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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2013 18:20:40 GMT -5
I have a basic question about the "before" photo. Was the original facilty a two floor complex like Hayman Center that was then converted to a bona fide collegite basketball arena? Not sure why it makes a difference, but I believe that gym was on the ground floor of a one floor facility. If you look at the ceiling, it's no higher than the ceiling is at Gola. The only issue would be could the third floor at Gola support the retrofit as it's currently constructed, and if it didn't, would they be able to do something that would allow it to. I'd be surprised if it couldn't. There are plans for a 6,200 seat version of Gola, so if it could hold that many people, I don't see why it couldn't hold a 4,500 seat version using the retrofit.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2013 18:27:49 GMT -5
Anyone know of there would be a way that you could build a new pool and practice facility and then open up the existing Hayman Center to a point where the basketball court could be where the pool is and then essentially open the whole place up above? Maybe Louth will even bring back the original Gola plans and do it at cost..... By the time they built a brand new pool/practice facility and gutted Hayman to put the basketball arena on the ground floor, it would probably cost as much as building a brand new multi-purpose facility including a basketball arena like what Monmouth has.
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Post by gymrat67 on Apr 1, 2013 22:35:43 GMT -5
1) We flip the court and have bleachers on at least 3 sides of the court. 3,500 seats. I think that's the biggest we should go. Getting to campus on a weekday night is a logistical nightmare. There's no easy way to do so. That's always going to limit attendance save for the must, must games. We'll have a bigger attendance the next few years (and I suspect more season ticket plans sold) but consistently filling 5,000 seats in a gym in Olney is impossible. I would love a three sided court with one blank wall for banners, etc. That will add character and the like. Sorry, coqui, these are both horrible ideas. If they're going to spend any money to renovate Gola, they better do it right this time. It would have to be 4,500 capacity at a minimum. I don't care if there are empty seats. You don't spend all that money to increase attendance by 100 and make it look worse, which a three sided court with one blank wall would be. La Salle would be ridiculed (and rightly so) if they ever did something like that. Gola could be made into a very nice arena at a third of the price to build a new arena (which would be more like $60-$70 million, not $50 million. La Salle will never and should not ever spend that much unless someone pays for most of it). All anybody needs to do is look at what Loyola of Chicago did. Their gym was a carbon copy of Gola and they were able to "retrofit" a bowl design into their existing space and it looks very similar to what Bucknell and College of Charleston have. And they did it in the city of Chicago in 2011 for $8.5 million, which is an unbelievable bargain in this day and age. Figuring in inflation and the infamous Phila unions, it might cost you $12 mill to get in done in Phila now. If La Salle can find one major mid-high seven figure donor for that project, I don't think they'd have much problems getting the rest of the money with a fundraising campaign specifically for the upgrade. www.loyolaramblers.com/facilities/loyc-gentile.html www.scb.com/work/institutional/athletics/joseph-j-gentile-center www.halvorsonandpartners.com/projects/1080
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Post by Shout out to my Cousin Bern on Apr 2, 2013 8:48:40 GMT -5
Anyone know of there would be a way that you could build a new pool and practice facility and then open up the existing Hayman Center to a point where the basketball court could be where the pool is and then essentially open the whole place up above? Maybe Louth will even bring back the original Gola plans and do it at cost..... By the time they built a brand new pool/practice facility and gutted Hayman to put the basketball arena on the ground floor, it would probably cost as much as building a brand new multi-purpose facility including a basketball arena like what Monmouth has. I agree with this comment. I don't know if anyone has been into the pool area in a while, but it is basically a fortress of concrete from floor to ceiling. It might not seem this way when you are looking at the building from the outside, but if you were to bring down the second floor of Hayman, we would have a HUUUUUUGE ceiling. Ideally, I'd like a new facility to feel more intimate. Having a 500 foot ceiling is not going to do that.
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