BoerneGator said:

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BQ_90 said:

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BoerneGator said:

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Question…cannot the Fire Lane become a tunnel, and build seating over it, to the extent of the Rec Center? Demo-ing the entirety of Olsen seems extreme. (to be clear, I'm not in favor of a "cobbled together" solution, but a parking garage can solve lost parking as well.

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How do you get ladder truck ladder extended in a tunnel if there is fire on that side of the Rec center?

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I get your point...but since we're dealing in hypotheticals, I reckon an access point (opening in a structure) could be designed into it. Every building currently in existence does not have complete ladder truck access. Furthermore, the likelihood of a fire in the Rec center is none (Slim left the building).

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Well I'm sure if you call them, they would then ignore the fire lane and build whatever you told them to build.

Polska said:

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How long is the list of prospective season ticket holders, of which I'm on? Hundreds of people, thousands? Seems they could factor this in with trying to get a $ amount they'd be able to fund in association with upgraded facility options. Might be a gauge to see how serious people on this list are. Obviously will need larger donor aid, but this would be a piece of the puzzle. Not a lot of transparency in the process all around.

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The sale of more season tickets would help, marginally, with the program operating in the black; the sale of a lot of club seats would do more in that regard. Neither, however, is going to be enough to fund a new ballpark. That's going to require donations, particularly some big lead donations.

BQ_90 said:

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ensign_beedrill said:

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Ag8086 said:

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I hate to say it but tu is ahead of us in basketball and baseball facilities.

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They don't even have grass and dirt.

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I'd play on turf if we could half the National Championships they have

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I don't think that has squat to do with it.

If we can't fund a proper stadium renovation on the heels of the best season ever, when will we find the money? Especially now that every year monies will need to be allocated to maintain NIL?

The need for NIL money is greater than the need for a new stadium. After reading all of the thoughts and ideas, this is where I am landing.

The stadium is for the fans. The cash is for great baseball players. Once we go to Omaha 4-5 times, and hopefully win it all, then build the stadium.

They haven't even started any kind of campaign to raise funds. How do we know we can't?

We need a big donor or group of donors to make a significant donation.

I am saying that in order to do it right, the entire stadium needs to be torn down and built a new. In the meantime, thinking that will be 10-15 years from now, cash in hand to players trumps adding on to the existing stadium.

I have no idea if there is a big donor(s) out there that will support a $30 or $40 million donation.

trouble said:

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They haven't even started any kind of campaign to raise funds. How do we know we can't?

We need a big donor or group of donors to make a significant donation.

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You never know 100%, but you don't start a capital campaign unless you are pretty sure it is going to be successful. A failed or stalled capital campaign is a nightmare for an organization. Before there is a campaign, someone in the AD's office or an outside consultant they hire will try and determine what they think they can raise the money for. The campaign will be budgeted for that. They could be completely wrong on that number and might have too low of a number. But, if they don't think they can raise the money to do a complete rebuild, there will never be a campaign for one.

These location issue seem kind of ridiculous to me. We have one of the largest campuses in the nation by area. We can find a location for a new stadium. The fact that people keep saying these spaces are off the table and a complete rebuild in place is off the table makes it seem to me that the people up high don't really think we can raise the funds for a complete rebuild. That could change if a big donor steps but that is why some people are doubting that we have the funds for a new stadium.

I don't think Bluebell is "that" bad

Why?

What if we were to move everything closer to Olsen and then build a parking garage and party deck/ suites in existing outfield.

You could build infrastructure and start new stadium in one off season.

Demo and build fields next, and complete parking and outfield suites the third. Would be a phased project, but could keep things moving and not lose a season.

Texagsopinions said:

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I don't think Bluebell is "that" bad

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It's not. Bluebell is one of the top 25 college baseball stadiums in the country as is. The problem is most of our competition is against teams with facilities that are ahead of us on that list. It has fallen behind our SEC rivals' stadiums. Also, we don't have enough seating for current demand.

Bondag said:

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What if we were to move everything closer to Olsen and then build a parking garage and party deck/ suites in existing outfield.

You could build infrastructure and start new stadium in one off season.

Demo and build fields next, and complete parking and outfield suites the third. Would be a phased project, but could keep things moving and not lose a season.

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The first year would be messy, but could still play at current capacity. May need to add some temp egress to keep fire marshal happy, but appears to be possible.

I think that plan is off the table because Bush will be expanded when they put in the underpass at Bush and Welborn

That's why people keep trying to explain why Olsen is pinned in on all sides.

BQ_90 said:

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I think that plan is off the table because Bush will be expanded when they put in the underpass at Bush and Welborn

That's why people keep trying to explain why Olsen is pinned in on all sides.

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Bush could double. You would lose the park, but you can get creative with a garage and roof deck.

I'm thinking tiered patios off the roof you can sell and a student section back there behind the bullpen with some shade.

The biggest losers would be RV spots, but those could move to the current softball field.

It may not be perfect, but I think we could build a top-tier (borderline best) college park with the bones we have. First off, I think the last reno looks beautiful. The exterior and 2-deck park is spot on.

We have seen some plans for the LF line and LF OF. Keep those. It adds more seats, adds more premium spots, and creates a more fun culture in the OF. Plus it includes the massive indoor complex for players where the cages & parking is now.

(there might be newer designs around somewhere)




On the other side of Olsen, go nuts. Why can't we expand in a big way down the RF line? Double-decker to the foul pole. Here is where you can get real capacity gains.

Excuse the very poor paint skills.


Finish off the right field with berms like South Carolina. I don't love them, but I know some do and it helps overflow for big games. They seem to have a small footprint like us yet still makes a full 360 concourse around the park.


I would also assume big bucks need to be spent on the guts of the ballpark. Between the new indoor facility in LF and the additional room under the stands in LF, there should be enough space to make a larger locker room, weigh room, players lounge, club, etc.

Angry Beaver said:

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I would think swapping Olsen Field complex with the Rec Sports fields at the corner of George Bush and Penberthy is one of the current options. The Rec fields being next to the Rec makes sense, and it gives them plenty of space for future expansion of the building and amenities. And having the baseball stadium in the same area as the other stadiums would make a parking space solution easy.

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Putting aside my personal beliefs - which is the current stadium is very nice as a result of the $24 million spent just 12 years ago and probably only needs some added fan capacity - I do like discussing options and planning and I like this Penberthy idea. I had been looking at Google Earth for space and found someone previously mentioned the Penberthy fields.

Current Olsen footprint is just over 17 acres with a 3,500 foot perimeter. That's parking lots, stadium, and Olsen park - Train tracks to Olsen Blvd, Rec center fence to George BUsh.

The current Penberthy fields area is around 34 acres and 5,000 foot perimeter.

When we sold the naming rights to Blue Bell, did that come with time based guarantees like "Blue Bell will remain in the name forever/20 years/No guarantee"?

I still don't really know the unsolvable problem with the current facility, but it seems to be more about fan experience and not the team's. I think the team facilities are already very good and easier to enhance than a stadium re-do. How much additional revenue are we talking about with expanded seating? Do we think seating capacity impacts recruiting and team success?

Don't think seating capacity influences recruiting. I mean look at Arky - it's big, but beyond 1st and 3rd, the sight lines suck. The Hog Pen is cool, but unless you're in the first rows, because it's flat, you can't see anything. It's just a big party field. And fan participation? I put Olsen ahead of Pig.

But, what Arky has is the most expensive and outstanding player development complex. That's what puts them over the top.

I haven't been to Miss State, so others can weigh in about that.

Oh, and Vandy's been pretty good and their facilities don't compare to ours.

Edited to add: so basically, I don't know.

Seems like should punt on Olsen until we can get a lead donor and do it right - I like the idea of doing it off the train tracks a little north of existing site. Easy walk from north side of campus, easy walk to/from North gate, lots of parking around and would work with existing master plan.

If it takes 2-3 years than so be it....Olsen is fine like it is. NIL is going to be big difference for recruiting. The third base bleachers are pretty good seats and provide a decent amount of extra reserved seating for the time being. With RF bleachers, plus 203/berm there is a good amount of room for students.

Put temporary $ into NIL and don't just do another temporary "fix" of Olsen.

I agree, we have a nice park and should be able to use existing site and footprint to continue to enhance it- but it's nice.

I like your outfield OR right field suggestions - good work.

Are those from the survey a few years back?

Talked to Schloss about this in depth after last dugout club meeting. He seems fine with Olsen staying where it is and being able to get what he whats in that location.

One of the parts not being discussed is the player facilities. This is what comes up when Arkansas and a number of other SEC venues are mentioned. We are behind in the player facilities arms race. The coaches also need new offices because the current ones flood when it rains.

Schloss would like to see a multiple story player facility and coaches offices built along the 1B line right up against the expansion in the RF foul line area. He mentioned Ole Miss specifically having something like this and its on his wish list.

He also said it would be the fall before there were new / updated concept plans. Currently they are working through the programming - wishes and wants of all of the different entities with a finger in the pie. This will be distilled and we ought to start seeing some new images in the fall.

Get to 10,000 or so seats and improve the player facilities is what I heard from Schloss.

Ole Miss building along 1B line. Notice there is also roof top seating and a party deck which he mentioned.

85AustinAg said:

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Talked to Schloss about this in depth after last dugout club meeting. He seems fine with Olsen staying where it is and being able to get what he whats in that location.

One of the parts not being discussed is the player facilities. This is what comes up when Arkansas and a number of other SEC venues are mentioned. We are behind in the player facilities arms race. The coaches also need new offices because the current ones flood when it rains.

Schloss would like to see a multiple story player facility and coaches offices built along the 1B line right up against the expansion in the RF foul line area. He mentioned Ole Miss specifically having something like this and its on his wish list.

He also said it would be the fall before there were new / updated concept plans. Currently they are working through the programming - wishes and wants of all of the different entities with a finger in the pie. This will be distilled and we ought to start seeing some new images in the fall.

Get to 10,000 or so seats and improve the player facilities is what I heard from Schloss.

Ole Miss building along 1B line. Notice there is also roof top seating and a party deck which he mentioned.

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You could build the player facilities on the current tract, at the cost of some parking. However, you probably can't get to 10,000 seats in the current footprint. Note that all the outfield seats you see at Ole Miss are beyond the limits of where we can build, based upon the railroad tracks in right and the Rec Center in left.

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However, you probably can't get to 10,000 seats in the current footprint

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I think this is where people get lost in the details. Most of us that want a new location are assuming we actually want to build a much bigger facility.

So we're gonna spend 60 million to add couple extra thousand seats? That's why it makes no sense to me to stay at current location. It won't fix the issues we all want fixed. How many here talk about how BBP was a mistake and now the solution is to just add to that mistake.

Now if it's truly cost and we cant afford to build a new stadium then we need to admit that then focus on lipstick on the pig 2.0

twk said:

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85AustinAg said:

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Talked to Schloss about this in depth after last dugout club meeting. He seems fine with Olsen staying where it is and being able to get what he whats in that location.

One of the parts not being discussed is the player facilities. This is what comes up when Arkansas and a number of other SEC venues are mentioned. We are behind in the player facilities arms race. The coaches also need new offices because the current ones flood when it rains.

Schloss would like to see a multiple story player facility and coaches offices built along the 1B line right up against the expansion in the RF foul line area. He mentioned Ole Miss specifically having something like this and its on his wish list.

He also said it would be the fall before there were new / updated concept plans. Currently they are working through the programming - wishes and wants of all of the different entities with a finger in the pie. This will be distilled and we ought to start seeing some new images in the fall.

Get to 10,000 or so seats and improve the player facilities is what I heard from Schloss.

Ole Miss building along 1B line. Notice there is also roof top seating and a party deck which he mentioned.

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You could build the player facilities on the current tract, at the cost of some parking. However, you probably can't get to 10,000 seats in the current footprint. Note that all the outfield seats you see at Ole Miss are beyond the limits of where we can build, based upon the railroad tracks in right and the Rec Center in left.

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Well, you are right that we can't do what Ole Miss has done - they have a very large distance between outfield fence and right field area and the right field is just earthen tiers.

However, we already have bleachers in right field and could triple the seating there very easily. They were mostly empty for all non regional games I attended last year.

We could fit maybe 10-15 rows between left field and Rec Center Dr.

We could extend double decking on both 1st and 3rd base sides.

Many options if the magical number is 10,000 permanent seats, imo. At a minimum, the outdoor area of the batting cage facility woul dbe lost. Would need to add concession areas in right field corner or dead center.

I think its not just the 10,000 seats, it is the amenities that bring casual fans out to the park for some of the smaller games.

The reason the seats in right field sit empty is because you are frying out there in the sun, but if you bring back an Aggie Alley concept that offsets some of that, but would have to be in Left due to the tracks.

Complete Idiot said:

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twk said:

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85AustinAg said:

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Talked to Schloss about this in depth after last dugout club meeting. He seems fine with Olsen staying where it is and being able to get what he whats in that location.

One of the parts not being discussed is the player facilities. This is what comes up when Arkansas and a number of other SEC venues are mentioned. We are behind in the player facilities arms race. The coaches also need new offices because the current ones flood when it rains.

Schloss would like to see a multiple story player facility and coaches offices built along the 1B line right up against the expansion in the RF foul line area. He mentioned Ole Miss specifically having something like this and its on his wish list.

He also said it would be the fall before there were new / updated concept plans. Currently they are working through the programming - wishes and wants of all of the different entities with a finger in the pie. This will be distilled and we ought to start seeing some new images in the fall.

Get to 10,000 or so seats and improve the player facilities is what I heard from Schloss.

Ole Miss building along 1B line. Notice there is also roof top seating and a party deck which he mentioned.

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You could build the player facilities on the current tract, at the cost of some parking. However, you probably can't get to 10,000 seats in the current footprint. Note that all the outfield seats you see at Ole Miss are beyond the limits of where we can build, based upon the railroad tracks in right and the Rec Center in left.

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Well, you are right that we can do what Ole Miss has done - they have a very large distance between outfield fence and right field area and the right field is just earthen tiers.

However, we already have bleachers in right field and could triple the seating there very easily. They were mostly empty for all non regional games I attended last year.

We could fit maybe 10-15 rows between left field and Rec Center Dr.

We could extend double decking on both 1st and 3rd base sides.

Many options if the magical number is 10,000 permanent seats, imo. At a minimum, the outdoor area of the batting cage facility woul dbe lost. Would need to add concession areas in right field corner or dead center.

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You could extend the grandstand down the first base line, but those seats are facing into the sun (making them less desirable as season tickets), and whatever you gain would be offset somewhat by the loss of 1000 berm seats.

Down the 3rd base line, if you want an upper deck, it will probably not be connected to the current one as the supports for such a structure would probably have to run down through the coaches' offices and locker rooms. And, as with the 1st base side, you will be partially offsetting any gain by losing the current bleacher seats over there.

I'm not sure we have the room to triple the bleachers in right, particularly if we were to get a 360 concourse, as has been stated as the goal. The scoreboard and fire lane are problems in left field.

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Down the 3rd base line, if you want an upper deck, it will probably not be connected to the current one as the supports for such a structure would probably have to run down through the coaches' offices and locker rooms. And, as with the 1st base side, you will be partially offsetting any gain by losing the current bleacher seats over there.

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Along the 3rd base side, I think the offices, locker rooms, batting cages, etc all get moved and the existing upper and lower deck seating gets extended towards the outfield. Crawford boxes in left, ground level suites next to the outfield fence, and put as many seats along the 1B side that you can provide shade for and you can get to 10,000. Get creative and use shade structures like they use on playgrounds if you have to in certain areas.

If all the rain this weekend didn't do anything for you it should let you know. We need a retractable roof. Then we can play whenever we want to. If we need it open it's open we need to close it close it.

Level everything down the lines, add to existing seats down both lines, make all seats chair back and wide for old and fat Ags, create as much canopy and shade as possible down both lines, rebuild player lounges and coaches offices in parking lot, outfield fence can be see through in some areas for box seat areas, and artificial raised berms for overflow in outfield. Can be done nicely with existing footprint.

If a new rebuild were to happen, Victory field in Indianapolis would be a good ballpark to try and copy. Extend the roof like at Alex Box and it's a really nice setup.

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put as many seats along the 1B side that you can provide shade for and you can get to 10,000. Get creative and use shade structures like they use on playgrounds if you have to in certain areas.

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The only seats on the first base side that get any shade for an afternoon game are those well under the overhang (like mine), and even these seats get some significant sun late in the season. And, if you build down the line, in order to keep people from craning their necks constantly, you would want to angle the stands in towards the field, which would put them even more directly looking into the sun. In fact, there are times late in the season when the first baseman has a hell of a time seeing throws from the mound or 3rd base because of the sun, and that's exactly the view that these seats would have.

Yes, I'd take that (with only very minor changes, like a first deck club section behind home plate) in a heartbeat.

So sun is the primary reason our baseball field needs to be relocated? Too much sun for baseball fans? I sat on the berm for all the playoff games last year and yes it was brutal, but it was also full of fans and my teen and pre-teen kids made it through somehow.

Perhaps change from a stadium known for having winds that push fly outs to HR's to a stadium where the wind blows in?

Complete Idiot said:

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So sun is the primary reason our baseball field needs to be relocated? Too much sun for baseball fans? I sat on the berm for all the playoff games last year and yes it was brutal, but it was also full of fans and my teen and pre-teen kids made it through somehow.

Perhaps change from a stadium known for having winds that push fly outs to HR's to a stadium where the wind blows in?

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To generate money they need to sell premium seating. People don't want to pay a premium to sit in the sun.