NCAAbbs

For all the new people....

In a world where lowly little me is king:

BEFORE:






AFTER:




Thoughts?

Looks good, it would be louder for sure.

I'd have the Tech band facing the West, either in the corner the opposing band is in, or in the one you have the opposing band in now.

No way they take down the north after all that work. Plus..we're talking about raising the east+west. I think the #'s would be higher than that.

Not in the near future no.... but I really hope something is done in the not-too-long-term about it. Seats in the wedge SUCK. It looks ugly/awkward. Bleh.

The # of seats is really determined by the angle you raise the seats at ... if you do it Death Valley style..... this could be a mid to upper 60K design. If it's done falling back in a hurry towards the streets, as low as 40K. I am thinking of it being fairly close in elevation to the way the north is now, in terms of the angle of incline.

that looks like an MLS stadium without a roof.

Football stadia should be rectangular with endzones with stands right up against the field, not multi-tier toilet bowls with swept back seating...

That's a downright odeous cookie cutter stadium that shows nothing of the greatest part of college football...it's HISTORY....

I'm sure you'd have it all pre-formed concrete too...


Edit: Here's what your design looks like...

Gotta admit, even cookie cutter looks *alot* better than the current configuration.

This is more what I had in mind...

Boone Pickens Stadium (Oklahoma State)

Actually, GTS...
I don't believe that LEWIS FIELD is that compressed.
But they have done wonders with it, However they have similiar problems as us, where fans only show up for the "BIG" games.

I know rich Pickens is, but they shouldn't have totally wiped out the original name.

This is MUCH better than the current configuration. Lose the track... move things in.... make the endzone tighter... throw up another deck all the way around.... tahdah... perfection.

Garsh...that makes me miss the old archways.
I was absolutely awestruck the first time i drove down Techwood Drive to see those.
They gave the stadium character.

Anyway, I think with the addn'l deck, that Grant Field would look a whole lot like Ohio Stadium.

It would look better, it would sound louder, it would hold more....

superior in every aspect to the current one.

Don't think I can disagree...but we'd need an administration from 1966-1980 focused on using football as free advertising for the Institute.

Ed and Petit just didn't seem to care about publicity.
During that time, it seems like TECH let the entire state forget about that academic and athletic jewel.

I had a much better go at with more accurate starting graphic:

That doesn't work for me.
My season tickets are next to the student section above the band. I will not sit next to the opposing band.
Bad form, Swagger!

heh - more room on the sidelines now. All the season tix guys would be sidelined. General admission / flex packs would be the endzone.

I do not want their band right where we enter the field. When we come on the field, I'm sure "Ramblin Wreck" will not be heard by the players, but the opposing teams' fight song. Same thing with our band. Put our band in the corner by our locker room, and move the opposing band where the Tech band used to be, in the South endzone on the West side.

The reason for putting the GT students/band in the south is b/c the only place noise can escape is the gaps around Wardlaw. By putting the loudest elements of the stadium in front of this, the noise from said elements has to reverb the length of the stadium twice before it can bleed out.

Version 3.0 ... and the first one that solves the logistics problem in full. Also amusing to see my graphical editing skills progress. This was the first one I did entirely in GIMP.

a) The south end of the horseshoe had to be renovated/razed. The facilities were very, very poor and there was a dire need for the weight room and locker rooms. The negligence here is in the architecture of the resulting Wardlaw Building not using the full expanse of the site and not integrating with the general form of the building. It needn't have touched the existing stands (read on) but a better job of incorporating seating, suites and amenities for the fans should've been included. Probably similar to what you're recommending in the latest design.

b) As we've discussed on the CUSA board the renovations wouldn't touch the west grandstands due to costs and the necissity to bring that section into ADA compliance if any renovations were doen to that structure. For that same reason none of the new stands will ever match the slope of the incline found at Clemson (regrettably). True the new north stands could've been designed to better match the west stands, but once Tech began this effort their greatest concerns were marrying the new north stands to the Edge Building and the east stands.

c) On my computer I have an image saved from some alumni groups website detailing how the building was supposed to look after the original renovations of the late 80's/early 90's (Will try to find on the web). A smaller north stands would've been added in with an indoor training center immediately behind that (where the Heisman Gym was). Incorporating some of the same field shifts and east stand renovations that did occur the stadium would be fully enclosed and seat between 50k and 55k. However it was after the south stands were taken down that Tech learned of the potential costs for renovating the west stands and essentially began from scratch. I remember a news article suggesting the expansion would eventually happen after the initial reductions had ramped season ticket demand. Alas, the remaining facility still had poor facilities, worn benches, seats behind poles... and then Bill Lewis arrived. The resulting expansions came at the urging of George O 'Leary, who, however, left while the design was still being ironed out and thus Tech lost it's most vocal champion of getting the look right. I suspect that's one reason the final design was cost concious and not "one for the ages." After all, these latest changes were for renovating the old moreso than expanding the facility.

What I gleaned from all the conversations from the AD, coaches, etc after the expansion was complete:

- Tech is vested in staying at Bobby Dodd for some time, and barring a major change in fan interest will be working around the existing structure for some time.
- No further expansions will be done until the demand for season tickets and/or suites surpasses a certain threshold, but one rule of thumb another GM has mentioned was to have the next best expansion roughly designed and then do it when demand for extra seating is more than what that expansion would provide.
- Structurally it would be possible to expand above the east stands but it would likely necessitate closing 1 or both lanes of Techwood and, for access reasons, would best be served by doing tower suites to minimize the crowds at those access points.
- For bulk expansion Tech would be better served by moving the Wardlaw facilities and building a (near) mirror image of the north stands on the south side. Since the north stands are approx. 15k, building such stands plus something more on the east side would bring Bobby Dodd close to 70k. Anything more beyond that and you begin to impact surrounding structures and run into overcrowding issues along roads, parking, etc.
- I'd love to have a more unified structure (a la Boone Pickens), even if the interior is somewhat disjointed. The exterior of the east stands is sparse enough to remind me of a prison. Alas, Bobby Dodd's renovations started late in the game that such visions would require substantial $. Right now I'd simply love to have them fill the joint now and hope for a next round of changes that could improve the overall character even further.

Here it is. Thanks to Goldtimer for the image at Wreckramblin.com