The Rock
- Thread starter RBB89
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Overall I think great addition obviously, but was hoping for fountains or statues rather than shrubs . Still stadium looks amazing compared to years ago. Will be interesting for grass lot tailgating as many will be displaced from new concierge tailgate lot (looks like whole section w/ tents going up/construction fence but hard to tell) and looks like much of the front of the section where students used to be years ago is unusable right now.
A new hoops arena would have been $250 million, and new football stadium $400 million. Instead of spending $650 million, I think they spent closer to $130 million combined on both projects, and everything looks pretty damn impressive.
Let me know where you were gonna find the extra $520 million.
There’s going to be a statue in front of the shrubs. We just don’t know of who yet.
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I’m telling you, it looks amazing in person...
My dog likes walking there everyday. Agree looks good. Any info you have heard on grass lots?I’m telling you, it looks amazing in person...
I think this just looks awkward. Maybe something should go directly over the entrance. The IU logo on the back of the jumbotron is extruded way too far back to be a visual focal point from this perspective.
I really like the interior, especially the public area underneath the scoreboard. Great view from there, and you can walk around. Also, the design seems to me to be very functional.
With regard to the exterior, I agree with the "awkward" description. I would add "unimaginative" and "boring". Also, the darker limestone at the entrance contrasts with the cleaner lighter, cleaner look in the rest of the addition, and the IU logo doesn't stand out if there's any sunlight. IMO, more effort should have been made to come up with a design that complements the north addition. It would have made sense for the same firm to have designed both additions.
I do like all the greenery planted on the service road running 'under' the addition. That's a good look.
I haven't seen the 'final product' with regard to the landscaping elsewhere; I do think fountains would have softened the box-like effect of the entrance and the large limestone pillars all over the place.....its too bad that wasn't done.
I think the stadium now does have a 'big-time' look inside. I would describe the overall exterior look as 'eccentric'.
Schembechler would not be pleased.
I think you can only put so much lipstick, rouge and eye shadow in a plain Jane place like that. The new additions look fine but short of leveling it and starting from scratch (which will never happen), you can’t drink this place pretty. Getting a good program to play and win on the inside is the “not so secret” secret.
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The stadium transformation is a very...very long way from a band aid and there is a basic philosophical disagreement between those that want to preserve an iconic basketball arena and those that want a modern facility.
I hope its not one person. I don't think there is a single person who embodies IU football ala' a Kinnick at Iowa or Grange/Butkis at Illinois.
What I'd like to see is some unique statute that is totally non-football related, but has an IU-related look. Something that reminds of the Sample gates or clock tower. What that would be I don't know.
What I expect to see is a grouping of statutes like at A.H. Bo, Pete P. and George T. in the middle; Harry, John, and Jade on one side; Bill Mallory and AT on the other would do the trick. That would honor our two best coaches, our two best teams, our two best players (PP & AT), and our first great AA player.
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No kidding, the sobbing would begin when they got off the bus.
Hopefully some color is added along the way as it is drab. When I saw the darker color, I wondered if perhaps it was due to some sealer or treatment that might lighten over time...maybe somebody here knows.
I went over there and looked around this past weekend.
Does anyone else remember after the NEZ was completed that inside the bowl it "felt" smaller, more intimate, closer to the action? With the SEZ completed, that "feeling" is that much greater.
Was able to score some comp tickets for the VA game. I'm pumped.
I agree with your sentiment. Overall, I would have liked something more coordinated and less pretentious. It has kind of a 'red-light district', trying too hard look to it. It also adds a new level (unlike the north EZ, the south EZ doesn't connect at the top of the stands), so there are now 3 levels to the stadium.
If I was a visiting fan, I'd have lots of questions as to why this or that was done, followed by a "Hmmm, that's interesting".
As the old saying goes "it's what's on the inside that counts."
Need fans to show up, go in, and stay in.
Need the team to win games.
Then the outside becomes much more lovely to all.
Need fans to show up, go in, and stay in.
Need the team to win games.
Then the outside becomes much more lovely to all.
I'm guessing there's some curing time left that may end up lightening it up a bit. The rain on the new surfaces may have been a factor as well.
The word “incongruous” comes to mind when looking at it. Four unique sides, kind of related but not symmetrical in any way. Not an eyesore and very functional, just not a beauty by any means.
Will be interesting to see what happens if ticket demand ever increases. They could build suites, but they’ve already had some design issues that cropped up during an initial study of that 10+ years ago, or they could finish the east side. Or do some combination of both. Pleasant challenges to ponder.
On to Virginia.
worst idea ever.
the sight lines from the east and west stands in MS are far superior to sight lines in newer stadiums.
absolutely no idea what you think building new would accomplish.
"Pretentious". We all can nit pick about some aspects such as multiple levels, but it is hardly pretentious. Have you seen some of the glitz built into stadiums these days? I have, and MS looks good.
A $200,000. sand blast of the west and east stands would help...............the newness of the NEZ & SEZ makes their discoloration more noticeable.
I could see adding more concessions/bathrooms and upgrading what are essentially bleachers to NFL Stadium seating, but the design of Memorial is a fantastic base to build off of. It's going to be loud (see VaTech's stadium) if we get winning, especially with both ends enclosed, and the sight lines are great. Not a bad seat in the house.
That’s another example of the incongruity. Too many aspects of MS look like disjointed parts rather than seamless. Probably the nature of the beast, but other expansions / redos seem to do a much better job of integrating the newer with the older.
Always finding the dark cloud in the silver lining, eh?
Not at all. Opinions vary on things like this. You could offer one if you were so inclined. Have you attended many / any games there through the years and seen the evolution of the facility?
Actually I haven't........I've been to Purdue, Illinois, MSU, NW, PSU, OSU, ND, the Peach Bowl, UK...all older stadiums other than UK.....all many years ago and none renovated at the time I visited. Of the stadiums I've visited, Illinois, MSU, OSU & ND were then dumps. PSU looked like one big erector set. Purdue gets dissed a lot on here, but R-A was actually better than the 4 I mentioned. I'd like to go back to ND or to UM to see what $350M looks like.
I'm not a ribbons or exploding scoreboard type of guy if that's what you're talking about. What stadiums that you've been to that you did not like?
It’s going to be a 4 horsemen of the apocalypse theme.
4 bronze horses with Bill Mallory (jaw clenched), Antwaan Randel-El, Anthony Thompson and George Taliaferro riding with swords raised and a football in the other hand. The swords have a gas line running to them (concealed of course) and they have flames burning along the swords. Would that be a Kodak spot for campus?
ND and UM both look great, as does the renovated MS at Illinois. Kinnick is really nice, too, and they’re in the middle of a north end zone rebuild that won’t be complete until next year. SS in EL is okay. Good sight lines and in the middle of campus, but upper deck seats are hard to get out of after the game. Minnesota is beautiful. NU is still a dump. Not a huge fan of RA, but it’s not awful and the area around it has been developed nicely. PSU is huge, as is UNL, which was expanded again a few years ago. The gameday atmosphere there and at UW are the best in the BiG 10, in my opinion. The ‘Shoe is huge but filled with awful fans. Haven’t been to Rutgers or Maryland.
I have been inside every one you mention with the exception of the current Peach bowl. Last PB I attended was at FCS. None are perfect, some as you say are bad.
The new MS is smaller than most but looks really good despite some imperfections.
I’ve been attending games at Memorial Stadium since the mid-70s.
I’ve seen the entire evolution. I, as Fred mentioned in his press conference, always hated the barbed wire fencing as well as that plexiglass cover on the East Side entrance that was so stained with pigeon droppings that it had turned yellow. I’ve been to probably 10 of the 14 stadiums in the Big 10. Many are bigger but not necessarily better. Been to the bowl games. Been to tiny BB&T stadium at Wake Forest. Actually loved the setting for North Carolina’s stadium. Stanford Cardinal stadium, the MAC stadiums. Walked around Maryland Byrd Stadium and thought it looked run down on the outside. Memorial Stadium is fine in my opinion. It’s not a 109,000 seat erector set but the design and style fits the campus.
Many of the new facilities feel commercial to me and the style doesn’t fit with the campus itself.
If you want to build something that looks like Space Mountain from Disney on the outside, that’s great, but to me it doesn’t feel like part of the university architecture. IU blended theirs well.
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Lots of $1 seats on Seatgeek for the game tomorrow
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