On-Campus Arena Discussion

[HoyaNCCT]

I heard the number floated last night from a reliable source that the arena might seat 15,000-20,000 - and that final plans are in the works - seems ridiculously large to me. Anyone else hear this?

[Cambridge]

What the? Good lord man, who are your contacts?

Anyways, unless you have successfully crossbred some sort of avian swine I'm very skeptical...

[Deleted]

Woah, woah, woah... on-campus? 20,000 seats?! The words pipe-dream come to mind.

If an on-campus arena is built, I can see a MAX capacity of like 15,000 being built one day. Maybe. More like 10-12,000 if we're lucky.

Can we get a hint as to who this source was?

[DFW HOYA]

buffalohoya said:

Can we get a hint as to who this source was?

Robert Novak.

[DuddingtonHoya]

dfw said:

buffalohoya said:

Can we get a hint as to who this source was?

Robert Novak.

Funniest DFW post ever.

[Deleted]

Classic, DFW. Classic.

On second thought, this might not seem like such a bad idea. Let's start with the assumption that there is some money to get the ball rolling on this. Is it so crazy for GU to go to the planning boards and zoning committees and the neighborhoods and say "We're going to build a 20,000 seat convocation center on campus." The obvious reaction from the neighborhoods will be "No you're not," thus beginning a process of negotiation in which the school could say "Fine... how about instead of tearing down McD and building our new monster center, we just renovate McD and we cut the seating more than in half to 8,000 and call it a day?" Such a capitulation, along with the university showing off a plan that doesn't include any new structures or significant blasting or lots of interruption to the lives of the neighborhoods would probably get them a lot closer than they've been in years.

Also, I was down at the Law Center the other day, and that area is rife with plots of land wating to be developed. I know its not on MAIN campus, but would people be opposed to an on (law) campus arena?

[Cambridge]

BREAKING NEWS: ESH LEAKED ARENA STORY

According to a legal expert briefed on the Federal Grand Jury proceedings who spoke on the condition of annonynimity, Craig Esherick, former coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, leaked the story to syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

[1227]

I thought the source was W. Mark Felt, actually.

Not sure that many seats would fit anywhere on campus.

[1227]

The MCI Center is basically on the GU Law Center campus (a few blocks away, at least).

From a location stand point, wasn't the point to get these games closer the undergrads?

[EasyEd]

Think the source was the guy next to NCCT at the Tombs last night.

[Deleted]

What if instead of worrying so much about getting McD renovated and the space considerations such a project would bring, we turn McD into a student gym, weight room, offices, all of that... and instead renovate Yates? Its a piece of garbage anyway, there's PLENTY of room to dig down and make a many thousand seat arena, plus its next to the pool, so it might be a nice consolidation of resources... any thoughts? What about the arena on the law campus?

[Deleted]

Renole - a lot of it IS to get them on the main campus, but a lot of people around here also see it as a way to salvage the program financially (by taking control of the ENTIRE operation). Plus, its in a developing part of town so they could have concerts and crap there to raise a little revenue. Just a thought.

[DuddingtonHoya]

I think it can be done perhaps where the softball field was supposed to go in the 10-year plan if the Canal Road entrance to campus is reconfigured. But the traffic concerns would have to be resolved first. Given that there could be as many as 5-7K additional vehicles on the Key Bridge, M Street and the neighborhood before and after games, there would have to be some pretty creative thinking for transportation. GUTS buses won't cut it on game days.

[1227]

Before we would have to worry about accomodating 15-20K people traffic-wise we would have to actually be able to attract that many people - not happening any time soon, or really ever if recent past figures are any indication. I don't see any sense in GU even wanting an arena that big.

I think the original poster may have added an extra zero on the end of the figures he heard.

[Deleted]

I think - if true - its a negotiating ploy... they could meet halfway and get the 10,000 we'd all love to see at McD.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

10K would be perfect, maybe even a bit too large. I would suggest 8k and then be able to sell out most games. As far as traffic, the G'town neighborhood are such jack asses that they turned down metro and now complain about parking. They could figure something out. Shuttles from Dupont & Reston would have to be plentiful and they would have to figure a way to put in a couple thousand parking spots somewhere. I like the Yates idea. I haven't heard or thought of that before but it would be the best space but I think building out McD to accomodate a growing student body would be close to impossible. Keep in mind that Yates has the pool too so you would have to do something with the swimming team.

As far as the law center, that wouldn't accomplish the goal. I think we would still be looking at fifteen to twenty years at the earliest.

[Bahstin]

Move Yates to McD and renovate Yates. Now that is some good outside the box thinking.

[Deleted]

bahstin said:

Move Yates to McD and renovate Yates. Now that is some good outside the box thinking.

See folks? I may be a puckhead, but there's SOMETHING good going on in my noggin'.

I say leave the pool where it is, renovate the rest of Yates. Take out that atrium entrance space, all the offices, all the locker rooms, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING but leave the pool. There would be PLENTY of space in the remaining shell to not only build a 7-10,000 seat arena, but state-of-the-art weight, locker, film and study rooms for our student athletes.

I figure the way Yates is constructed (that west side facing the park is pure concrete, nothing too complicated) the renovation would actually be a lot easier.

Then gut McD SOMEWHAT to make the new student athletic center. Between the "new Yates" and the MSF, you could easily accomodate the Athletic Department and all the offices needed by the teams (i.e. sports like lax, soccer, football, field hockey could be in MSF, everything else in Yates or something like that). When all those are moved, McD can be slightly renovated to provide the four of five indoor hoops courts Yates provides, plus a tennis court or two, an indoor track, a MUCH better weight and exercise room, exercise studios, all that crap.

Its just so damn crazy it might actually work...

[TBird41]

Only problem that I see with that idea Buff is that the student body wouldn't have a gym to use for a couple of years (or however long it would take to switch Yates and McD). Not having a student work out place for a couple of years is a major hurdle. I know I'd be pretty mad if I didn't have a place to lift/work out/play bball for a year or two of my time at Gtown. And you think the female undergrad population isn't that good looking now? What do you think would happen if you took away their ellipticals?

Though if there's a way around that, I'd be all for switching Yates and McD.

Also, what would you do with the names? Would Yates go by McD and McD by Yates? Or would you scrap the names all together?

[Deleted]

I'm SURE there's somehwere the student gym could go. Hell, take over one of the ballrooms in Leavy. Throw up a little temporary complex down in the McD parking lot or on top of the Leavy esplanade. That can be fixed.

As far as the names go, there's bound to be someone throwing down some currency for this pie-in-the-sky project... let them figure out what to name the places.