Stadium Updates

[lxadawg]

I truly believeDudy Noble Stadiumenabled us to sign a number of baseball recruits in the past.It was a great facility.Having said that, what significant updates are coming up?
A lot of the other SEC scools have simplypassed us by and we can no longer boast of having one of the top stadiums in the nation.

 

[lxadawg]

I truly believeDudy Noble Stadiumenabled us to sign a number of baseball recruits in the past.It was a great facility.Having said that, what significant updates are coming up?
A lot of the other SEC scools have simplypassed us by and we can no longer boast of having one of the top stadiums in the nation.

 

[lxadawg]

I truly believeDudy Noble Stadiumenabled us to sign a number of baseball recruits in the past.It was a great facility.Having said that, what significant updates are coming up?
A lot of the other SEC scools have simplypassed us by and we can no longer boast of having one of the top stadiums in the nation.

 

[SnakePlissken]

I doubt they choose that course of action but it is possible we rebuild a new stadium

 

[ScaldedDawg]

It was top notch back in the day, but not now.

Watching that "Mississippi State" athletics special between games on SportsSouth, Dudy Noble looks dated/old. It's beenupdtaed a few times, but the main grandstand is the same as it was in 1990, over 20 years ago. Cohen was a freakin player at MSU then.

I think to win consistently in the SEC, a big committnent to invest in facilities will need to be made.

Is all that recently donated money designated for football?

 

[State82]

I believe that would be fiscally irresponsible. There is nothing wrong with the base structure that's there now. A good architect can take that and prepare a nice renovation plan like UM did. If you keep the same location and completely rebuild, where are you going to play for at least one season? If you change sites, where is it going? Then you have to demo the existing, which runs the cost up even more. Just does not make sense. And there is the nostalgia and tradition of the outfield. I believe there would be so much bitching, griping, weeping and hell raising that canning the existing set-up would never make it out of the preliminary discussion phase.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

You can remove all the non concrete features and build back something really awesome and save millions. It would be stupid to tear it all down and rebuild something essentially the same before all the eye candy comes into play.

 

[Boon Hoggenbeck.sixpack]

The concrete part of Dudy Noble is almost the same as the original Swayze. I think if you tore down the skyboxes and redid them and add more concrete seating down the foul lines it would be a lot cheaper. The concrete part is worth too much to tear down unless you have money out the gazoo, which not many schools have. All it needs is a good update job.LSU spent a ton on the new Alex Box and I'm not impressed with it. I like Swayze a lot better and Dudy could be made nicer than The Box too for a lot less money. Also, didn't you just spend a lot of money on drainage and a new surface?

 

[Mjoelner]

and here is what I'd do.

Phase 1: Extend chairback seating all the way down the foul lines keeping it the same height as the existing bleachers. Build a covered deck with restrooms, concessions and picnic areas at the top of the seating area. Of course there would be restrooms and concessions beneath the seating area also.

Phase 2: Remodel the existing luxury suites by reducing the distance the roof overhangs the suites. It looks horrendous and out of place. I would also add suites to fill the gaps on either side of the press box or, build a deck with restrooms and concessions there like I would have down the foul lines.

Phase 3: Move that God-awful big green metal wall in the outfield to the other side of the entrance road into the outfield and lower the big green monster in center back to it's height during the Clark, Palmeiro and Thigpen days.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

As for number 1 you would have to kill most of the foul territory so you can angle the chairback seats towards the infield, but most outfields have very little foul ground anyway.

 

[drt7891]

so the entire stadium will match the Mize-zillatron. <div>
</div><div>I'll turn sarcasm off for a second and say my ONLY complaint with the Ninja was that he left those foam brick coverings on the scoreboard. It looks awful. It wouldn't offend me to see a whole new scoreboard go up there.</div>

 

[State82]

a completely new drainage system. That was done 2 years ago. Another reason to keep the facility we are in. Although that was not an enormous expense, it wasn't pocket change either.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Texas A & M will replace their stadium with a new $24 million facility starting construction immediately after this season ends and set to open for the 2012 season.

From Tigerdroppings on 4/13/11

"You'd enjoy it before it gets torn down after the season. We have a $24 million stadium being built for 2012 season in the same place."

"Aggie Alley would be a good time for SEC baseball fans. It's behind the left field fence and full of BBQ, booze and a good time."

 

[99jc]

and it is pretty awesome and the front will match the basketball facility. But nothing will be done until the football expansion has started.

 

[State82]

of the existing stadium and taper down toward the foul poles. This should add a sufficient number of new seats. I don't know what the distance is between the lines and the existing bleachers so you could possibly run out of space with the necessary angle to properly install the new seating. However, I would think it could be worked out, even if they didn't extend all the way to the foul poles. Whatever it takes, it makes no sense to demolish what is there and start from scratch. Building a new facility at today's construction costs would probably be at least $30 million. And, unfortunately, whatever is done is going to be a number of years down the road, so costs will only escalate.

 

[dawgatUSM]

I'm sorry, but our grandstands are in perfect condition, and it really wouldn't take a genius to figure out a way to do something on the 1st and 3rd base foul lines. Dudy Noble is the Wrigley or Fenway of College Baseball. Sure, there are some cosmetic things that need to be done, but tearing it down should never be an option, especially when it is in as good of shape as it is in.<div>
</div><div>Simply put, figure out a way to angle some chairbacks down the foul lines and don't touch the outfield, and that will be it. Not to mention, it'll save about 20 mill</div>

 

[MedDawg]

and here is what I'd do.

Phase 1: Extend chairback seating all the way down the foul lines keeping it the same height as the existing bleachers. Build a covered deck with restrooms, concessions and picnic areas at the top of the seating area. Of course there would be restrooms and concessions beneath the seating area also.

Phase 2: Remodel the existing luxury suites by reducing the distance the roof overhangs the suites. It looks horrendous and out of place. I would also add suites to fill the gaps on either side of the press box or, build a deck with restrooms and concessions there like I would have down the foul lines.

Phase 3: Move that God-awful big green metal wall in the outfield to the other side of the entrance road into the outfield and lower the big green monster in center back to it's height during the Clark, Palmeiro and Thigpen days.

I think it's a given that any renovation will completely tear out the skyboxes and press box and replace them--they leak water and the press box needs to be bigger/better anyway.

As far as the roof overhangs, I want to go the other way and put more roof over the (new) skyboxes and make one continuous roof all the way around the grandstands. I like that look, and right now it looks a little wrong with different rooflines over the skyboxes and press box. Not to mention that the roof provides shade for the chairbacks. If you want sun, go to the LFL or down the 3rd base line.

I don't mind our grandstand chairbacks, especially after getting the naked gray concrete painted white. I didn't particularly like all the white concrete in OM's stadium, but they have a lot more concrete to separate their grandstands into a bunch of little sections. I LIKE State's grandstands being bigger with more continuous rows of maroon seats.

So while I wouldn't mind a complete tear down and rebuild, I also wouldn't mind keeping the current grandstands and renovating/expanding the rest. We should extend the grandstands down the lines, and I like the idea posted earlier to make them more angled towards the infield, like South Carolina's stadium. Definitely tear down the current skyboxes and pressbox and build a continuous row of skyboxes/pressbox along the longer grandstands.

I still say we should move some dirt and renovate the Left Field Lounge. Get rid of the parking lot behind the center field fence and put a nice concessions stand there. Level the land where the structures go, and maybe even add concrete pads. That will make it safer. Move/add a lot of dirt to make a more continuous row on the outermost of the left center/center/right center field portion of the LFL like there is in far left field. Put a LOT more trees at the very back of the LFL (like there used to be) so you're looking at trees and not the parking lot from the grandstand. Then you might not even need that green wall. If the trees aren't enough and you do still need the green wall, go ahead and paint that side of the white building green and tear down that wall.

 

[Mjoelner]

.....and right now it looks a little wrong with different rooflines over the skyboxes and press box.

I can't put a finger on it but that may be what bothers me about them.

If the trees aren't enough and you do still need the green wall, go ahead and paint that side of the white building green and tear down that wall.

Amen. Mr. Stricklin, tear down that wall!

 

[Todd4State]

But here's the deal- we're not drawing enough people to quantify expanding seats down the lines. It would be a bunch of empty seats.

Heck, we would be better off just getting rid of the bleachers. That's very cost effective- get some guys with trucks to haul them away. I could probably pay someone to do that. Although, it would be expensive for me.

The problems with the grandstand, as I have said in the past- are the seats are at a bad angle for watching the game. What's in style now is seats that are closer to the field and and a low angle.

It would be expensive- but, there are places we could save money. We could use the same field surface that we are using now- it has a brand new drainage system and the field is in good shape. The LFL kind of rebuilds itself every year. We don't really need a new scoreboard, although it would be nice, but again is not totally necessary. The outfield fence is fine. All of these are costs that go into these new stadiums, and a lot of those things make up a good bit of the construction cost.

So, really, we're talking about rebuilding just the grandstand. If I remember correctly, we built the current grandstand in one offseason. Now, a new grandstand- we may not quite have every little thing done by the start of the season, but if they work diligently, I think it could be built on one offseason.

If it's not, we could play at Trustmark Park to start the year if we had to, or we could schedule a couple of road series to start the year at somewhere such as UAB or Lousiana-Monroe. Personally, I really don't think we would have to, but it is a possibility. And if someone wants to hear a really bad idea- we could play Valley in Greenville like Notre Dame did a couple of years ago. I'm kidding about Greenville for the record.

And I will freely admit that I have an alterior motive here- and that's to get rid of the "lifetime contracts" for season tickets. You tear down the stadium, and the seats don't exist anymore. Personally, I think the cost of rebuilding a grandstand is actually cheaper and better for us in the long run because of that.

 

[dawgatUSM]

But at the same time, I think your problems with the grandstands is very nitpicky (I know that's not a word)... I don't know if we could justify completely tearing it down when it would be much more cost effective and still be a very nice upgrade to do something where the bleachers currently sit. Especially when we just spent quite a bit of money giving the grandstands a facelift. <div>
</div><div>Either way, I don't think there will be any major upgrades to Dudy Noble for another 10 years or so.</div>

 

[Todd4State]

But I want the best for MSU, so I kind of throw it out there. I don't expect it to be perfect realistically.

One thing you have to remember from my standpoint- as a Cardinals fan, they did a lot of renovations to Busch Stadium II in 1996, and then they turned around 10 years later and built a brand new stadium- so to me, that kind of made the renovations sort of pointless and a waste of money. So, I kind of have that in the back of my mind.

 

[vhdawg]

.....both to have something that's not as steep that you can build on top of later, and to get rid of the stupid lifetime chairbacks that sit empty most of the season.

 

[patdog]

They built the current one in an offseason. Of course they didn't have as much to demolish then, but it could be done. Might have to wait another year for new luxury boxes though.

 

[tossedoff]

you could have the next to last series of the year be the last home games and, if we were to get a regional site, you could play it in Trustmark.

 

[goldenwavedawg]

And I will freely admit that I have an alterior motive here- and that's to get rid of the "lifetime contracts" for season tickets. You tear down the stadium, and the seats don't exist anymore.

According to an AD staffer, whatever is done at Dudy Noble, an extreme effort will be given to not alienate chairback license holders in any way.

 

[Todd4State]

Because them not showing up hurts our team and program. I do understand that it's sensitive issue.

Maybe they should have something where their seats are assigned based on how many games they attend. In other words, you are a season ticket holder and you actually go to 90% of the games- those people get first choice. And then if you attend 50% or less, you get moved to lesser seats.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

over the many years I have attended games, there have been some shall we say aged attendees in Chairbacks. I just wonder how many were passed down and some of the kids and grand kids just do not have the time or the interest to attend games like their parents or grand parents did. I do think it is time for a meeting of the base and AD to determine who is not attending at all any more, and as Todd has suggested who attends when it is convenient.

But in this day of dug out fields and open concourses above the stadium seating with stilted luxury suites ala Trustmark Park types, some consideration needs to be open minded enough to visit those ideas.

All of the CUSA coaches and ADs raved about Trustmark as a facility and the operations of it.

I do not like Swayze Field. We went to that series and those "added" on Chairbacks are too recessed. You are a city block from the field and the seats face the outfield. Rediculously designed just so they could have some open concourse and restrooms under the seats I guess, but they suck. They are significantly recessed from the main grandstand. What I do like about Swayze is the large lower box seating area. I think it is like 8 rows. I think our box seats are 4 rows. Then the outfield camera looks at a concrete wall at Dudy Nobleinstead of fans in the seats. We can improve on that.

 

[00Dawg]

less money coming in (probably none from me for instance), so it won't happen.
As I've said on here before, no one wants to pay anything to attend State baseball games right now. I have some of the best seats in the stadium, and I managed to sell tickets to 2, count them, 2 SEC series, one of which was SBW. I gave away what I could to family.
Now, that being said, we do need to do something to reward attendance. I'd take a distant cousin of your concept, and let season ticket holders sit anywhere they want to at the start of the game, having to relinquish their seat if the holder arrived. That would value ownership of season tickets and encourage arriving early. You also keep folks who are paying (or paid) extra for their seats happy since they can use them when they want to. In my perfect world we'd track tickets of non-PSL holders and color code them the next season to reflect the previous year's attendance. 90% gets a blue ticket and can sit anywhere at the start of the game, 75% from the 3rd inning on, 50% from the 5th, or something like that.

As for the stadium itself, DN needs a facelift, not reconstructive surgery. Leave the bones in place, redo the sky boxes plus press box, expand something down the lines, consider the brick facade (not totally sold here as I think we can make the current coloring work), upgrade the little stuff like concessions and bathrooms, and do something about that dang green wall.

 

[Bulldog Backer]

less money coming in (probably none from me for instance), so it won't happen.
As I've said on here before, no one wants to pay anything to attend State baseball games right now. I have some of the best seats in the stadium, and I managed to sell tickets to 2, count them, 2 SEC series, one of which was SBW. I gave away what I could to family.
Now, that being said, we do need to do something to reward attendance. I'd take a distant cousin of your concept, and let season ticket holders sit anywhere they want to at the start of the game, having to relinquish their seat if the holder arrived. That would value ownership of season tickets and encourage arriving early. You also keep folks who are paying (or paid) extra for their seats happy since they can use them when they want to. In my perfect world we'd track tickets of non-PSL holders and color code them the next season to reflect the previous year's attendance. 90% gets a blue ticket and can sit anywhere at the start of the game, 75% from the 3rd inning on, 50% from the 5th, or something like that.

As for the stadium itself, DN needs a facelift, not reconstructive surgery. Leave the bones in place, redo the sky boxes plus press box, expand something down the lines, consider the brick facade (not totally sold here as I think we can make the current coloring work), upgrade the little stuff like concessions and bathrooms, and do something about that dang green wall.

...My plan would simply improve on the existing facility and add more premium, higher dollar, seating. I'd wrap the press box all the way around the existing chairback stadium, and join them up with the private suites, then use what is necessary for additional press box space and the rest for more private suites. I'd also extend the box seats down both left and right field lines, and add more suites there. I have had a LOT of skin cancer, so I must be in the shade, so the more overhang the better!

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Think of the sales pitch.

Coach says: "Mom and Dad, our goal is to see your son playing in Omaha every year....So why not have him playing in the next best thing to start the year, until we get there."

(http://www.tdameritradeparkomaha.com/Information/PhotosVideos.aspx)

 

[Todd4State]

Because the thing about the grandstand is the people that do show up are really spread out. If you allow them to sit wherever, odds are that they will be more centrally located, which to me is better than spread out.

Also, perhaps a discount on season tickets the next year depending on how many games that you attend, or maybe more BC points.

 

[Sorokin]

The discussion about tearing DNF down completely is for real. It may not happen but it is not idle speculation. The main reason so I have heard has to do with the way the original contracts for chairbacks was worded. The only way to get out of that is to simply eliminate the stadium that bound us to those contracts. Building a new stadium would enable the athletic department to resubscribe the stadium and thus generate enough money to cover the cost of construction. However, as has been mentioned, none of this is feasable until we start winning again and generate demand for seats. We seem to be headed in the other direction. Additional considerations are the growingly inadequate press box and the deteriorating condition of the luxury suites since most of them leak to some extent. In summary, without a way to sell new seats at new prices the money will not be available for the types of renovations that would do any good.

 

[00Dawg]

Grasshopper would blanch at a discount, but since we already do BDC points for olympic sports, it could certainly be done for baseball.....or for any sport where actual attendance needs a boost (basketball in off years, for instance). I know it adds a step to have the dog tag scanned, so I'd simply tie it to the ticket owner. They get the incentive to put a butt in their spot, and the ticket recipient likely gets a free (or at least quality located) seat. We can even do it on a game-by-game basis.

And you're right about the grandstand. Let people move about more freely, and they'll migrate to the shaded seats followed by the home plate area, which incidentally spend a lot of time on camera during TV games. I also think you'd get a lot more people if they think they'll have a shot at sitting in a primo seat.

 

[AssEndDawg]

Because them not showing up hurts our team and program. I do understand that it's sensitive issue.

Maybe they should have something where their seats are assigned based on how many games they attend. In other words, you are a season ticket holder and you actually go to 90% of the games- those people get first choice. And then if you attend 50% or less, you get moved to lesser seats.

Did you know that MSU severely limited the number of parking passes this year? My parents, chairback owners and season tick holders since the stadium was built, couldn't get parking passes. So, they don't go to as many games. My dad simply can't hike a mile to get to his seats at his age. I would bet there are a lot of people in his situation.

How many times have you seen the bleachers packed full this year? I guess I don't understand where these imaginary hordes of fans will come from if we take away the seats from the people who paid to build the stadium. I went to a number of the weekend series and I never once saw the bleachers overflowing.

And how many weekday games did you attend? The chairback season ticket holders are really the only people who go to the weekday games. Taking away their seats and giving them to someone else may increase weekend attendance but my guess is it could hurt the overall.

My problem with this whole discussion is that it skips over the easy solution. Have a good ticket exchange system. Maybe it's just me but this seems easy. Give season ticket holders the ability to turn tickets back in via computer (voiding their ticket barcode) then if the University sells the ticket the person who owns them gets the sale price added to their donation total which counts toward priority. The buyer can print out a new ticket barcode and take it to the game. You reward people enough to make it worth turning the tickets back in, you give people grandstand tickets to buy, and the school makes double money on each one sold. Win, win, win.

I'm a MIS grad who runs programming projects (mainly database and web), I would even be willing to give my time to design/write the thing. I'm sure others would too. Could get it for free just by tapping into some alumni love.

 

[AssEndDawg]

...let season ticket holders sit anywhere they want to at the start of the game, having to relinquish their seat if the holder arrived.

Do you honestly think we don't do this already? I've sat in nearly every seat in that stadium. Rarely in my own. We move all over the place talking to people and getting in the shade and such. It's not like their are seat cops running around in the grandstand.

 

[00Dawg]

experienced the need to have a grandstand ticket to get in before the 6th (If I'm recalling that inning correctly). We're not looking to let grandstand ticket holders move, we're looking to let bleacher bums invade.

 

[00Dawg]

My problem with this whole discussion is that it skips over the easy solution. Have a good ticket exchange system. Maybe it's just me but this seems easy. Give season ticket holders the ability to turn tickets back in via computer (voiding their ticket barcode) then if the University sells the ticket the person who owns them gets the sale price added to their donation total which counts toward priority. The buyer can print out a new ticket barcode and take it to the game. You reward people enough to make it worth turning the tickets back in, you give people grandstand tickets to buy, and the school makes double money on each one sold. Win, win, win.

I'm a MIS grad who runs programming projects (mainly database and web), I would even be willing to give my time to design/write the thing. I'm sure others would too. Could get it for free just by tapping into some alumni love.

was put before LT by me about 5 years ago. The response was that another SEC school (I think it might've been UM actually) had tried to do just that and it failed miserably. They had tons of tickets left unsold and I believe didn't make enough money to pay for the design and hosting hardware.
It's a different tech world these days, so e-mail Scott. The only downside I see is that you risk reducing season ticket sales as people pass on them in hopes of cherry picking awesome seats to just the games they want. That fact alone might get you a no, and I'd guess it's why we have a CL-only ticket exchange for football, but you never know. I'll be surprised if they haven't at least considered it again since the end of the LT era .

 

[AssEndDawg]

experienced the need to have a grandstand ticket to get in before the 6th (If I'm recalling that inning correctly). We're not looking to let grandstand ticket holders move, we're looking to let bleacher bums invade.

I honestly wouldn't have a problem with that but the first time someone was an *** about moving all hell would break loose.

 

[AssEndDawg]

was put before LT by me about 5 years ago. The response was that another SEC school (I think it might've been UM actually) had tried to do just that and it failed miserably. They had tons of tickets left unsold and I believe didn't make enough money to pay for the design and hosting hardware.
It's a different tech world these days, so e-mail Scott. The only downside I see is that you risk reducing season ticket sales as people pass on them in hopes of cherry picking awesome seats to the games they want. That fact alone might get you a no, and I'd guess it's why we have a CL-only ticket exchange for football, but you never know. I'll be surprised if they haven't at least considered it again since the end of the LT era .

my worry was the opposite. I'm more worried about squatters buying season tickets they don't need in order to sell them and double up on priority. I honestly don't think either one would be a problem. I'm going to go ahead and wire-frame up the idea and present it here for the Pack to rip apart first. Then if I still seem stoked about it I'll take it to Scott.

 

[00Dawg]

I honestly wouldn't have a problem with that but the first time someone was an *** about moving all hell would break loose.

that thought has occurred to me as well. I think we've all come in at some point, found someone in our seat, and they "suggested" that we just sit elsewhere nearby since some other seats are open. If done right, a move like this would include a lot of guidance that folks who migrate in are expected to act courteously or the program would be discontinued.