Is it time to lower the Barn?

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roadrunner said:
I don't understand how people claimed, "the Gophers need to invest in an Athlete's Village to remain competitive," yet the same people claim, "the 100 year old Barn is adequate. Facilities don't make a difference."
This program needs to, in the immortal words of Vince Neil, "kickstart it's heart" and a new arena would certainly do that.
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I believe that argument backs not needing a new arena. We were sold that getting the new practice facility was the key to success, well that didn’t work out, so color me skeptical when people talk the same story about the arena is what is holding us down.

I think the Venn diagram crossover for your argument is minuscule compared to that of the ones who argued for the practice facility being essential as well as building a new arena. There is no evidence that building a new arena turns teams around, there sure hasn’t been such evidence with our practice facility.

We would be much better off spending more money on a high level coach.
 
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Gopher Teeth said:
I believe that argument backs not needing a new arena. We were sold that getting the new practice facility was the key to success, well that didn’t work out, so color me skeptical when people talk the same story about the arena is what is holding us down.

I think the Venn diagram crossover for your argument is minuscule compared to that of the ones who argued for the practice facility being essential as well as building a new arena. There is no evidence that building a new arena turns teams around, there sure hasn’t been such evidence with our practice facility.

We would be much better off spending more money on a high level coach.
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But will a high-level coach come here with this game-day facility?
 





Ski U Mah Gopher said:
But will a high-level coach come here with this game-day facility?
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Yes. We built the practice facility, that didn’t get us a high level coach. Not only that but as the years go by that “advantage” is disappearing. In a few years the practice facility will be bottom tier again, that is guaranteed.
 

Holy Man said:
Bingo! And at some point they need to decide if the building is worth preserving or not, no matter how good or bad the team is.
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Correct. Regardless of recruiting and coaching etc, the building is extremely old, and needs work.
Butler refurbished Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2014 and it looks really nice.
 

disco said:
Correct. Regardless of recruiting and coaching etc, the building is extremely old, and needs work.
Butler refurbished Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2014 and it looks really nice.
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An overhaul of the Barn would likely reduce seating capacity by another 2-4,000, which might be fine given the trajectory of attendance at college sports (even successful programs). With my very limited experience in reconfiguring buildings, not nearly as old as the Barn, one can predict the cost of rehabbing old space to be about half or less than building new space. A complete overhaul like Hinkle might be a good option.
 

Holy Man said:
An overhaul of the Barn would likely reduce seating capacity by another 2-4,000, which might be fine given the trajectory of attendance at college sports (even successful programs). With my very limited experience in reconfiguring buildings, not nearly as old as the Barn, one can predict the cost of rehabbing old space to be about half or less than building new space. A complete overhaul like Hinkle might be a good option.
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Hinkle once held as many as 15,000, and now it holds 9100. Lowering capacity of the Barn would probably not be an issue if it makes for a more comfortable environment. It appears that they got rid of a lot of the bench seating at Hinkle - only some on the ends remains.

Oddly enough, when Washington remodeled their arena, which is another really old one, they increased capacity from 7000 to 10,000.
 



disco said:
Hinkle once held as many as 15,000, and now it holds 9100. Lowering capacity of the Barn would probably not be an issue if it makes for a more comfortable environment. It appears that they got rid of a lot of the bench seating at Hinkle - only some on the ends remains.

Oddly enough, when Washington remodeled their arena, which is another really old one, they increased capacity from 7000 to 10,000.
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Went to a game at the University of Washington back in 2010, it was a great experience and it seemed like a small, intimate arena with great sight lines. Didn’t seem like a bad seat in the house. I’d love for the U to turn the court 90 degrees and have similar baseline seating like Indiana & Northwestern.
 


disco said:
Hinkle once held as many as 15,000, and now it holds 9100. Lowering capacity of the Barn would probably not be an issue if it makes for a more comfortable environment. It appears that they got rid of a lot of the bench seating at Hinkle - only some on the ends remains.

Oddly enough, when Washington remodeled their arena, which is another really old one, they increased capacity from 7000 to 10,000.
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Interesting!

From Wikipedia:

The east end of the building was sectioned off into a practice gymnasium and the main basketball court was moved 50 feet (15 m) west, enclosed by a tighter bowl of seats. The seating capacity was increased from 7,900 to 10,000 while using significantly less of the building. Half of the seats (5,000) are the chair type, with the other half bleachers, of which 60% have backs.

...

Another major improvement was the removal of the 20 view-obscuring support pillars in the upper level, replaced by two massive non-obscuring "super trusses," above and behind the sidelines. Both are 243 feet (74 m) in length and painted yellow-gold, as are the supporting tri-leg columns in the arena's four corners, proudly exhibited in the concourses.
 
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Ski U Mah Gopher said:
But will a high-level coach come here with this game-day facility?
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High-level coaches get serious wood when they have an opportunity to play at the Palestra, and announcers always gush about it from court side. Do not fear the Barn. ~ Ski-U-Mah ~
 



Even the iconic New York Yankees realized that, at some point, you need a new stadium.
 


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