The city would like an arena to attract concerts and conventions and such. The university will need a new arena soon. (With more on campus students who want/will attend games) It seem logical that both parties come together to meet this need.

 

The city will want it downtown and the University will want it on campus. A logical location is where the campus meets downtown. I'd check into seeing it the ABJ would sell it wearhouse and build the Arena there. Plenty of room edge of downtown and edge of campus.

 

Or another possibility is to relocate whatever is in that lil building across form the law library and EJT and place the arena there. There wouldn't be room for parking so many will park downtown and that is on campus. Could create an Arts/entertainment district on campus that downtown could advertise to visitors.

 

I don't think that UA will keep Quaker square after it has built enough dorms. They'll try to sell that off to a hotel chain a few years down the line.

 

I think the area you mention is just west of UA's law school and south of UA's performing arts hall. From what I've learned, that area is slated for a new law school since C. Blake McDowell is under serious scrutiny and must expand if not rebuild.

 

Law School Renovation and/or Addition - Feasibility and Site Selection Study

"The Associate will provide options to The University of Akron for modifications to the school of law building. All options will reflect architectural character compatible with recently completed buildings on The University of Akron Campus. The exterior of the building will feature masonry, glass and aluminum elements to match other new University buildings. The project will include approximately 120,000 square feet. Several site configurations (up to five) requiring different building solutions will be studied by the Associate. Solutions may include renovation and expansion of the existing law school, or demolition of existing buildings. Relocation costs (interim or permanent) for affected departments will be included in the feasibility study. A comparative analysis of the sites and related project costs will be provided by the Associate. Final architectural design and site selection will be approved by The University of Akron, Department of Capital Planning and Facilities Management. "

UA moves forward with plans for new law building

 

By Carol Biliczky

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

POSTED: 06:54 p.m. EST, Dec 16, 2009

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/79453982.html

 

 

I saw the plans and UA has chosen to rebuild the law school just across the street west of the existing law school. Also, the fact that UA may become a more residential campus is not all that germane to attracting a large number of students to large events. UA students can drive their cars back to campus and fill up a facility as they have done for years. They don't have problems driving to the Q or other places far away. If it's worth it, they'll drive back to their own campus. The trick is to give them what they want to see. Other people drive to campus for what they want to see. What makes a UA student any different?

 

Cleveland State has The Wolstein Center on its campus. I believe it seats between 12,000 and 15,000 and they don't have any dorms on their campus currently.

 

All in all, It's still good to see UA become more residential.

 

And, the only logical place for a new UA arena is near the remaining sports, recreation and physical education facilities already on campus such as the stadium, Jackson Fields and Rec Center.

 

Article said Arkron is going to spend half a million on initial architectural fees, and the final cost is about 26 million (95,000 sq. ft.).

The state requirements that universities have to jump through are a terrible deal for the taxpayers, related to capital projects.

Akron, or any state u, should be allowed to interview and get proposals from Design Build firms, and there is no initial $500,000

fee. Also the cost of construction would drop dramatically with design build. They could build a really facility for 16-17 million.

The state requires state universites, state community colleges to all kinds of crazy stuff, like the project must have steel mfg in

the USA, all contractors must pay union wage, and it goes on and on.

The unions will work themselves out of the picture some day.  I have no problem using domestic materials.  From my knowledge, projects done with Stimulus funds were required to have everything made in the U.S., toilets, doors, etc...

 

I would like an example of a local design/build project in which the final product was free of defect and had the complexity of a Law School program.  There's a reason that design/build is typically utilized for metal buildings.

 

Also, state universities are required by law to take the lowest construction bid, no questions and professional service fees are determined before the search for firms takes place.  Tell me how that is a "terrible deal".

U of A had nothing to do with 22 Exchange. It was a private developer. With that being said, a private developer has much more incentive to make sure everything is thought out, done right and maybe even have upgraded amenities. Why? b/c they don't have any taxpayer (free) money to use, in most cases. They may have gotten TIFF financing for that specific project.

 

U of A has used private developers for the Honors Dorms and the existing Exchange St. and the newly planned dorms. You will see in the existing Exchange St. dorms that the street level is lined with filled retail, while across the street is a huge parking decking that almost abuts the street.

 

Yes, 22Exchange has nothing to do with UA other than its residents must be enrolled at UA or another public college. Residents can also consist of faculty at UA. Nonetheless it is not a UA facility and certainly not on the UA campus. KSU has a unit like this as well adjacent to its campus.

 

In any event, just because UA uses tax money (and not all the time) does not mean it doesn't have well thought out plans. If ever there was an entity in inner city Akron that knows how to execute a well thought out urban design with beautiful sight lines and pedestrian friendly landscaping, it is The University of Akron. Take a look at Buchtel Commons and Coleman Commons for starters. Those areas were once traffic laden streets that made the campus disintegrated. Also, take a look at what was once Brown Street. Even the black topped area next to the stadium looks far more integrated than the municipal street that was once there. And from that point to the north, Brown Street no longer exists until one gets in the vicinity of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and Central Hower. And, I believe that suggestions on how to make Polsky more pedestrian friendly with added retail is a practical and effective direction. Once UA sells it to a private entity, that can certainly become more of a reality. However, I don't think it is in the university's list of priorities nor is it the job of UA to directly enhance downtown retail by continuing to re-purpose an obsolete department store just for the sake of making downtown more inviting. UA's use of the Polsky building is slowly coming to an end as it moves one department after another out and back to the real campus.

 

It's time that a private non-UA entity take over the Polsky building and continue to re-purpose it in the "green" manner that UA started. UA has its landscape for learning efforts to continue so that it ends up looking like a real college campus and not some version of Cleveland State.

Regarding the new Exchange parking garage, I am holding out hope that the ground floor can be re-purposed for retail. The best example of this I can think of is Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2722/4425266547_32e4e96e57.jpg

 

The garage may have been needed, but designing without regard for better street presence was extremely short sighted, and a textbook example of bad planning.

 

U of A had nothing to do with 22 Exchange. It was a private developer. With that being said, a private developer has much more incentive to make sure everything is thought out, done right and maybe even have upgraded amenities. Why? b/c they don't have any taxpayer (free) money to use, in most cases. They may have gotten TIFF financing for that specific project.

 

U of A has used private developers for the Honors Dorms and the existing Exchange St. and the newly planned dorms. You will see in the existing Exchange St. dorms that the street level is lined with filled retail, while across the street is a huge parking decking that almost abuts the street.

This is absolutely true and what drives me insane about U of A!!!

 

They want to shed the image of a commuter school but they are not doing enough to make the campus and surroundings pedestrian friendly. This will only hurt future development, and delay the positive transformation even further.

 

I'm dead serious when I suggest bringing in hated rival KSU in to get some better design implemented.

 

The university doesn't seem to think of pedestrian-friendliness and urban landscape integration when it designs (or redesigns) its facilities. 

The unions will work themselves out of the picture some day. I have no problem using domestic materials. From my knowledge, projects done with Stimulus funds were required to have everything made in the U.S., toilets, doors, etc...

 

I would like an example of a local design/build project in which the final product was free of defect and had the complexity of a Law School program. There's a reason that design/build is typically utilized for metal buildings.

 

Also, state universities are required by law to take the lowest construction bid, no questions and professional service fees are determined before the search for firms takes place. Tell me how that is a "terrible deal".

 

The state has way too many mandates for capital projects. I really don't care that much about if it is or isn't mfg in the USA.

If you want to know about the red tape you can find it here, http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/153. The design build firm is responsible for overall design, GC capabilities and cost increases (not including change orders down the road). Ask any University employee who manages these projects if they would like to have the design build option available.

 

Free of defect? Ask Peter Eisenman how UC's DAAP building turned out.

 

Design Build firms tackle much more difficult projects than a law school building. Metal buildings? They do major office projects,

hospital surgery centers, healthcare facilities, urban redevelopment projects, mixed use projects, Higher Education projects, Labs etc.

Virtually anything including Athletic Facilities.

 

Regarding the new Exchange parking garage, I am holding out hope that the ground floor can be re-purposed for retail. The best example of this I can think of is Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland.

 

I agree that UA needs to continue to make the campus more pedestrian friendly, but their long range plans go far beyond converting the 1st floor of the new parking garage into retail. Retail is not a university's priority and furthermore it is not the only or best strategy for making an area pedestrian (college student) friendly. Sure the area surrounding the new parking garage looks horrible and that is because we are looking at it through today's eyes. Good planning requires that one looks at a space with tomorrow's eyes and UA is doing just that. I once complained how horrible the JAR looked surrounded by three streets (Buchtel Ave, Brown St. and Carroll St.) and how it butted up against those streets with no sense of a true college student (pedestrian) friendly appearance or atmosphere. I made the same complaint about the then Gardner Student Center butted up against Carroll Street so much so that it formed a tunnel over the street.

 

I think you will see that eventually UA will make the area surrounding the new deck more student friendly in the same manner they did with Buchtel Ave, Carroll and Brown Streets. There is discussion about eventually rerouting that area of East Exchange Street to make the campus more integrated and UA student/pedestrian friendly.

In state work the Arch/Engineer serves as the eyes for the owner during construction, pointing out mistakes and/or shortcuts in construction.  If you have a design/build there is a conflict of interest.

 

Gehry/Eisenman have nothing to do with realistic design and budget.  Eisenman has an ongoing project in Spain that is already 4x over budget and it's not finished.

In state work the Arch/Engineer serves as the eyes for the owner during construction, pointing out mistakes and/or shortcuts in construction.  If you have a design/build there is a conflict of interest.

 

Gehry/Eisenman have nothing to do with realistic design and budget.  Eisenman has an ongoing project in Spain that is already 4x over budget and it's not finished.

 

Of course there is or can be a conflict of interest, so the owner can hire an A/E firm, as a consultant to sit on their side of the table when Design/Build is the delivery option.

Looks like there will be a lot construction of new buildings on campus in the next couple years. This hasn't been talked about much on here, but a just saw plans for a brand new College of Engineering building that is suppose to be built on Wolf Ledges in the next year or so. The article I read said that there were three phases of construction and that the first phase should be complete in late 2011. They didn't say exactly where on Wolf Ledges, but I'm assuming it will be where that large surface lot is across from the engines testing facility. With that, on top of the new Law School building, it looks like that little stretch of Wolf Ledges will undergo some real changes soon.

 

Also, I keep reading things on here saying that there are ideas being thrown around about changing or re-routing Exchange St. Does anyone have any additional details on this, or is able to elaborate a little deeper. I'm confused on how they would even alter Exchange St. that dramatically. 

Haven't heard anything about Exchange St.

 

You're correct on the location of the Engineering bldg.

Haven't heard anything about Exchange St.

 

You're correct on the location of the Engineering bldg.

 

Right I've seen nothing official re: Exchange.

 

Re routing it seems infeasible, but if there was ever a street that needed traffic calmed, it's Exchange St. I've seen students hit countless times.

Or they need to just give up on Exchange as a lost cause and build some pedestrian walkways over or under it.  I've never walked along it, but driving through the area is crazy, too.  It's the worst of both worlds because you have places where motorists are barreling along and other places where they have no idea where turn lanes begin and end (or when what appears to be a travel lane will turn into a turn lane, or when you need to shift to the right at the end of what was to that point a line of metered parking spaces in order to make a right turn a few yards later).

 

Alternatively, they could be completely blase and make a blood sport of it by constantly playing the Frogger theme song from all public speakers along that stretch.

 

Alternatively, they could be completely blase and make a blood sport of it by constantly playing the Frogger theme song from all public speakers along that stretch.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40838857/ns/us_news-weird_news/

UA threw out any thoughts of building pedestrian walk ways over Exchange because they determined that students won't use them. Students would much rather risk it crossing the street where they stand as opposed to walking to the "nearest" walkway. Agree or not, that is what UA decided after consulting with urban planners. And, there are no such considerations nor have there ever been regarding passage ways going under East Exchange. UA is however discussing the possibility of rerouting areas of East Exchange Street. Again, we don't have to agree with or forsee such a thing in order for the people who have the knowledge and authority to consider such a move.

I use to live in the Exchange St. Residence Halls a year ago and I never thought it was a big deal crossing the street with all the traffic. There are so many students however that are completely clueless to their surroundings and cross despite there being a car coming. Many of them are either texting or listening to music and have no awareness whatsoever. I agree it would be just a waste of money if UA were to build a walkway over Exchange St because no one is going to want to walk up and down stairs in the morning just to cross the street.

 

Another thing I thought of today; Weren't they at a time planning on adding a median to Exchange St? I will try to find the renderings, but I could have sworn I saw those somewhere about a year ago. As for how old they are I'm unsure, but I really like the idea.

A median on Exchange would be quite viable in some places but a bit of a civil engineering challenge in others, especially if they wanted to do it without eliminating either curbside parking lanes or sidewalks.  There is probably enough room there that they could get two continuous travel lanes in each direction with a median (and left-turn lanes cut into it) if they were willing to make those the top priority and let parking and sidewalk space go by the wayside in a couple of places where the street is at its narrowest, but that would be a fairly significant bit of reconstruction, so the orange barrels would be out for a good long while.

Yeah the plan that I saw also included brand new buildings with retail, restaurants, and apartments where the College Store, Starz Market, etc...is located now.  I'm sure they accounted for the parking in this plan. I looked all night for the renderings I saw, but I can't remember where they were online. I'm sure these plans have gotten scrapped though.

We could probably all agree pedestrian walkways over Exchange would've been a terrible idea. It's not a highway!

 

Redevelopment on Exchange needs to follow in the footsteps of Gordon Square/Detroit-Shoreway up on Cleveland's west side.

 

Shoot....I dont' have time to find a good link....but wider sidewalks and brick crosswalks are great measures in giving motorists the hint to "slow down." Right now the lack of cross walks and street intersections along that stretch, much like being on a bridge, gives drivers the subconscious "drive faster" signal.

 

But the worst is the curve in the road across from the Infocision Stadium. That is definitely the Frogger Zone for sure.

I want to register my objection to the continued existence of an unnecessary enclosed walkway from the JAR to what will be the new College of Education Building. It makes no sense and it is ugly while disrupting what could be a beautiful and flowing sight line in that area of the campus. Rather than giving the campus an integrated look, it screams the opposite. Furthermore, its purpose for existence no longer exists. The two building are no more related than other buildings on campus and the traffic laden street it was originally made to compensate for is no longer in existence. I think overpasses serve to give a disintegrating appearance to the campus. It looks forced and try hard and is disruptive to the natural pedestrian view our campus is trying to achieve. Get rid of it!

I want to register my objection to the continued existence of an unnecessary enclosed walkway from the JAR to what will be the new College of Education Building. It makes no sense and it is ugly while disrupting what could be a beautiful and flowing sight line in that area of the campus. Rather than giving the campus an integrated look, it screams the opposite. Furthermore, its purpose for existence no longer exists. The two building are no more related than other buildings on campus and the traffic laden street it was originally made to compensate for is no longer in existence. I think overpasses serve to give a disintegrating appearance to the campus. It looks forced and try hard and is disruptive to the natural pedestrian view our campus is trying to achieve. Get rid of it!

 

Agree 100 percent!

I want to register my objection to all of the skywalks in Akron.  Someone told me you can get from UA campus to Cascade Plaza without going outside.  While that seems ideal for the winters we have, I don't think people really understand how much that kills retail and overall appearance of nobody outside downtown.

I want to register my objection to all of the skywalks in Akron. Someone told me you can get from UA campus to Cascade Plaza without going outside. While that seems ideal for the winters we have, I don't think people really understand how much that kills retail and overall appearance of nobody outside downtown.

 

Couldn't agree with you more. It seems that at one point in time, Akron became obsessed with skywalks and overpasses. The city and university have turned what was once a means to an end into and end in itself. There is nothing wrong with going outside to get from one building to the next, especially on a college campus where one would expect a youthful student population to have no problem negotiating mother nature.

Agency places UA land purchase in limbo

School looks at options after being told to watch discretionary spending

 

By Carol Biliczky

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

Officials at the University of Akron are deciding whether to reapproach a state agency for permission to buy property.

 

''We have several people reviewing it,'' UA President Luis Proenza said. ''The land continues to be part of our long-term strategic plan.''

 

The rest of the story can be found here --> http://www.ohio.com/news/115409104.html

 

Really glad they are looking back into doing the Greek Village. Hopefull this will make campus look more inviting traveling North on Rt8.

Agency places UA land purchase in limbo

School looks at options after being told to watch discretionary spending

 

By Carol Biliczky

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

Officials at the University of Akron are deciding whether to reapproach a state agency for permission to buy property.

 

''We have several people reviewing it,'' UA President Luis Proenza said. ''The land continues to be part of our long-term strategic plan.''

 

The rest of the story can be found here --> http://www.ohio.com/news/115409104.html

 

Really glad they are looking back into doing the Greek Village. Hopefull this will make campus look more inviting traveling North on Rt8.

 

UA will offer the land to the Greek Chapters to purchase, but the individual chapters still have to pick up the ball. It can't be a total UA effort. Fraternities and Sororities are actually off campus and non university owned and operated. The Greeks have to be willing to buy the land from UA and build their homes on each parcel.

 

If Greeks choose not to, then UA has stated it will find another purpose for the land.

for a bumper sticker free of charge, contact: [email protected]

 

 

Build The UA Arena ON CAMPUS...Not DOWNTOWN

Tearing down Jillian's was an awful idea, symbolic of very bad planning practices.

 

Why tear down a building that was completely renovated when downtown is filled with vacant lots?

 

Not good.

 

Because they struggled to fill the building in it's current state- no one wanted to take the space as large as it was. Although I'm somewhat sad to see it go, this new development will have street-level restaurants and shops, and a small-high rise of living space. Very urban.

 

And Zippo's right...there is a JAR replacement arena in the works for one of the very few spots of vacant land in downtown akron. Surfohio, when was the last time you've been to Downtown Akron?

 

Not going to happen. The replacement for the JAR will not go downtown at all despite the shinanigans of the mayor. UA will build its new arena on the actual campus as it should just like the stadium.

The perfect scenario, IMHO, is a renovation of the JAR with comfortable seats and sightlines for 5,000 or so fans for 10-12 home games. 

 

Along with that, a downtown arena @ about 10,000 that hosts a variety of events= indoor soccer and/or indoor lacrosse professional team, concerts, 2 Cavaliers pre-season games (maybe even an NBDL team), HS basketball games (including playoffs), 3-4 HIGH PROFILE Zips Men's basketball games (Kent, bigger non-conference opponents), along with maybe 1 Woman's game (Kent).

UA laying groundwork

 

Trustees move forward with plans for research facility for College of Engineering

 

By Carol Biliczky

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

The University of Akron took the first step toward a new research facility for its rapidly growing College of Engineering on Wednesday.

 

Trustees approved $750,000 in site work for a $14.8 million, 39,000-square-foot building on Wolf Ledges Parkway on the west side of campus.

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/118561509.html

 

RENDERING THERE

More good news from the U.

 

That area of Wolf Ledges/Grant is pretty shabby and boring....this new construction will definitely help out a bit.

More good news indeed!  And I knew that UA's engineering program was highly regarded, but I hadn't known just how fast it had been growing since 2004.  That's good and interesting to hear as well.

I'm expecting this to go in by the Turbine research facility(building with the stealth fighter slapped up alongside it) it looks like its called not too far from the College of Business.    I agree it sounds like a project that could deliver a lot of impacts.  This could tie in well with the various technology incubators around downtown...

 

Isn't the law school rebuilding over by there too?

I'm expecting this to go in by the Turbine research facility(building with the stealth fighter slapped up alongside it) it looks like its called not too far from the College of Business.    I agree it sounds like a project that could deliver a lot of impacts.  This could tie in well with the various technology incubators around downtown...

 

Isn't the law school rebuilding over by there too?

Correct, the Engineering building would be between the Gas Trubine building and what is currently Buckingham Hall. Buckingham will be demolished to make way for the new Law School. That is on definite hold however as funding has fell through on it.

The perfect scenario, IMHO, is a renovation of the JAR with comfortable seats and sightlines for 5,000 or so fans for 10-12 home games. 

 

Along with that, a downtown arena @ about 10,000 that hosts a variety of events= indoor soccer and/or indoor lacrosse professional team, concerts, 2 Cavaliers pre-season games (maybe even an NBDL team), HS basketball games (including playoffs), 3-4 HIGH PROFILE Zips Men's basketball games (Kent, bigger non-conference opponents), along with maybe 1 Woman's game (Kent).

 

The JAR already seats 5,500 for B Ball. The downtown arena is not going to happen. It's a done deal. UA will replace the JAR with a 12,000 to 15,000 seat arena on the actual campus and not downtown.

Being a student I don't think its very wise to keep the Arena on campus. I'd much rather see it go downtown where after, I could walk from seeing a game, concert, or show right to a restaurant to get some food or a drink. The JAR is boring as well as its location, and as much as I love basketball I'm just not motivated what-so- ever to walk there and see a game. I've made more trips up to Cleveland to watch them in the tournament and actually pay for a game rather than go to the JAR and watch it. If they put the new arena where I've heard they plan to I'm sure it will be a flop just like the stadium turned out to be. Unless you add retail and restaurants around it I don't see attendance going much higher even if its in a brand new arena. This is probably why cities and universities build up around venues such as these and call them "Arena Districts". 

Being a student I don't think its very wise to keep the Arena on campus. I'd much rather see it go downtown where after, I could walk from seeing a game, concert, or show right to a restaurant to get some food or a drink. The JAR is boring as well as its location, and as much as I love basketball I'm just not motivated what-so- ever to walk there and see a game. I've made more trips up to Cleveland to watch them in the tournament and actually pay for a game rather than go to the JAR and watch it. If they put the new arena where I've heard they plan to I'm sure it will be a flop just like the stadium turned out to be. Unless you add retail and restaurants around it I don't see attendance going much higher even if its in a brand new arena. This is probably why cities and universities build up around venues such as these and call them "Arena Districts". 

 

Couldn't agree more.

I'll concur as well..  I'm hoping that the reason they tore down the diner on S. Main St last month finally is there is a more serious plan to put an arena there.  I can totally visualize a skywalk from Polksy's parking deck over to it.. 

 

But I'm very dubious that there is anything afoot.  Unless the UofA administration has its heart set on building an arena, I don't see this having any other backer except for Lebron perhaps wanting or having financial power to push this forward.  I say Lebron because he has those summer tournaments and he might want a bigger, more king-like showcase than the Jar can afford...  It will likely take a lot of coordination between the various levels of government to get this project off the ground and I'm not hearing any buzz, although I'm pretty much out of state.  ..and Tom doesn't count..

I really have a problem with LeBron James lately. I'm over him leaving the area for South Beach and everything, but it drives me nuts when he is constantly talking about helping put Akron on the map. I can't think of much more that he has done for this city than win a national title in Hs, put on a bike-a-thon once a year for kids and help out the boys and girls club. I'm sorry but if I talked about putting Akron on the map as much as he has I would invest and give back so much more than he has. I have heard of numerous projects in Cleveland that LeBron has had is name on, including setting up his marketing company in downtown Cleveland. If I was as rich as influential as him I would focus on the city that I talk about all the time. There are so many great projects on the table for the city of akron that have been there for over 8 years and still are not scrapped. Projects that would better downtown tremendously,but cannot get any funding. Instead of James helping out Cleveland with developments he should focus on the ones that need help in his own city.

 

Getting back to the University Arena though, I'm not sure if I'm a fan of it going on S. Main St and Buchtel. I guess I would have to see how much land the arena would take up. If you knocked down the smaller buildings next to the Mayflower I think you would have enough room, but at the same time I don't think it would be good to put it next door to the most shady apartments downtown. It would be great if the mayflower could be renovated somehow and stop being low income apartments. If they built the arena next to the mayflower it would be cool to have retail, restaurants and living right across the street on the block that pita pit is on. I actually had an idea for this block awhile ago that I goofed around in photoshop and laid out. It's shown below.

 

The perfect scenario, IMHO, is a renovation of the JAR with comfortable seats and sightlines for 5,000 or so fans for 10-12 home games. 

 

Along with that, a downtown arena @ about 10,000 that hosts a variety of events= indoor soccer and/or indoor lacrosse professional team, concerts, 2 Cavaliers pre-season games (maybe even an NBDL team), HS basketball games (including playoffs), 3-4 HIGH PROFILE Zips Men's basketball games (Kent, bigger non-conference opponents), along with maybe 1 Woman's game (Kent).

 

The JAR already seats 5,500 for B Ball. The downtown arena is not going to happen. It's a done deal. UA will replace the JAR with a 12,000 to 15,000 seat arena on the actual campus and not downtown.

 

I realize what it currently seats.  The site lines of those seats (for many) are terrible.  Where is the link to this large facility you speak of with a "done deal" comment? Or, am I to assume that Tom=Jake?

The UA stadium on campus is not a flop. It's the team that is the problem and not the stadium location. A new arena belongs on the UA campus and not downtown because it will be a UA arena and not a city of Akron arena. The UA campus is anything but boring. So many people in and out of the community have agreed that UA campus is the place to be. It is much more like a campus and a beautiful site to behold.

 

The new UA arena belongs on the beautiful UA campus and not downtown where the mayor can claim that it is a city facility just as he tries with E.J. Thomas Hall.

 

Unless, we want to look like Hilltop High again or a version of Cleveland State.

The perfect scenario, IMHO, is a renovation of the JAR with comfortable seats and sightlines for 5,000 or so fans for 10-12 home games. 

 

Along with that, a downtown arena @ about 10,000 that hosts a variety of events= indoor soccer and/or indoor lacrosse professional team, concerts, 2 Cavaliers pre-season games (maybe even an NBDL team), HS basketball games (including playoffs), 3-4 HIGH PROFILE Zips Men's basketball games (Kent, bigger non-conference opponents), along with maybe 1 Woman's game (Kent).

 

The JAR already seats 5,500 for B Ball. The downtown arena is not going to happen. It's a done deal. UA will replace the JAR with a 12,000 to 15,000 seat arena on the actual campus and not downtown.

 

I realize what it currently seats.  The site lines of those seats (for many) are terrible.  Where is the link to this large facility you speak of with a "done deal" comment? Or, am I to assume that Tom=Jake?

 

I agree that the sight lines in UA's JAR physical education building are terrible. However, there is not going to be two arenas in Akron. The only arena will be a University of Akron Arena smack dab in the heart of The University of Akron campus where it belongs and where it will serve the most people and not in downtown where there is already a flop of a baseball stadium. The JAR is a gym and won't be turned into an arena with another arena in downtown. There is no market for both. People are still raving over the location of the beautiful on campus stadium with all the retail, restaurants and bars located around and close to it. I enjoy going to the stadium and the JAR which allows me to be a part of a vibrant pedestrian friendly campus and take advantage of the many bars and restaurants adjacent to the campus. I especially enjoy "Pints" and the other bars and restaurants directly across the street from campus as well as "Virtues" located in City Hospital and if I want to take a short walk i can enjoy House of Hunan and Bricos. What we need currently is a successful football team to live up to a wonderfully located and beautiful football stadium and then a state-of-the-art multipurpose on-campus arena, which I have been assured by those in Buchtel Hall (UA administration) will happen.

 

Not everything in life as an internet link to it. UA will have an on-campus multipurpose arena for B-ball, concerts and other diverse events just like the rest of the campus already hosts on many different  scales.

Tom,

Unless you have some actual news to share, your speculation is a good as anybody else's. What "retail" is around the stadium? The jewelery / pawn shop? You say it's not a big deal to walk to Hunan or Bricco, so in retort, it's not a big deal to walk to Pints from downtown. In fact, there are more restaurants downtown than around the stadium, so you really have no argument there.

The U of A is renovating part of the JAR now to the tune of $300K+, so I don't think they have plans to relocate anytime soon.

 

Bottom line is an arena belongs where anybody is willing to pay for it, whether that be the City of U of A.

Also, Cleveland State has come a long way in a short amount of time, much like U of A, so I don't know why you're slamming it.

 

Unless someone comes up with some actual news we need to drop the arena talk, again.

Tom,

Unless you have some actual news to share, your speculation is a good as anybody else's. What "retail" is around the stadium? The jewelery / pawn shop? You say it's not a big deal to walk to Hunan or Bricco, so in retort, it's not a big deal to walk to Pints from downtown. In fact, there are more restaurants downtown than around the stadium, so you really have no argument there.

The U of A is renovating part of the JAR now to the tune of $300K+, so I don't think they have plans to relocate anytime soon.

 

Bottom line is an arena belongs where anybody is willing to pay for it, whether that be the City of U of A.

Also, Cleveland State has come a long way in a short amount of time, much like U of A, so I don't know why you're slamming it.

 

Unless someone comes up with some actual news we need to drop the arena talk, again.

 

"Unless someone comes up with some actual news we need to drop the arena talk, again."

 

Your opinion and not a mandate. You don't get to make up the rules

 

We can talk about the arena all we want. The difference between walking from an on-campus arena to pints and downtwon to pints is that Pints and other retail  (BW3 and other bars and food places and not just a pawn shop) are that Pints and the other retail are closer to campus and that is where a UA arena belongs.

 

And I never said that my speculation is any better than others.

 

The idea of the arena in this thread was initiated by others. If they can talk about an arena then so can I. And if I want to initiated the discussion on an arena, I will do so. And again, I have it on good word that a new arena is going on campus and not downtown. If the city wants to pay for an arena, then I'm all for it going downtown and that is not going to happen. The UA is going to pay for the arena and it is going on campus.

 

And I congratulate Cleveland State on initiating some improvement but UA has come much further and I don't want to see it turn into the community college that Cleveland State looks like. Not slamming just a fact.

 

I suggest that you stop looking for excuses to quibble this subject and move on. You are starting to make it a personal vendetta and you need to stop it right now.

 

BTW, $300,000 improvement on the current JAR, of which there is no evidence (please show us the link to that claim) , can hardly be called a renovation. UA plans on having both the JAR (not an arena) and an actual arena both on the campus. They won't relocate anything. They will keep the JAR and have an on-campus arena. i think in the medium to long run we will see UA improve itself and the downtown area as well as the region by being true to itself. I'm very optimistic about the future of the campus (which doesn't require as much retail around it as there is downtown, so your argument doesn't float there) and the region. Downtown retail is important as well but it is not a university's main objective to be about local retail. And calling the campus football stadium a flop was uncalled for by one goading poster.

 

That is my speculation and it is no less valuable than the plethora of speculations we see all over this site.

 

We can both agree to disagree, but i think it is a reach for you to state that we should not talk about the arena just because you don't agree with one person's view or knowledge of it.

JAR improvements, sorry $459,000

 

http://www3.uakron.edu/bids/jarffeavln.pdf

 

http://www3.uakron.edu/bids/jarfacimprove.pdf

 

You're right I don't make the rules here. The people that pay to host and moderate it do. They dictate that they don't want the board flooded with speculation.

Then let them speak for themselves. The improvements you mention are nowhere near a remake of the gym. It is not that old and they need to make improvements on it. That being the case does not rule out an actual arena being built on campus

I really wish the arena talk would just get dropped. I like to come on here to get informed of the latest developments in Akron and at the University, not to constantly speculate on an arena that no one on here knows anything about or has any developing news on.

 

On a side note, they started to put up fencing this week around where they are planning on building the new Engineering building, so hopefully there will be some activity at that site soon.

The point is that you don't want published that with which you don't agree. Using the word, "speculation" as though doing so is illegitimate on this site is a shell game. We all do it.

 

My speculation is  based on some conversation with UA officials and I can tell you this: no one in Buchtel Hall or in any other administrative office at The University of Akron wants to see a new arena anywhere but actually on UA campus proper.

 

Let this be the last word!

Please let it be the last word Tom.  I think that's Yanni's  point.  It's not that he disagrees with you, it's that you ramble on continuously about this without presenting any evidence.  When you first started posting on this board, you were rude and standoffish and you still are.  And you really have nothing better to do than make bumper stickers proclaiming the need for the arena to be on campus?  Kinda sad.

Take a voluntary time-out, folks. Unless there is some documented news to report, I suggest you leave this thread alone until Monday the 25th.

 

And no one gets paid to moderate or administer this site. We volunteer, which means we don't like to spend a lot of time deleting or editing posts, or writing messages like this.

Take a voluntary time-out, folks. Unless there is some documented news to report, I suggest you leave this thread alone until Monday the 25th.

 

And no one gets paid to moderate or administer this site. We volunteer, which means we don't like to spend a lot of time deleting or editing posts, or writing messages like this.

 

 

Was something suppose to happen on the 25th?

 

 

hmm