feasibility study on ND stadium

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-notre-dame-stadium-might-be-expanded-for-other...

MARGARET FOSMOE
South Bend Tribune
2:03 p.m. EDT, May 2, 2013

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame Stadium, currently used fewer than 10 times a year for home football games and other events, could become a hub for regular student life and academic events on campus under a proposal being considered.

[image]

University of Notre Dame officials today announced they will undertake a feasibility study to determine whether additions should be built on the stadium to make it a hub for other facilities, such as possibly a student center, a media center, and/or a classroom and conference center.

An architect’s rendering of what the expanded stadium could look like shows additions on the east, south and west sides, and southeast and southwest corners. On the east side, the rendering shows the stadium connected to the nearby Joyce Center.

The rendering shows the field and bowl of the football stadium looking essentially unchanged.

Under all circumstances, the university will keep the original stadium intact, the university announcement states.

“Inspired by the university’s campus master plan, we will study the possibility of accomplishing multiple objectives – namely, preserve the campus’ pedestrian character by taking advantage of a central location for needed facilities, retain the integrity of a legendary stadium, improve the visual attractiveness of the exterior stadium wall, and enhance the game-day experience for our football fans,” the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, said in a written statement.

The feasibility study will consider whether additions should be constructed to the stadium to provide:

--Space for classrooms, conferences, speakers, meetings, receptions and other events.
--A student center.
--Resources for media, including facilities for the university expanding video and digital initiatives.
--A space for hospitality functions.
--Possible premium seating options.

The feasibility study is expected to take six to nine months to complete. Estimated costs and other details won’t be known until specific construction plans, if any, are approved, according to the university statement.

The study will include representatives from the office of the provost, student affairs, executive vice president, university relations, university architect, athletics and other departments, as well as outside consultants.

Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930 and was expanded to its current size in 1997.

The stadium now is used for home football games, campus recreational sports events and the May commencement ceremony.

Notre Dame Stadium was modeled, on a smaller scale, after the University of Michigan’s football stadium. The original stadium had seating for 59,075 people. The expansion in the 1990s cost $50 million and added new seating, permanent lights, two new scoreboards and a new press box. The stadium now seats 80,795.

Read the full story later on this website and in Friday’s South Bend Tribune.

Tags:
stadium

locked

3422 views

Does anyone else find that odd? Maybe an oversight?

locked

2739 views

- No text -

locked

2695 views

- No text -

locked

2773 views

- No text -

locked

2812 views

- No text -

locked

2842 views

as the background on my cell phone for the past two years. I hope that's OK.

locked

2859 views

Just kidding, I'm flattered.

locked

2786 views

- No text -

locked

2750 views

Or, just go ahead and email me:

t k r e s s (at) a l u m n i . n d . e d u

locked

2693 views

Which I really liked.

--
"F--- everyone who isn't us."
#Team128

locked

2890 views

I wouldn't be surprised if they used my design as a starting point.

It'd be nice to be involved or get some credit, but really, who am I?

locked

2861 views

- No text -

locked

2738 views

- No text -

locked

2721 views

- No text -

locked

2750 views

Says so in your profile.

locked

2838 views

That's quite a bit of bullshit. Not that it's any consolation to you, but I guess it's possible that ND's powers that be had the same reaction ("Fuck, this is basically what ndroman21 already did") when they saw the rendering

locked

2863 views

Frankly, I'm not qualified to be the lead architect on something this big and involved anyway.

I was kind of hoping for a conceptual consulting gig, but it was always pie in the sky.

locked

2842 views

I like that the proposal shows little change to the bowl seating, sightlines, or the overall aesthetics of the inside of the stadium. Apart from a new protrusion on the east and south it's going to look pretty much the same when you're sitting in the stadium.

All the bolt-on structures for classrooms, production facilities, new social spaces (I assume) -- I'd love to see some drawings on those.

locked

2905 views

I like mine better, but I'm clearly biased.

The extra space is encompassed where those structures extend beyond the stadium, I'm sure. At least 2 or 3 floors there. Lots of floor area.

I think the interior of the stadium is fine. Don't mind the new scoreboards. The only thing I hate is the horizontal lines on the new suites/pressbox. That should be unobstructed glass.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure why they're going to tear the existing pressbox down. That's crazy.

locked

2840 views

- No text -

--
"F--- everyone who isn't us."
#Team128

locked

2743 views

really looking shitty. I also don't get why they flipped the press box either, unless a) the outer structure on the west side is going to be some kind of fundamentally incompatible use and/or b) they're planning on restricting vehicle access and ingress/egress on the west side, meaning that it would be really difficult to house broadcast facilities on that side, from a technical standpoint.

locked

2825 views

Classrooms too.

I always thought it'd be cool to live in the stadium.

locked

2941 views

for the MSU Museum.

Farm implements, African art, historic furniture. Michigan's Grandma's attic.

locked

2818 views

There was some crazy-ass shit at the stadium back then.

[image]

locked

3022 views

- No text -

locked

2867 views

If the scan in the first post is any indication, then color me burnt giddy.

locked

2919 views

I just dial up Ziggy's scrapbook.

http://s245.photobucket.com/user/Czarobski/library/?sort=3&page=1

Tags:
potpourri

locked

3046 views

Spend a few minutes checking out the work of someone who actually knows what he's doing.

Like this crazy Swede.

http://erikjohanssonphoto.com/work/imagecats/personal/

[image]

And check out the behind the scenes making-off for that image:

http://erikjohanssonphoto.com/work/cut-fold/

locked

2891 views

You found him. Was he as I imagined, living in some holler-style encampment similar to Shooter from Hoosiers?

locked

2938 views

Someday when he goes broke he probably will again.

locked

2905 views

Someone did live in the stadium, but it was not Daniel Reuttiger.

locked

2795 views

- No text -

locked

2885 views

It made for a short trip for the assistant coaches to come find out how many football players were flunking her class.

locked

2849 views

I haven't looked at the campus master plan, but assuming that ND (like all universities) has millions upon millions of new square footage planned it becomes a pretty tough sell to keep such a huge chunk of (increasingly) central real estate as ND Stadium tied up as a football-only venue surrounded by parking lots.

Doing so would really expose ND to financially- and community relations-problematic campus sprawl. Also, developing more uses in that part of campus is pretty essential in helping Eddy St. Commons reach its potential.

I understand the prevailing emphasis on symbolically keeping ND Stadium a cathedral to football, although personally I don't find those arguments terribly compelling. If I were sympathetic to those concerns, though, I'd eye this announcement pretty suspiciously. The odds of this feasibility study coming back with a conclusion of "Nope, we don't think there's much to be gained from developing this area" is pretty much zero.

locked

2896 views

Plus, I've been up to the FIDM offices and they really need more production space. It is amazing that all that content comes out of that tiny room.

It's nice to be able to use the bowl for more events, but how many more per year (and what kind) would they book? Graduation is an obvious one. A concert or two? Perhaps when a high profile speaker comes they can host him/her there? Papal visit?

locked

2942 views

There is simply a ton of stuff that could be done with that space, and more of an obligation to do so as the campus center of gravity shifts somewhat southward and westward.

Pulling up the ND Campus Plan now, let's see what it says.

locked

2940 views

Among their big objectives are:

1. Avoid sprawl as campus grows
2. Develop a parking and transportation plan
3. Examine and strengthen campus approaches
4. Reinforce the pedestrian environment on campus

and also:

5. Minimize hard-scape on campus (could be bad news for parking lots)
8. Preserve the historic core of campus. "Future plans should single out historically significant buildings and take steps to ensure preservation as long as they can be practically maintained and functionally efficient."

Other stuff:

"Land use planning . . . so that residence halls are close to spiritual, academic and social settings." This jives with the idea of a new student center closer to West Quad and other new dorms.

-- They want to put a parking structure or academic building where Legends presently sits. There's also a plan to turn C Lot into "ND Stadium South Lawn with Possible Underground Parking." It seems like the overall ambition is to make an 'Arts District' segue between campus and Eddy st. Commons.

In the long run, they think they can build over nearly all of the parking lots (and, I assume, move the existing parking into structured garages or underground). Obviously, this implies dire things for the tailgate scene, which I would argue actually is in the essential interest of the university to maintain. So with all that said, I'm not sure what the ultimate endgame might be, we'll see what happens.

http://www3.nd.edu/~univarch/documents/campusmasterplan2008.pdf

locked

2906 views

When they expanded the Stadium in the 90's, what was the reaction?

locked

2917 views

Other than that I think most people welcomed the expansion. A big plus was that they continued the same sightlines so that it really looks like a seamless structure, instead of hanging another deck over the top. Plus they retained the original walls of the stadium, which makes for a really cool feature when your'e walking around inside. I would say the reaction overall was very positive. There is obviously some criticism of the outer facade styling as being too stark and modern, but that goes along with the same criticism of other campus buildings in the same mode.

locked

2834 views

Then the shit hit the fan. Well, more like the floors. Still can't believe they didn't do any testing on that before the Georgia Tech game. To this day, when I think "Georgia Tech" I think "hot day with urine-and-poop smelling water flowing all over a new stadium."

--
The 2007 ND-UCLA game was a once in a lifetime experience, I hope

locked

2804 views

I was a student when they opened the expansion in 1997, and the general feeling, I think, was happiness because they were adding so many more seats. Know how hard it is to get tickets now? Imagine being an alumni trying to get tickets when there were 20k+ fewer tickets available.

Caveat: I was not a ND fan until I visited campus for the first time in 1995 so I have no idea what the general feeling among alumni was.

locked

2845 views

In the context of discussing the Cubs' planned renovations (including a video board/jumbotron in the left field area) this morning, Golic took the opportunity to sound off on ND getting a jumbotron, and his (apparently strictly personal) feelings that its ridiculous that ND won't move into the 21st century and get something in the Stadium.

Not really relevant I suppose, but it was the first time I had heard him talk about it, and was a bit surprised how strongly he supported getting a jumbotron in there.

locked

2949 views

And someone on your team does something awesome, should you not be able to see that person do that awesome thing a few more times before you get home?

I'm a Lions season ticket holder. If I couldn't count on seeing jumbotron replays of Calvin Johnson doing Calvin Johnson things while I was in the stadium, I wouldn't bother with tickets. I just wish the stadiums had deals with their TV partners to be able to show the TV replays - most of the time, we're stuck with lame sideline cameras. Hopefully that will improve in the next few years.

When I was at ND for the BYU game this year, I was in the opposite corner on the opposite end of the field - 350-400 feet away, and I was at field level - when GA3 scored his TD to take the lead. I thought he juked the guy pretty good but didn't have a CLEAR idea of how great that play was until I got back to suburban Detroit at about 2:30am and saw the highlights online. Half the people in my section didn't even see the play. Sorry, but that's a shitty stadium experience and it needs to be fixed if they're going to start charging triple digits for tickets.

Based on how much the piped-in music improved this year, and how awesome the NDFIDM produced video content is, I think ND can and will do this right.

locked

2802 views

But it is a revenue source, tradition be damned. I also like the occasional replay.

I'm slowly coming around on this issue, or at least coming around to accepting our fate. I'll give the Powers That Be credit--they've done what they can to soften us up to the concept. This, quite clearly, is a huge revealing of their intentions, even if the south corner of the image doesn't reveal it.

locked

2933 views

I thought their jumbotron was HORRIBLE. Maybe slainte has been to a game there and can confirm, but IIRC they also had damn fire works blowing out of tube from behing the trons - or some such shit. Seemed like the focus was on the jumbotron and not the actual real LIVE game.

UGA's I went to last year - the same or worse.

South Carolina's I went to alot of their games a few years back and was not quite as offended but still did not like it.

However, I have come to believe it is going to happen - so whatever.

locked

2854 views

This design should soften that line of attack.

I do not want a video board. I would like the old scoreboards back, and for them to not use the Super Nintendo graphics they've used the past few years. This isn't diploma-burning material, but I do not like jumbotrons.

locked

2955 views

The water fountain in the southwest corner. I realize this is just a rendering, but I'm just trying to nitpick.

I mean, despite the suspected presence of 1000 jumbotrons and a painted logo at midfield of what I can only imagine is Field Turf, there's a water fountain.

It'll be a great way to back up crowds forced to walk in one direction from the tailgate lot to the northeast gates on account of the tentacle sticking out of the stadium into the JACC.

locked

2955 views

picture this, but Brian Kelly

[image]

locked

2885 views

[image]

locked

2839 views

it to keep the riff-raff out of the fountain, all of them chirping "Welcome to Notre Dame"

locked

2887 views

I no longer go to ND and I can't imagine a world in which my progeny will be able to gain admission to ND, to say nothing of last weekend's NFL Draft, the results of which leave me more pessimistic than ever of my ability to foot the tuition bill even if Mike2 did somehow manage to get the big envelope. ND has plenty of money, I simply don't give a shit about the school's once and future revenue situation.

As for the football functions of a jumbotron, I see only one reason to support the idea. Replays aren't actually that useful as part of the in-game fan experience (if you want to see replays, stay home), but I do think there is a competitive advantage to ND's coach being able to look over close calls before deciding to throw out the replay flag. Obviously, this swings both ways, but I'm figuring some degree of home cooking here.

locked

2825 views

I was gitmo-ized by that thing.

locked

2866 views

- No text -

locked

2889 views

- No text -

locked

2730 views

The number of alumni is growing every year, and if the team continues to do well, ticket demand will continue to grow. I don't think it will be next season, but I could see a desire to add another 10-20k seats at some point in the future.

locked

2758 views

We add alumni every year, but only ~2k, and of that 2k, realistically, how many games per year would those 2k attend if they were guaranteed tickets? It's a lot closer to 2k than 12k.

locked

2745 views

And does the jumbotron pop out of somewhere?

locked

2935 views

[image]

locked

2896 views

[image]

[removes tongue from cheek]
Also, is Frank Leahy losing his gate? Poor guy is always getting left out.

locked

2648 views

- No text -

--
Extra Life | Twitch | Twitter |

locked

2904 views

- No text -

locked

2856 views

- No text -

locked

2803 views

- No text -

locked

2792 views

the Polo Grounds

feasibility study on ND stadium

I just noticed it doesn't show the existing lights

Looks to me like they replaced them with lights on the boxes

I believe the East side is actually a Texas sized Jumbotron

The facade buildings follow the new building aesthetic.

And they didn't even call me.

NDRoman, your designs are great, and I have used them

Send me $1?

OT — NDRoman21, would you mind e-mailing me?

Not at all, how can I get your address?

I've got a $1 that eyes were on your work.

Thanks.

Jean Valjean?

Does it make me a nerd for chuckling at this?

Nah, Just a BIG Theatre FAN!

ndroman21

Sorry, m'man

It's what I expected.

seems like the new structures are the guts of the project

I think it'll be an improvement.

I'm Brian Fellow.

Yeah, the opaque surface opposite press box could end up

Back in Nineteendicketytwo, Neyland Stadium had dorm rooms

Spartan Stadium served as storage...

How about during the Brennan/Hornung years.

Is that like the boner races at Michigan Stadium?

Is this who I believe it to be?

whenever life's got me a little blue

Even better

Wow, Jay.

Rudy lived in the stadium

In the movies, yes. In real life he lived in the ACC

Think there are still classrooms in Ohio Stadium

My aunt's office was there

Probably a smart move

the bang for the buck is probably in the new construction

I'm certain papal visit has been thought of

Stuff from 2008 ND Campus Plan

Recent history question

there was a lot of angst over blocking the view of TD jesus

Everything was chill until the first major toilet flush

I didn't hear or see any griping.

Somewhat related on this

If you've paid $90 for a ticket to a game...

I hate them when used for commercial reasons.

I went to the ND v. UNC game at Chapel Hill.

One criticism was a jumbotron would look bad from outside.

Here's one thing I don't get.

wait until you see the fountain statues

You'd have to use the right marble

Not to mention the 50 Andy Frains they'll have surrounding

I think the pro-jumbotron arguments are pretty weak

Another criticism: The BCS Championship game

Would this severely limit future expansion (of seats)?

Do we really need more seats?

Eventually, right?

I think the nature of our alumni base lessens the need.

Is that field turf?

marked up picture

That markup doesn't note the rehaul of the basilica!

PAINTED LOGO AT MIDFIELD ALERT

#thePoloGrounds

#Avengers2TheMovie

#noluxuryboxes