60 million in updates to Carver
- Thread starter longtimer
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Seth53
Well-Known Member
Some good ideas/comments here
My two cents after spending much time in CHA
- The prole seating sucks. Cramped, little leg room, hard seats, have they added cup holders?
- CHA will always have parking woes. Cambus from Hancher is the saving grace.
- Getting up and down the steep stairs can be a chore. The bowl concept mandates this.
- I don't have any gripes with the food service or bathrooms...only, again, it's a hike up and down the stairs.
My two cents after spending much time in CHA
- The prole seating sucks. Cramped, little leg room, hard seats, have they added cup holders?
- CHA will always have parking woes. Cambus from Hancher is the saving grace.
- Getting up and down the steep stairs can be a chore. The bowl concept mandates this.
- I don't have any gripes with the food service or bathrooms...only, again, it's a hike up and down the stairs.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
Getting up and down the steps a chore? Live sports may not be your thing.
As for the rehab. I'll be impressed if they can pull off anything significant without dropping the floor 5-10 feet to bring the seats closer. That's the biggest flaw of the arena by far. Has been since the day it opened.
Boxes or premium seats for big donors does NOTHING to enhance the intensity of the space. That's a waste of money. Bring the fans closer. Period.
Gander Hawk
Well-Known Member
If the premium seating moves the blue hairs away from the court that's a plus.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
College basketball. College students need to be near the court.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
You really don't understand how money works.
Teasing. But seriously, who do you think is paying for the renovations? Its the people who want private suites so they don't have to with you and me. I am okay with taking out some of the upper seats and building suites and boxes for the elite. That is the way most arenas are set up anyway. Move the old rich folks into boxes and the students down on the floor.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
Great. What's the point of the renovations if they don't do anything for the intensity of the arena? That was my point. Getting the students around the floor is a good start. Getting the seats CLOSER to the floor is the real solution.You really don't understand how money works.
I am okay with taking out some of the upper seats and building suites and boxes for the elite. That is the way most arenas are set up anyway. Move the old rich folks into boxes and the students down on the floor.
HawkeyeHypnosis
Well-Known Member
Seating needs to move closer. Get rid of the “track” around the court. Idk how to do that with how it’s built
Westernhawk
Well-Known Member
I would love to see the floor dropped to bring seats closer to the court. I would imagine there would need to be "cut outs" in the seating to fit the court, and then it would be like Mackey, only bigger!
Westernhawk
Well-Known Member
Back in the day, Ohio State's football stadium had a track around it. They dropped the playing surface to a lower level, and added seats closer to the field. I wonder if that's even possible with an arena like Carver? If so, it would be awesome.
HawkeyeHypnosis
Well-Known Member
I’ve kinda wished for a new basketball focused arena. Carver should remain for wrestling, Olympic trials, volleyball and concerts. And for god sakes why can’t they just move the Mediacom name from the new court and finally give it to Street. Will obviously still go either way.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
The design was flawed from day 1. This is why.
Gander Hawk
Well-Known Member
Most modern arenas have different tiers of seating so you don't have to walk from top to bottom. Carver's design seemed cool at first but it was a lemon.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
Curiosly enough, the original design had a mezzanine level with tunnels/exits midway down. I still have the promotional booklet they sent out with the concept drawings. (My Dad was a donor) It was much better than what they ended up with. Fundraising efforts were wildly successful, I have no idea why they cut back on the design.
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NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
Two things can be true at the same time. You need to make the donor class happy in order to raise the money for there to be any renovations at all. Thus, you need suites. Suites are higher up. They are not intended to raise the noise level, but give rich people a place to eat and drink without having to mix with the commoners. That said, you can still use the renovation as a means to get the students closer and perhaps the fans as a whole closer to the action.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
The problem with renovating Carver, as noted by others, it was a flawed plan from the get go. The location was dumb, and then they used the hillside terrain as an excuse to basically make the arena a full on underground bowl. But, without a mezzanine level, it is difficult to add modern suites as an upscale amenity. So, to my understanding, the suites will be more towards the top. We will see. Beth has given us reason to trust her judgment on what is best for the program. 60 million is a decent chunk of change for a facelift. It will be better for sure, but when the base product is flawed, its hard for the renovation to fix all the issues.
Westernhawk
Well-Known Member
They were likely working on the design in 1979-80 so they probably thought this was world class at the time. I'm showing my age, but wow that was really a long time ago. I sort of grew up there (attending games and working there doing odd jobs in summers). I have a soft spot for Carver for those reasons, but very much agree with those that say a modern version of something like a fieldhouse would be awesome.
Westernhawk
Well-Known Member
Good thoughts. Putting the loud students and proles near the court will really help the noise level, and still allow the donor class to avoid mixing with the riff raff.
HawkeyeHypnosis
Well-Known Member
It’s an excellent facility for wrestling.
