RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Well… $90 million now.
Gies Memorial Stadium
Family Movie night may be well attended this year
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Not a lot to add, but I came across this old photo from a Tribune article from just before the Bears played at Memorial Stadium for a year.
And it seemed relevant to the discussions about this new scoreboard being a mainstay in the SEZ and building any upgrades around it. It got me thinking how the relatively tiny addition of those temporary bleachers behind the provided a surprising amount of needed height to the Horseshoe, and it sort of puts in perspective how we could REALLY improve the area with not that much. Forgive the bad artistry with the scoreboard just being a big black box, but if we...
(A) Put in this new awesome scoreboard.
(B) Brought the SEZ stands down to fill in the empty space in front (badly needed ... priority #1, IMO).
(C) Lastly, build anything "up" or "back" in a way that works around the scoreboard.
... you could really transform that area for relatively little cost (in addition to the scoreboard).
Again, hardly my best work. However, by just doing a quick cut/paste of each section of temporary bleachers and putting them to each side of the scoreboard, it at least shows the space we would be working with well. I imagine other elements would be involved such as potentially sprucing up the SEZ seats themselves, redoing the concourse behind the SEZ and (of course) having some money-generating suites on either side of the scoreboard instead of these cheap temporary bleachers. But the main point is that I DO think we can get a pretty good solution to the SEZ without ripping the whole thing apart. The one thing that would still bother me is how gradual the slope of the stands is (ideally, a new structure could be built with a much steeper angle to create a "wall of fans" aspect), but as long as whatever we do helps close in the stadium significantly (which, again, NECESSITATES adding seats in front of the Horseshoe and adding height in at least some way), I will consider it a win!
And it seemed relevant to the discussions about this new scoreboard being a mainstay in the SEZ and building any upgrades around it. It got me thinking how the relatively tiny addition of those temporary bleachers behind the provided a surprising amount of needed height to the Horseshoe, and it sort of puts in perspective how we could REALLY improve the area with not that much. Forgive the bad artistry with the scoreboard just being a big black box, but if we...
(A) Put in this new awesome scoreboard.
(B) Brought the SEZ stands down to fill in the empty space in front (badly needed ... priority #1, IMO).
(C) Lastly, build anything "up" or "back" in a way that works around the scoreboard.
... you could really transform that area for relatively little cost (in addition to the scoreboard).
Again, hardly my best work.
However, by just doing a quick cut/paste of each section of temporary bleachers and putting them to each side of the scoreboard, it at least shows the space we would be working with well. I imagine other elements would be involved such as potentially sprucing up the SEZ seats themselves, redoing the concourse behind the SEZ and (of course) having some money-generating suites on either side of the scoreboard instead of these cheap temporary bleachers. But the main point is that I DO think we can get a pretty good solution to the SEZ without ripping the whole thing apart. The one thing that would still bother me is how gradual the slope of the stands is (ideally, a new structure could be built with a much steeper angle to create a "wall of fans" aspect), but as long as whatever we do helps close in the stadium significantly (which, again, NECESSITATES adding seats in front of the Horseshoe and adding height in at least some way), I will consider it a win!
I agree that bringing the SEZ stands down closer to the field needs to be priority #1. As you mentioned, this should be a lower cost fix. Football is an arms race and it just doesn't make financial sense to put that much $$$ into a full SEZ rebuild.
I know the student section attendance has improved with an increase in winning but it still isn't great to start or end games. I would condense the student section into a smaller, more enthusiastic group and move them to this new lower SEZ section where they can be right on top of the field. The NEZ, with proximity to the band and patio party options, becomes an easy sell if opened up to the public.
Those old seats where just scaffolding with bleachers on top. We'll find out the plans at some point but that area of the former scaffolding support is going to be used for something....I think (or maybe hope ??). Or should be used.
I'm sure they could come up with some way to support additional seating but I'm not sure they want to do that. Adding seats is not the going trend in athletics.
I'm sure they could come up with some way to support additional seating but I'm not sure they want to do that. Adding seats is not the going trend in athletics.