A thought on the 30 year plan for facilities

[VULB#62]

Watching the Dayton soccer match and how nice the soccer venue now looks, I started thinking about the graphic/map of the 30 year plan.  In that plan a new soccer only stadium was planned near the to-be-built new field house.  Why not switch the layout?  Keep soccer/lacrosse on Brown Field and build a football-only stadium by the new field house with the stands closer to the field?  One of the problems with the current layout is that the FB field runs east-west instead of N-S.  By putting the football field in the planned soccer field location, it would then be in a N-S orientation.  Then move the FB locker room to the field house and use the ARC locker space for other sports.  Just a thought.

[vu72]

The football locker room isn't in the ARC.  I'm also not sure about the space needed as soccer probably needs seating for what? a thousand fans? while the football field currently seats 5000.  Cost is another issue.

[bbtds]

Cost is another issue.

Cost is still the biggest issue for ARC renovations which seem to be dependent on building a new fieldhouse for non-athlete students on the old hospital land which of course is dependent on cost.

Well, at least this thread didn't go on a tangent of facilities discussion. It always was a facilities discussion!

[usc4valpo]

Cripe, why we are at it, why not work with Porter County and build a dome for all of our sports?

[VULB#62]

The football locker room isn't in the ARC.  I'm also not sure about the space needed as soccer probably needs seating for what? a thousand fans? while the football field currently seats 5000.  Cost is another issue.

Yes, it is.  I toured it before the St. Joe's game.  The weight room and coaches offices are the only FB things in Kroencke.

Your other points: The Brown Field visitor side bleachers (they are newer) get moved to the new field to become the 1000 seat visitor's side (cost savings by not having to buy new seating).  The home side can stay along with the press box.  Those bleachers are pretty old and have paid for themselves a while ago.  They could also absorb a good sized crowd for HL soccer title games which I would hope become a regular part of future autumns.

Here are some additional benefits it would provide:
+  An integrated grandstand  accessible from an indoor facility (ADA compliance, reception areas, opportunity for a level of  a few reserved boxes and a president's box for marketing and fundraising events during games
+  Construction costs would be reduced somewhat because of the integration,
+  Connected game day support facilities (ticketing, lavatories, press box, adequate visitor locker room space) would be integrated in a single facility
+  The grandstand/field footprint would be almost the same,
+  The game day atmosphere in a FB only stadium with the stands nearer to the sidelines would be awesome
+  The field would now go north and south as FB fields are supposed to, and
+  The integrated facility would be even more impressive architecturally than just a stand-alone field house.

Granted, it would be more expensive than throwing up a 1000 seat grandstand next to a grass field next to the new field house.  But when you consider what Butler, JU and Campbell have recently done with their FB stadiums and what the rest of the PFL plays in, that would put us on a par with the median point of facilities in the league.  I could also see the football offices and the weight room equipment being brought over to the field house and augmented to be used by all teams -- although, I'm pretty sure the doors are open to the new weight facility already.

I communicated with ML about this, and he told me this idea is not off the table and has actually been bounced around very informally.  But it would be years away and may never happen.  Many of us have criticized the ARC for being high school and in need of an major upgrade.  I would certainly agree and that should be Valpo's priority, but I would add that Brown Field, even with the beautiful new track, is even more high school than the ARC.  If we want to be taken seriously as a true D-I school, and if we, at some point, would consider a move to, say, the MVC (remember our indignation when Loyola got picked over us?) this kind of thing needs to happen -- just my 

[valpotx]

Every PFL team's stadium is below HS level for some of the stadiums I played in during HS

[VULB#62]

But, hey, you're from Texas, man.  They spend $60 million on a HS stadium down there.   

Texas High School Gets $60 Million Stadium

[vu72]

But, hey, you're from Texas, man.  They spend $60 million on a HS stadium down there.   

Texas High School Gets $60 Million Stadium

Yeah, I was at a game there last year, before the place was shut down for having major structural issues.  It really is(will be again after they spend millions more to fix it) an amazing stadium!

Oh, and on the locker room location, I stand corrected.  The football lockers shouldbe located with the weight room and coaches offices!

[VULB#62]

I was under the same impression until Matt LaBarbera gave me a tour of all of the facilities before the St. Joe's game.  When the guys come for a weight workout, they change in the ARC, walk across the street, work out, and then walk back to the locker room to shower and change back to civvies. Could be problematic in January and February -- Brrrrr.  That separates the men from the boys.  Near-term "pie in the sky" for FB is to perhaps convert the small theater into a full size FB locker facility and install a 150' X 100' (my estimate) turf-floored bubble or pole structure for speed and other non-weight workouts that would fit into the west side of the theater between the coaches offices and the south wing.  Based on the projected $490K cost of the new tennis facility, this upgrade would probably run $500K-$600K(?). That. in turn, would free up valuable space in the ARC which is desperately needed.

[78crusader]

The high school stadium in Texas which has been discussed by others in this thread was the topic of an interesting article in The Texas Monthly magazine.  A really good magazine, I should add. Paul

[vu72]

I was under the same impression until Matt LaBarbera gave me a tour of all of the facilities before the St. Joe's game.  When the guys come for a weight workout, they change in the ARC, walk across the street, work out, and then walk back to the locker room to shower and change back to civvies. Could be problematic in January and February -- Brrrrr.  That separates the men from the boys.  Near-term "pie in the sky" for FB is to perhaps convert the small theater into a full size FB locker facility and install a 150' X 100' (my estimate) turf-floored bubble or pole structure for speed and other non-weight workouts that would fit into the west side of the theater between the coaches offices and the south wing.  Based on the projected $490K cost of the new tennis facility, this upgrade would probably run $500K-$600K(?). That. in turn, would free up valuable space in the ARC which is separately needed.

And this being used for??  With the VUCA being finished for over 10 years it would seem that this space is not needed or used.  Call on the football alumni to step up and get this done!!

[bbtds]

But, hey, you're from Texas, man.  They spend $60 million on a HS stadium down there.   

Texas High School Gets $60 Million Stadium

Wow. And yet Allen and McKinney won't buy into DART's orange line to bring it to one of the fastest growing areas in DFW. Priorities seem off. How do their hispanic maids get to work?

[valpotx]

Public transportation is slowly getting better in DFW.  They just expanded the DART line from Dallas to DFW Airport. 

I am all on board for turning that theater into a locker room for football.  Is it used for anything currently?  Like 72, I had figured that football took over every room in that building.

[bbtds]

Public transportation is slowly getting better in DFW.  They just expanded the DART line from Dallas to DFW Airport. 

Is that the Trinity or DART?

[VULB#62]

And this being used for??  With the VUCA being finished for over 10 years it would seem that this space is not needed or used.  Call on the football alumni to step up and get this done!!

When I peeked through the crack between the doors it looked abandoned.  The FB locker space in the ARC is very cramped, but if the FB team moved to Kroencke, that space becomes big space for the other teams.  Seems logical to make that move in the interest of all teams concerned. There would have to be a lot of renovation in Kroencke (installing showers and lavatories the big items along with building a training room), but it could be a win-win for all sports.  Maybe a few wins this year and being more competitive going forward would justify that expense.  I'm sure it would be an attractive recruiting tool if done well -- for both football and the sports in the ARC that move into the vacated FB space.

[valporun]

I thought that the theater department still used the small theater at Kroencke for the purposes of dance classes associated with theater classes or for performances that were going to happen at the VUCA? Maybe the new theater department dean changed that around to keep all theater classes in one place, instead of walking so far away to get from one rehearsal to another?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Ah yes.  I was on that stage many a time.

And I was lucky enough to attend "Kroencke Encores" when many talented alumni returned to trod those boards one last time.

Something charming about making art in a totally unsuitable space...

[VULB#62]

I thought that the theater department still used the small theater at Kroencke for the purposes of dance classes associated with theater classes or for performances that were going to happen at the VUCA? Maybe the new theater department dean changed that around to keep all theater classes in one place, instead of walking so far away to get from one rehearsal to another?

In talking to Matt L, he did mention that exact thing.  Some negotiation will probably be needed.

[valpotx]

Public transportation is slowly getting better in DFW.  They just expanded the DART line from Dallas to DFW Airport.

Is that the Trinity or DART?

I believe that it is the DART.  The train I see going into the airport has their distinctive yellow stripe