What would the stadium look like with the south endzone enclosed?
With DB stating that he wants to enclose the southern part of Michigan Stadium with bleachers to expand capacity close to 120,000, I can't stop thinking about what that would look like.
I am perplexed at what it might look like though because the new scoreboards will block seating in the middle of the new proposed section. Since nobody will want an obstructed view, it seems like the bowl would be broken.
Are there any other stadiums that have this sort of seating arrangement that we can look to? Are there any MGoArchitechtes out there who could do at least an ariel diagram of how the seating would look?
I think Brandon described at the DC Alumni event as each side would go up to the edges of the scoreboard. On the other hand, he also stresses a walkway connecting the two, so I guess I'm confused too. Your welcome for the non help.
God forbid they won't let it look like a horseshoe!
I guarantee that Michigan Stadium will never look like a toilet seat.
smaller buildings will begin to orbit around it.
That's already started, unbeknownst to most people Crisler Arena was originally located on the other side of State St. but was drawn across it by the Big House's gravitational pull
You know how Japan recently got closer to the United States? Well...
Maybe something like Illinois stadium on the non student section end the seats go up and around the scoreboard
I guess it's possible that the new scoreboards will be so high that there will be seats under and behind it that can sort of see the field...
design that wraps back around again while going up to keep everyone close to the action.
Why would they only "close" one endzone? Is there a reason that only one would be done (and not both) other than expense?
Well there's that, and the fact that the stadium would seat about 140,000.... and truthfully, we might not be able to fill that week in and week out like we do now.
FWIW, Brandon said that several architecture firms have said that the maximum capacity is no more than 125-128 thousand people.
Brandon said he would leave that option for a future AD. He wants to be sure that demand for seats will support the first expansion before taking on a second one.
there is not enough demand yet for closing both endzones at once. DB said that he hopes that his successor can enclose the north endzone, which would bring the capacity to around 125,000!!
In DC, DB said that once the waiting list gets big enough and the continued widening of the current seats allows the south enzone expansion, he'd do it, and give the crappy seats to the visiting team.
and it looks awesome, but wouldn't the new scoreboards be right in the middle of the section?
Could they eventually move the new scoreboards back after they expand the seats lik in your picture?
Agree, but with a cutout for the scoreboards.
I can envision this happening in both endzones... And sometime decades from now, a second tier could still be built: a second level of suites and club seating, and yet more bowl (or an overhanging bit over the bowl.) It would be majestic.
Yeah, awesome!
I want to marry that picture. So beautiful.
I want to marry that picture. So beautiful.
But, I'm having a hard time convincing myself that this would look good. I want more capacity, but the only way I see it looking good is to wrap the suites around, which I don't like.
I would guess that picture would fill 140,000
I hope they figure out a way to park the cars of at least half of those people.
The University has several good sized parking lots right outside of the Stadium. I don't understand why they don't take one of the offseasons to dig a huge hole in the ground and build a big parking structure... Not only would that make it easier for people to park near the Stadium, but the University could rake in tons of cash by charging $20 a car, which is less than other parking further away. The only downside would be waiting in line to get out with thousands of other cars. There would have to be many exits and a lot more planning than I'm putting into this.
For one thing, it takes a hell of a lot longer than an off-season to build an underground parking structure. If you're in Ann Arbor, go check out the structure going in at South 5th and Liberty right next to the downtown library. My firm did / is doing part of the design and we have a 2008 project number. Groundbreaking was in October of 2009 and today, it still looks like a gigantic hole in the ground. Also, that one, in particular, costs upwards of 42 million dollars to build, so there's that.
You can check out the "progress webcam" here if you're interested: http://webcams.christmanco.com/underground-deck/
Also if you are paying $20 for parking and you aren't right next to the stadium then you are A) lazy or B) stupid.
EDIT: or C) crippled (sorry).
Or you want to give some poor students beer money because you remember how much fun you had with parking money in undergrad. I wouldn't call walking through campus on game day a terrible experience either.
Some good solutions they may come up with (sarcasm):
<br>1. Email everyone and tell them to find a carpool
<br>2. Change the renovations in Crisler to make it into a parking garage. The basketball teams will play at the IM building or CCRB.
<br>3. Send Dave Brandon to 5 cities in 6 days to see how those cities handle parking.
<br>4. Invent teleporter.
<br>
If we're going to do it, I'd like to see us add an upper deck at one end to create a megaphone effect with the stadium noise. The endzone with the upper deck would be crazy loud and would create another big homefield advantage.
The bowl is amazing in and of itself. An upper deck would look just like PSU's, and the Big House Bowl is one of the most intimidating views in sports anyway.
When Yost designed it it was important that when you went through the gate to your seat you could instantly see the entire stadium and have a "take-your-breath-away" moment at the sheer size of the stadium. I wouldn't want to lose that with an upper deck
/read Soderstrom's book on Yost everyone, it was great
Edited:
PSU's Stadium:
Link to Soderstrom's Book: http://www.amazon.com/Big-House-Fielding-Building-Michigan/dp/1932399119/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308066577&sr=1-1
while a second deck would probably be the most practical solution for the endzones and allow the fans to be closer to the field (or as close to the field as you can be from 120 rows up), i can't imagine getting rid of the iconic bowl design of michigan stadium.
Or an upper deck on Michigan Stadium. I don't think it's a relevant point though. I've heard before that the original intention was to eventually build an upper deck and seat around 140,000 - 150,000. However, after one of the more recent expansions an upper deck became unfeasible anyway, as there isn't the proper structural support (or something around those lines) to implement such a massive undertaking.
and they didnt have a structural footing beforehand. thats why they put it in with the project the same way they would when adding an upper deck. I think you would overlap the upper deck several rows over the lower bowl to decrease the ocerall footprint of the big house and allow for even more sound catching opportunities to be thrown back onto the field.
They also cost $250 million. A potential upper deck would have to be longer on both sides, so I would guess that it might be even more expensive.
i'm sure the engineers can figure out a way to add the upper deck, i'm just staying that i'm opposed to the idea. michigan is one of the few true bowl stadiums and i'd hate to see that change.
edit: well one of the scoreboards is backwards, but oh well. I think this stadium would look sick.
And still plenty of room for more expansion... You win!
above the suites! Capacity could be 250,000!!!
Denard could probably still go endzone to endzone in about eleven seconds.
I was working my way down to the comment section to point out that the Big House might join the Great Wall of China as the only man-made structures visible from outer space. Well, now we know the answer. It's almost as big as the state of MEECHIGAN!
Is the Big House moving to Kalamazoo???
would it be all that hard just to move the scorboard?
I don't think that moving the scoreboards is a major undertaking. And relative to the cost of expanding the Stadium, this is the likely solution.
Maybe we should ask Jerry Jones
Have you seen the columns that have been put up to support the new scoreboards? I just drove past the stadium today. The columns are massive, and there are six on each side. It would not be a trivial undertaking to move the scoreboards.
The way they've been spending money on renovations and upgrades to the facilities, I suppose it's possible they might move them. But my guess is any expansion of the stadium--at least in the next decade or so--will be worked around the scoreboards.
Hate to be those people sitting next to the Press Box in the top row...the will only get to see about 30 yards of the field.
I don't understand the confusion. The endzones are already enclosed. We'd just be adding rows (and presumably, moving the scoreboards back). It wouldn't be much different than it is now. Even if only one side has rows added, it's likely that fans would hardly even notice. For a full decade (1998-2008), the east sideline's rows did not go up as high as the adjacent endzones, and few ever noticed.