smaller CFB reno projects.