Taft Stadium

[Bullbear]

they had all the lights on last night with a multi-colored search light going. Me and my partner decided to stop and take a look. we pulled into the south lot and someone had pulled up on the south end of the field so we pulled there as well ( all paved parking an no gate or fence we were still behind the perimeter fence ).. as we got out a rent-a-cop with an attitude started coming our way from the east side yelling.. GET OUT OF HERE.. GET IN YOUR CAR AND LEAVE.. THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.. GET OUT.. He was a bit wound up and serious for someone garding a soccer field. You would have thought we touched the mona lisa or something.. so we drove off..

[turnpup]

Bullbear, were you and your partner decked out in your gang colors or something? Brandishing your weapons? Giving the guy the evil eye?

I noticed yesterday they're in the process of paving the parking lot that fronts May. Was going to try to take a picture to post here, but I might not want to deal with Mr. Rent-A-Cop. I'd hate to get tasered or something.

[Bullbear]

LOL. yes we were looking like trouble for sure! the thing was he just kept going off even as we were complying with his request.. I let him know he didn't have to be a Jerk ( I might not have used the work jerk) that we were going and no need to be so rude.

[turnpup]

People like that are clearly over-compensating for a lack of--something--in their lives...

[borchard]

If you look at the renderings there seems to be, what looks like, open air luxury stands. I saw them installing them this morning. What they ACTUALLY look like are self-contained, hermetically sealed alien escape pods. Sorry i couldn't get a picture.

[bradh]

are you talking about the field level seating pods? I'm wondering if they have the same type glass shield that you commonly see over soccer team benches at stadiums

[borchard]

i wish I could have taken a picture of them. No, it's not like a soccer bench shield, though. They are separate, totally enclosed mini trailers(?)

[OKCretro]

are you talking about the field level seating pods? I'm wondering if they have the same type glass shield that you commonly see over soccer team benches at stadiums

u normally don't see those in America . Only game I can think of is when USA plays Mexico, Mexican fans have been known to urinate in baggies and throw them at the US players.

[C. B.]

In this area?

[borchard]

The press box is still not close to being finished. And the parking lot will probably be a mudbath by game time. What happened that they got SO behind?

[warreng88]

They are doing asphalt work on the parking lot right now. Probably trying to get it done before the rain hits this week.

[borchard]

Also what happened with the;
Press Box?
Scoreboard?
Sound System?
Also, were there any plans to decorate the INSIDE portion of the rock wall, under the east stands?
Are there POS systems that will going in in the concessions stands? It took FOREVER to get anything

[jn1780]

Also what happened with the;
Press Box?
Scoreboard?
Sound System?
Also, were there any plans to decorate the INSIDE portion of the rock wall, under the east stands?
Are there POS systems that will going in in the concessions stands? It took FOREVER to get anything

Sounds like opening day didn't go well?

[Pete]

They are doing asphalt work on the parking lot right now. Probably trying to get it done before the rain hits this week.

I went by yesterday afternoon and they were almost finished.

[bradh]

Opening day went fine, but yeah it's not 100% complete. Don't listen to that guy, he attended the game in the jersey of the opponent because apparently Bob Funk Jr. gave him a wedgie or something in school.

I will absolutely agree 100% on the POS systems, getting some of those installed and programmed would be huge. We had some lady writing down order dollar amounts per item by hand, and then using a calculator to add up. Not all were doing that, most could enter item by item on the calculator, but Lord this woman was not meant to be running that station Saturday.

[Pete]

Photos from the MA+ Architects FB page:

[borchard]

Opening day went fine, but yeah it's not 100% complete. Don't listen to that guy, he attended the game in the jersey of the opponent because apparently Bob Funk Jr. gave him a wedgie or something in school.

I will absolutely agree 100% on the POS systems, getting some of those installed and programmed would be huge. We had some lady writing down order dollar amounts per item by hand, and then using a calculator to add up. Not all were doing that, most could enter item by item on the calculator, but Lord this woman was not meant to be running that station Saturday.

Hey at least I gave him money out of my pocket. That's something I haven't done for the Barons in 3yrs. Maybe I'll go to one of their games next next.... Oh yeah, that's right

[Pete]

I know the stadium still needs lots of finishing touches, but I have to say this is looking pretty darn cool.

I've always loved the way the field is slightly recessed and I really like how the concession areas are kind of raised up in the corners.

They just need a bar or two within walking distance and then you'd really have a great setting.

[bombermwc]

A POS and a bar.....um guys remember this is first and foremost a high school stadium. When was the last time you saw a point of sale at a high school football stadium? Concessions are one of those weird things that they had to figure out with the district. Do you remove all food items between high school and Energy events? Does the high school have to track what they sell so they get revenue back from Energy? There are a lot of pieces to that side that people keep forgetting because (like my fear the whole time) people are starting to think of Taft as the Energy's stadium, and not OCPS.

[borchard]

I really didn't get the impression that this was a school-ran concession setup. Everyone had on Energy shirts. There was even a "chef" with an energy green chef jacket on, delivering food. Can someone else confirm this? I would believe that the energy are running concessions, and pulling down a good percentage of the money for them?
One of my friends that came with me couldn't understand how they could block off the high school parking lot as VIP parking. I guess it's the whole OCPS/Energy thing. I had no problem with that.
And another friend didn't believe me when i told him that in the fall they would be painting football lines on the field.
"WHY?!?", he asked?
"Uhmm, because the stadium is owned by OCPS, and NOT the energy?...."
"Seriously?!?"

[jn1780]

A POS and a bar.....um guys remember this is first and foremost a high school stadium. When was the last time you saw a point of sale at a high school football stadium? Concessions are one of those weird things that they had to figure out with the district. Do you remove all food items between high school and Energy events? Does the high school have to track what they sell so they get revenue back from Energy? There are a lot of pieces to that side that people keep forgetting because (like my fear the whole time) people are starting to think of Taft as the Energy's stadium, and not OCPS.

Obviously its a bad idea to have an onsite bar, but I don't see how installing a POS is going to hurt High School games. Hmm, lets see here: share a nice stadium with a soccer team and have it well maintain for several years or not share a stadium that people overlook and have it turn to crap in just a few short years. I know which option I would pick.

Figuring out how to distribute revenue from food sales is not that hard of a problem to solve.

[skanaly]

I was looking at some of the other teams stadiums, do you think if it became more popular and every game was sold out this season that they would add more seating? Some teams in the USL don't have a nice arena...at all...so i'm not complaining.

Some arena's are twice the size of ours, some and twice as small

[Pete]

If they sell out every home game or even come close, I think they'll start looking to build their own stadium down by the river sooner rather than later.

That is in their plans but I'm sure they want to build up a few years of success before they undertake that sort of expense.

They have done an absolutely phenomenal job of marketing, so I bet they continue to sell lots of tickets.

[skanaly]

!!!Insane!!! I had know idea that was their plan

[bombermwc]

Agree with Pete. And the Energy has been clear that Taft is a waypoint, as long as things do well.

As for concessions, it's not as easy as it seems. Since this is the first thing that will happen there after the re-opening, it's easy. But later is where it gets tricky. There are lot more pieces to this than you probably realize, and having formerly been a percussion instructor with a HS band, Ive got first-hand knowledge on the complexities of concessions with multiple groups. For us, it was coordinating the supplies/duties/funds with both middle schools that used the same concession stands for their games as the high schools did. Not to mention soccer since we didn't run their stands (track didn't use one from what I remember).

First off is the drinks. Who pays for the fountain? They can run up to 5k for a year's contract on those things just to have one put in. Coke provided cups when we used them, with Pepsi it was cheaper to use their fridges and get bottles because of their fountain charges.

Then there's the whole issue with sharing profit and non-profit supplies because you're mixing a pro team and high school groups (whoever runs the stand). Non-profits usually go off to Sams and sell out of those large boxes. You won't find a for-profit doing that (not for individual sale and all).

A POS would actually make it a LOT easier to track all this, but those are far more expensive than you probably realize. You've got about $1,500 per touch unit at least (for a cheap one), plus they all have to connect to a central server somewhere and that software has a license and maintenance fee with it. You're looking at thousands of dollars each year in that. All of that kind of stuff comes directly out of the profit bucket and the profit bucket on concessions isn't just amazing because there's a limit on what people are willing to pay.

You really have to have a separate price structure for the HS vs. the Energy as well. The Energy can bring/force $2.50 for a 20oz water, but a HS game at Taft is NOT going to be able to push that price. That complicates the profit sharing even more. It's just one of those things I'm fearful of with having the Energy there. If the Energy or the district invest in all this stuff for now, what's the agreement look like when the Energy leaves? Whether they split the hardware/software or what, the district would be left with it later as a new expense or they have to abandon the whole thing and go back to pads/calculators.