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.
Happy Gies Memorial Day 
Not sure where to put this, but since this is a stadium discussion, it's semi-prevalent.
Here's a hypothetical question:
Say you are seated in a row and say your family takes seats 1-4 of 12 total seats. A couple takes 11/12. Then a couple comes and sits in 5/6. Even halfway through the game, no one shows up for the other seats. As the 5/6 guy, would you move over or keep your assigned seats?
I was at a baseball game today with this exact scenario. 80 degrees in the sun, just sitting shoulder to shoulder for the entire game. No one ever sat in the other seats and the couple left multiple times to get food/drinks.
Thoughts?
Here's a hypothetical question:
Say you are seated in a row and say your family takes seats 1-4 of 12 total seats. A couple takes 11/12. Then a couple comes and sits in 5/6. Even halfway through the game, no one shows up for the other seats. As the 5/6 guy, would you move over or keep your assigned seats?
I was at a baseball game today with this exact scenario. 80 degrees in the sun, just sitting shoulder to shoulder for the entire game. No one ever sat in the other seats and the couple left multiple times to get food/drinks.
Thoughts?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
ALWAYS maximize the space each individual family / group / party has, IMO. You can always move back! It's not quite as bad as taking the urinal right next to a dude when there are tons of open ones to the other side, but ... it's still kind of weird to not move over, haha.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Yes move over. Have done so many times. Rule also works in movie theaters and men's rooms.
@Fighter of the Nightman , not quite as bad I agree but your scenario lasts one minute there and several hours in a movie or sports situation.
Has anyone thought about making the bleacher seats around the stadium bigger? The last game I went too was very cramped in the upper east deck. If we made the seating space bigger than what it is while adding additional seats near the south endzone couldn’t this keep the same numbers of seats? If people are worried about not selling those extra seats that a renovated south endzone would do would bigger seats be the answer? On top of that maybe add some kind of backing with an orange bleacher and say a blue bleacher like in State Farm Center. I feel like those seats were for people back in the 40s and 50s when people were generally smaller. Handrails in the aisles is also a must. Seen many elderly people walking up the balconies and almost falling.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yep, this is the trend across all new stadiums and renovations. I've posted this way too many times, but just consider that these two end zone sections have almost the same number of seats...
~ 9,800
~10,000 seats
I love MS, but our distribution of capacity is terribly outdated ... and we can fix that while keeping the historical aura of the place. And this doesn't even touch on the approximately 7,000 seats that are underneath the East Balcony overhang - completely "invisible," and walling them up would (A) give us more capacity with which to work in the Horseshoe and (B) match the west side.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Hear, hear. As a longstanding member of the Aging Illini I thank you.
Not that every renovation needs to cater to just the older folks, but some basic accommodation such as seat backs and hand rails would be nice.
Only thing I'd add is the width (pitch?) of the walking area within the seating - this is another place where I have many times seen people nearly fall forward (and not just the older folks, and not just the drunk folks). There is very little room to get around people, and it's why an aisle seat is a must-have for me.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Have any insiders ever heard Bret talk about what he would like to see done to Memorial Stadium? I would be really curious if he has any sort of wish list or vision, or if that is something that isn't very high on his priority list and he is content to leave the decisions to other folks.
@illini0440 @Indy Illini Fan
(I know I am forgetting a lot of insiders, but these were the only usernames I knew off the top of my head. )
@illini0440 @Indy Illini Fan
(I know I am forgetting a lot of insiders, but these were the only usernames I knew off the top of my head.
)Probably, but not for long. It is bad but I'm not sure Illinois could take the hit. It also helps seat back sales.
Maybe a GLP-1 promotion for every season ticket sold. One free shot and a 50% off coupon sponsored by Eli Lilly.