University Town Center

[Just the facts]

We'll see what OU does with the new SEC money but my guess is that any new arena is going to be adjacent to a new rail station in either downtown Norman or on the OU main campus.

[BG918]

We'll see what OU does with the new SEC money but my guess is that any new arena is going to be adjacent to a new rail station in either downtown Norman or on the OU main campus.

YES! I would hope OU would be thinking ahead and work with Norman to integrate the rail station into the arena and surrounding development in either downtown Norman or the Duck Pond at OU (preferred site).

[Jeremy Martin]

The Duck Pond is way past it's prime and needs to go. I would fully support a new arena there instead.

[BG918]

The Duck Pond is way past it's prime and needs to go. I would fully support a new arena there instead.

To be clear I don’t mean the Duck Pond itself but the parking lots to the west where an arena could serve campus and also share existing athletic and parking facilities.

[HangryHippo]

To be clear I don’t mean the Duck Pond itself but the parking lots to the west where an arena could serve campus and also share existing athletic and parking facilities.

The parking lots to the west are going to become the new Football Operations Center, I believe.

[BG918]

The parking lots to the west are going to become the new Football Operations Center, I believe.

Plenty of room for both the football operations center and new arena

[MagzOK]

^^

I agree. There is room on campus for a new fieldhouse/arena. I would like them to raze the McCasland and build a new arena abutting Memorial Stadium to the north. I mean OSU did this when they revamped Gallagher Iba. It can be done. So many schools work really hard bringing back college sports to campus. When I was at SMU for undergrad, our football was played at the Cotton Bowl and it was absolutely awful. First of all we stunk so that kept most people from driving down there, but the other part was the fraternities and sororities and many students wouldn't go because of the distance and driving, etc. Newsflash -- there is drinking involved pregame. A huge campaign to raise money was done to finally build a beautiful stadium on campus, and it was built with expansion in mind when the time would ever come. Now there's a huge showing weekly. Akron is another example of bringing football back to their own campus. Their football was played at the Rubber Bowl but finally built their own stadium on campus. Back to basketball, at SMU, half wasted (or baked!) students would walk over and file in and pack Moody Coliseum for basketball games. Why? It wasn't because we were ever great, but because it was right there and we didn't have anything better to do. It was always a grand ol' time, especially when TCU came to town for the late night pajama nightcap on ESPN.

Here is a list of Division I basketball arenas and there are only a handful of big league schools that play their basketball games off campus:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ketball_arenas

I dunno, I just am not a proponent at all of building an arena off campus separating it from the very school which it belongs. And that goes for any school IMO. Those stating it's easier for people to drive from Edmond -- LOL please. What a joke. Would you like to move the football stadium, too, because getting to those games are awful. Sure when we go to football games we always complain about the streets and lights and all that, but that's just part of game day. In addition to having those living on campus simply walk to games, having a basketball arena there on campus would bring good money to Campus Corner because people can drive in, park, go eat, the simply walk over to the arena. As it is now most people drive down to Lloyd Noble but don't stop at Campus Corner -- we don't. Lloyd Noble is the only destination because there's nothing else around.

Building on campus brings people to your campus, which is what you want to sell. I want the game day experiences to include campus and local flare like Campus Corner. Game day experience to me shouldn't be Cheddars, Target or Crest, or Kohl's and Home Goods. Those places can be found in Edmond.

Anyway, for better or for worse those are my thoughts on an off-campus arena.

[BG918]

^ Very logical comments, hopefully the OU administration agrees and at least begins to put a plan in motion to bring basketball back to the campus core. Look at our soon-to-be-fellow SEC schools and the majority have either built new or extensively renovated their on campus arenas. Auburn would be a good example to follow with how they also integrated student housing around the new arena.

Anyways back to University North Park..

[MagzOK]

^ Very logical comments, hopefully the OU administration agrees and at least begins to put a plan in motion to bring basketball back to the campus core. Look at our soon-to-be-fellow SEC schools and the majority have either built new or extensively renovated their on campus arenas. Auburn would be a good example to follow with how they also integrated student housing around the new arena.

Anyways back to University North Park..

Yes, Auburn is a great example! When my dad was at LSU he lived as a freshman in dorms under Tiger Stadium. Apparently back in the day they housed the freshmen there to brainwash them further into LSU football!

[bombermwc]

An arena at a strip mall is stupid no matter how you look at it. And no, "everyone" is not looking to get rid of LNC. Back that statement up with some evidence and not just opinion.

And no, multipurpose arenas are NOT looked down on at the collegiate level. Again, provide the evidence for that instead of opinion.

If OU wanted to, the could build a new arena in the parking lot of LNC or on the oodles of grassland they have nearby. Although the current land makes the most sense because they could easily attach to the existing practice facilities if they want to, or just include those in a phase 2 of the project.

Let's do some SEC comparing since we're playing that game now. This is all subjective and my opinions. Go look them up yourself if you disagree. My best is that most people here haven't done any of this comparing yet.

Bama - piece of total crap Coleman Colliseum, which is basketball only
LSU - Pete Meravich ARENA, which is pretty nice
Auburn - Auburn Arena, this is like your high school gym on steriods. It's short, and old. Honestly, i think the UMAC at Union High School is nicer than this place.
Ole Miss - Pavillion, i'll give you this one. it's a nice Bball specific place. BUT, they still can remove those expanding bleachers at court level and open up the floor for different events. So unlike Galagher Iba, it still has flexibility to do "arena" events like concerts/graduations/etc.
Southern Miss - Red Green, old is old here. I would guess you would say its more like LNC than some of the others, but has not been renovated like LNC. It's still stuck in the 70's.
Mississippi State - Humphrey - It's an arena.
Arkansas - Bud Walt Arena - It's a hybrid like Ole Miss.
Florida - O'Connell, this is Ghallagher Iba, copy/paste
Kentucky - Rupp Areana, it's not even owned by the school. So i'm not going to even bother talking about it.
Georgia - Stegman, Another hybrid. It's nice, but it's pretty small feeling. Much more "closed in".
Missouri - Mizzou Arena - another hybrid, but i'd say less on the arena side and more on the court only side. To be frank, not much else happens here.
South Carolina - Gamecock Center, probably your best argument for a BBall only type arena. But hoenstly, it feels a lot like LNC to me. The difference is the concourse is in the middle instead of up top.
Teneessee - Thompson, it's the third largest collegiate arena in the country folks. This is NBA sized and in a whole different category.
Texas A&M- Reed, it's middle ground. It's not the nicest, it's not the crappies (that's Southern MIss). It is BB only.
Vanderbilt - Memorial Gymnasium, i mean what do you say about this monstrosity? I think Southern Miss is still the worst, but this is like the Alamodome with the corners blocked out

Texas - they're building a new one. 10k for BBall and expands to 15 for concerts. So they are also staying with the multipurpose approach.
OU - LNC, well we've talked enough about that.

So my point is. LNC is very much still at the front end of the arena game. Even going in to the SEC. Is it the nicest? No. But the best teams aren't just blowing us away with facilities either. Heck, Kentucky doesn't even have their own place! So let's not create a solution (a crappy one) for a problem that doesn't exist.

[BG918]

An arena at a strip mall is stupid no matter how you look at it. And no, "everyone" is not looking to get rid of LNC. Back that statement up with some evidence and not just opinion.

And no, multipurpose arenas are NOT looked down on at the collegiate level. Again, provide the evidence for that instead of opinion.

If OU wanted to, the could build a new arena in the parking lot of LNC or on the oodles of grassland they have nearby. Although the current land makes the most sense because they could easily attach to the existing practice facilities if they want to, or just include those in a phase 2 of the project.

Let's do some SEC comparing since we're playing that game now. This is all subjective and my opinions. Go look them up yourself if you disagree. My best is that most people here haven't done any of this comparing yet.

Bama - piece of total crap Coleman Colliseum, which is basketball only Alabama administration has approved funds for a new on-campus arena to replace Coleman that will seat 10,136 and cost $183 million. This is probably most similar to what OU would want for a new arena
LSU - Pete Meravich ARENA, which is pretty nice
Auburn - Auburn Arena, this is like your high school gym on steriods. It's short, and old. Honestly, i think the UMAC at Union High School is nicer than this place. Auburn built a new 9,121 seat on-campus arena in 2010
Ole Miss - Pavillion, i'll give you this one. it's a nice Bball specific place. BUT, they still can remove those expanding bleachers at court level and open up the floor for different events. So unlike Galagher Iba, it still has flexibility to do "arena" events like concerts/graduations/etc. Ole Miss completed a new on-campus arena in 2016; it seats 9,500 and cost $97 million
Southern Miss - Red Green, old is old here. I would guess you would say its more like LNC than some of the others, but has not been renovated like LNC. It's still stuck in the 70's. Southern Miss is not in the SEC
Mississippi State - Humphrey - It's an arena.
Arkansas - Bud Walt Arena - It's a hybrid like Ole Miss.
Florida - O'Connell, this is Ghallagher Iba, copy/paste
Kentucky - Rupp Areana, it's not even owned by the school. So i'm not going to even bother talking about it.
Georgia - Stegman, Another hybrid. It's nice, but it's pretty small feeling. Much more "closed in".
Missouri - Mizzou Arena - another hybrid, but i'd say less on the arena side and more on the court only side. To be frank, not much else happens here. Mizzou Arena was built in 2004 and seats 15,061; it has recently been renovated
South Carolina - Gamecock Center, probably your best argument for a BBall only type arena. But hoenstly, it feels a lot like LNC to me. The difference is the concourse is in the middle instead of up top.
Teneessee - Thompson, it's the third largest collegiate arena in the country folks. This is NBA sized and in a whole different category.
Texas A&M- Reed, it's middle ground. It's not the nicest, it's not the crappies (that's Southern MIss). It is BB only.
Vanderbilt - Memorial Gymnasium, i mean what do you say about this monstrosity? I think Southern Miss is still the worst, but this is like the Alamodome with the corners blocked out

Texas - they're building a new one. 10k for BBall and expands to 15 for concerts. So they are also staying with the multipurpose approach. Texas finished their new arena last year. It was designed around basketball but can also hold concerts
OU - LNC, well we've talked enough about that.

So my point is. LNC is very much still at the front end of the arena game. Even going in to the SEC. Is it the nicest? No. But the best teams aren't just blowing us away with facilities either. Heck, Kentucky doesn't even have their own place! So let's not create a solution (a crappy one) for a problem that doesn't exist.

Maybe the Moderator can move these arena discussions to a new OU Basketball Arena thread in the Norman subforum?

[bombermwc]

I don't think it should as it's in reference to an item being discussed in University Town Center. The debate here is if its needed. If it's decided it's not needed, then that's quite a large plot of land that needs to find a new purpose.

I always thought using the name University was stupid though too. It's nowhere near campus. Typical college town ploy to try to associate anything with the school. I mean you can't really get more distant from OU with this place since they are on the opposite North and South ends of Norman, which is no small town. But that's a tangent.....

[Pete]

The land is owned by OU, as is the airport and all the property around it.

[BoulderSooner]

I don't think it should as it's in reference to an item being discussed in University Town Center. The debate here is if its needed. If it's decided it's not needed, then that's quite a large plot of land that needs to find a new purpose.

I always thought using the name University was stupid though too. It's nowhere near campus. Typical college town ploy to try to associate anything with the school. I mean you can't really get more distant from OU with this place since they are on the opposite North and South ends of Norman, which is no small town. But that's a tangent.....

The land is owned by OU, as is the airport and all the property around it.

yep it is right next to what OU calls the north campus

NORTH CAMPUS
North campus, which is two miles north of the main campus, includes the Merrick Computer Center; Max Westheimer Airport, the University-operated airport that also serves the City of Norman; and Swearingen Research Park, where government agencies and industry have established facilities.

[Video Expert]

^^
Building on campus brings people to your campus, which is what you want to sell. I want the game day experiences to include campus and local flare like Campus Corner. Game day experience to me shouldn't be Cheddars, Target or Crest, or Kohl's and Home Goods. Those places can be found in Edmond.

Anyway, for better or for worse those are my thoughts on an off-campus arena.

This line made me laugh!

[Jersey Boss]

For those wanting to know the back story on why OU did not move forward in 2017 and how this idea came back to life here is a story published last year.
The arena comeback: county pushes ahead | News | normantranscript.com
https://www.normantranscript.com/new...c3b359c3e.html

[BoulderSooner]

A
So my point is. LNC is very much still at the front end of the arena game. .

lol no it is not

and it is not close

[BoulderSooner]

Plenty of room for both the football operations center and new arena

there really is not on that spot ..

the NW corner of jenkins and Brooks would be a great spot but again there is not money for a new arena ..

the UNP plan is great because OU doesn't have to pay for it ..

[bombermwc]

lol no it is not

and it is not close

We'll have to agree to disagree there.


OU may own the land and call it that, but it's not campus. Calling it the North campus because they have a couple of buildings on the airport grounds, is NOT the same thing as where 30k students are. Come on guys. You know that's a stretch. Anyone that tries to tell me there's any sort of equivalent between the actual REAL campus, and this is just dreaming. Ever see another real campus with Target, Shoe Warehouse, Chucky Cheese, etc on it? No? ok then.

[BoulderSooner]

We'll have to agree to disagree there.


OU may own the land and call it that, but it's not campus. Calling it the North campus because they have a couple of buildings on the airport grounds, is NOT the same thing as where 30k students are. Come on guys. You know that's a stretch. Anyone that tries to tell me there's any sort of equivalent between the actual REAL campus, and this is just dreaming. Ever see another real campus with Target, Shoe Warehouse, Chucky Cheese, etc on it? No? ok then.

most students don't live on campus ..

[Just the facts]

For those wanting to know the back story on why OU did not move forward in 2017 and how this idea came back to life here is a story published last year.
The arena comeback: county pushes ahead | News | normantranscript.com
https://www.normantranscript.com/new...c3b359c3e.html

Thanks for providing that link. So basically there is some random developer that wants an arena, that he doesn't want to build or pay for, to anchor his development to make it profitable for him, and he is so committed to the idea that he thinks OU is going to play games in Moore of the arena is built there instead of Norman.

Wasn't there some Maxamillion guy years ago that wanted to do something similar for the football stadium?

[BoulderSooner]

Thanks for providing that link. So basically there is some random developer that wants an arena, that he doesn't want to build or pay for, to anchor his development to make it profitable for him, and he is so committed to the idea that he thinks OU is going to play games in Moore of the arena is built there instead of Norman.

Wasn't there some Maxamillion guy years ago that wanted to do something similar for the football stadium?

good job getting none of that correct .

[Just the facts]

good job getting none of that correct .

You're right, it was E.Z. Million, not Maxamillion. However, if you feel I got something else wrong feel free to try and refute it.

[onthestrip]

You're right, it was E.Z. Million, not Maxamillion. However, if you feel I got something else wrong feel free to try and refute it.

I thought EZ Million's deal was he wanted OU/Texas to play in Oklahoma every other year. The argument was Texas got all the economic benefit.

About the arena, I have laugh at one argument. Those arguing for it saying itll benefit attendance because its just a few miles closer to center of OKC is funny to me. Almost no one who doesnt attend games at LNC now would start attending games just because its off of Robinson instead of Highway 9.

[jedicurt]

I thought EZ Million's deal was he wanted OU/Texas to play in Oklahoma every other year. The argument was Texas got all the economic benefit.

About the arena, I have laugh at one argument. Those arguing for it saying itll benefit attendance because its just a few miles closer to center of OKC is funny to me. Almost no one who doesnt attend games at LNC now would start attending games just because its off of Robinson instead of Highway 9.

i mean you say that. but in just my neighborhood here in norman, that is why they were excited about it being built there... they literally said they tried to avoid going anywhere near campus except for football games, and that they would most likey get season tickets since it would be so much closer.