Posted June 23, 200618 yr surfohio posted the link for this in the Random Akron thread, but I thought I'd go ahead and give it its own topic. From the 6/22/06 Akron Beacon Journal: UA stadium on horizon Land purchase moves project along, but more to do, such as assess cost By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer The University of Akron is inching ahead with a plan to build a stadium near downtown. Trustees agreed Wednesday to buy another property to help pave the way for what could be a $60 million facility for soccer and football. Nothing is set in stone, but Ted Curtis, UA vice president for capital planning and facilities management, is optimistic the long-sought stadium is less than five years away. http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/14875239.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news
June 24, 200618 yr Oh, that'd be cool. I saw a football game at the Rubber Bowl growing up, and that sucked. The light posts blocked your view from the stands! EDIT: The journalislt writes: He sees a day when, to quote baseball player Yogi Berra, "It's so crowded, nobody goes there anymore.'' Hahaha, looks like someone was itching to use a new quote they just learned. LOL. That Yogi Berra quote doesn't fit at all!
June 24, 200618 yr I can't wait till this thing gets built. I used to go to a lot of games at the Rubber Bowl when I was a kid (my dad was employed by the U of A); at that time, I thought is was the coolest place. Then in high school, I played a few games out there and began to realize how crappy the place is. Having the stadium closer to downtown will not only be a nice boost for the city, but will also help generate more excitement on campus for the football team. When I attended the U of A, hardly anyone went to the football games since the Rubber Bowl is not easily accessable from campus. A lot of my friends who were from out of town didn't even know where it was, I can't count the number of times I tried giving people directions to get there.
September 22, 200618 yr From the 9/21/06 ABJ: RENDERING: An early concept of what the UA stadium could look like. Akron stadium plan clears another hurdle UA to spend $2 million on sports complex idea By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer University of Akron trustees are gazing into their crystal ball to see what the campus could look like in coming years. They agreed Wednesday to spend $2 million to develop a design for a long-sought football stadium and for conceptual drawings of other buildings that could be near it. http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/15570977.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news
March 7, 200718 yr March 7. 2007 Firms join UA stadium project Two companies will receive $580,000 for overseeing development plans By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer The University of Akron took another step Tuesday toward a new stadium and other development on the east side of campus. Trustees hired the Welty Building Co. of Fairlawn and Hunt Construction Group of Scottsdale, Ariz., for a total of $580,000 as construction managers for projects now in development. Visit the ohio.com archives for the complete story! Video Link from Akron-Canton news 23: http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=31932&bw=
March 8, 200718 yr Thanks for posting. Exciting for the region....I will follow this project very very closely!!! GO ZIPS
June 13, 200718 yr From the 3/11/07 Massillon Independent: If Zips build it, more Stark gridders may come By GREG KOHNTOPP [email protected] Tom Stacy has always maintained the University of Akron football program could be the crown jewel of the Mid American Conference. The only thing missing was an on-campus football stadium. That missing piece is one step closer to reality now that the university has hired the Welty Building Co., and the Hunt Construction Group as construction managers for a project that includes a new $54 million stadium that will be built on the east end of campus. http://www.indeonline.com/index.php?ID=14579&r=2&Category=1
June 13, 200718 yr From the 4/10/07 Buchtelite: Business owners hope stadium will boom sales Local bar not opposed to university construction plans Joe Habbyshaw Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: News It's not just current students who are excited about an on-campus football stadium. Some local business owners plan to expand once the university announces concrete plans for construction. http://media.www.buchtelite.com/media/storage/paper1203/news/2007/04/10/News/Business.Owners.Hope.Stadium.Will.Boom.Sales-2830624.shtml
June 17, 200717 yr We seem to be pretty good at digging up, and posting any new info on the stadium. Usually, it's under the football forum, but it might also be under campus discussion. No use in posting twice. http://www.zipsnation.org/
July 19, 200717 yr Here's an aerial rendering of the new football stadium. According to the site there will be many announcements to come in early August about this. http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/zips/
July 19, 200717 yr Awesome stadium. Probably will be the best MAC stadium. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 21, 200717 yr Below is a rendering of the new on campus stadium for The University of Akron. Rumor has it that the formal announcement will come on Aug. 1st. UA has been keeping this as hush hush as possible and it appears that this rendering was leaked. This is a great thing for UA. The existing Rubber Bowl, built in 1940, is falling apart and is over 5 miles from campus. President Proenza has done an amazing job at transforming campus over the past 7 years, and continues to impress with this project. The stadium will be smaller than the Rubber Bowl at between 25,000 and 30,000 seats, but will be much, much friendlier on the fans.In addition to the stadium, there will be new retail space and, as you can see, lots of new dorms. UA recently purchased Quaker Square Hotel near downtown in an effort to further increase dorm space as enrollment continues to climb.
July 21, 200717 yr Wow, very nice; a big improvement from the Rubber Bowl :clap:. I remember when I played football in high school and I was so excited about playing in the Rubber Bowl before the game. My dad worked for the UofA and told me the place was crap, but I was still pumped about playing in a D-1A college stadium. I wasn't that impressed after playing there a few more times over the next couple of years (it's like a dungeon down towards the locker room area), it's way over due for something new and much closer to campus. Can't wait to see it done and completed. UofA really has come a long way in the past decade.
July 21, 200717 yr What are those buildings going to be surrounding the stadium in that picture. Are those going to be additional dorms?
July 22, 200717 yr I believe most of the buildings around the stadium are going to be dorms, but there is also supposed to be some retail space in there as well. I'm hoping that the Aug. 1st announcement will have a lot more details as to what each building will be. There won't be any additional large parking lots created by the stadium. I'm sure there will be one near the stadium for a handful of cars and buses though. If anything, the lack of parking will be a challenge for those of us who like to tailgate at the games. At the RB, the lower lot is a nice wide open area where everyone who wants to tailgate parks. I imagine we will have to dig deeper into our pockets to park in a lot close to the stadium. The "Zip Strip" will be a thing of the past as the stadium will dominate the North side of Exchange, and I believe the South Side of Exchange is going to be getting some new condos. UA has been acquiring land in this area for sometime now, but there are a few land owners who are holding out. Most of the area was rental housing for students and also the retail spots on Exchange street. Eminent Domain is being discussed as a way to get the remaining few lots to complete the project. I've seen some timelines that have September 2009 as the completion date, but IMO, this is very optimistic. I think 2010 is a more realistic. The stadium will cost in the $55 - $60 million dollar range and I don't believe this will include the dorms. This indicates to me that UA is looking to build a high quality facility as Central Florida built a 60,000 seat stadium for around the same price. From what I've seen of the CFU stadium, the goal was to maximize seating. It looks like UA will use lots of red brick with a large pressbox. The field will also be slightly below ground to allow for seating on the grass in the endzones. If you look closely at the rendering, you can see this. I am very pleased with how the design turned out and this is just another example of how the current UA administration builds top notch facilities. :clap:
July 22, 200717 yr Can't wait to find out the details on this thing. I hope that the buildings on Exchange street will have street level retail and won't be just typical dorms.
July 25, 200717 yr From the Akron Beacon Journal - 7/24/2007 University officials may face hurdles in getting land to build proposed football stadium Local business owners don't fear the 'Roo By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer As University of Akron officials ready plans for a new stadium, they may face hurdles -- not the least of which may be a stout Lebanese businessman. Manuel Nemer, 55, says he will dig in his heels to stop UA from taking his commercial property on East Exchange Street. http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/17534046.htm
July 25, 200717 yr It worries me a little bit that the eminent domain issue might cause this project to be delayed for several years. Spicer village was announced almost three years ago, and it has yet to break ground, and the east bank of the flats in cleveland has been dragging on for a while also. By looking at the rendering, it appears that the odd corner is the only business that actually lies within the footprint of the stadium. If they can reach an agreement with them, the university should be able to start on the stadium. I believe they should focus on the stadium first and get it built and worry about the dorms and all the court procedings later. Or if they are planning on putting retail on the first floors of the new dorms, they could try and reach an agreement with the existing businesses to lease the space to them. Anyway, I really like the design of the stadium and cant wait to go see a game there.
July 25, 200717 yr ........and the east bank of the flats in cleveland has been dragging on for a while also. Dragging? thats inaccurate.
July 25, 200717 yr It worries me a little bit that the eminent domain issue might cause this project to be delayed for several years. Spicer village was announced almost three years ago, and it has yet to break ground, and the east bank of the flats in cleveland has been dragging on for a while also. By looking at the rendering, it appears that the odd corner is the only business that actually lies within the footprint of the stadium. If they can reach an agreement with them, the university should be able to start on the stadium. I believe they should focus on the stadium first and get it built and worry about the dorms and all the court procedings later. Or if they are planning on putting retail on the first floors of the new dorms, they could try and reach an agreement with the existing businesses to lease the space to them. Anyway, I really like the design of the stadium and cant wait to go see a game there. I don't think this will drag on that long...(although a 2009 open is optomistic, it's a bit daunting) but what this, in all honesty is Mr. Nemer wanting to be a part of the project, so that he can remain a part of the community- and maximize his profits, which is very understandable. The odd corner? They can move to Kent for all I care.
July 25, 200717 yr I've seen multiple HS playoff games at the Rubber Bowl, and I'll tell that place is nothing special. The new digs on campus will be a huge improvement, and I would look forward to seeing a game there.
July 25, 200717 yr Dragging? thats inaccurate. How is that innacurate? It was announced in December, 2004, and it is still in court. Anyway, I dont think it will take nearly as long on this project as this is a public university project and not a project from a private developer. I just think 2009 is being a little optimistic. If they want it to be finished by then i would think they would have to start construction soon, and that might not happen if business owners decide to hold out. And to the comment about the odd corner, i agree. Im sure the university isnt too thrilled to have a head shop flanking the main entrance to campus.
July 26, 200717 yr I'm in a tough position on this one with eminent domain. I don't think it would be right for UA to kick out The Odd Corner, and then price Mr. Nemer out of the retail space in the project. On the otherhand, I agree that The Odd Corner is not what you want at the centerpiece of your retail space. Maybe some additional new retail can be built further East on Exchange Street near Rt. 8 that The Odd Corner could move into? IMO, Mr. Nemer will need to go to court to hang onto his establishment. UA is pretty much swallowing the East side of Downtown and there isn't much standing in it's way. I really, really want the new stadium as quickly as possible, but it will be interesting to see how this goes.
August 2, 200717 yr WOW. On a side note, comments on various blogs have stated that construction can commence even if the businesses on Exchange havent sold yet.
August 2, 200717 yr Great. The more I see the more I like. As an alum of a sister MAC school I am green with envy.
August 2, 200717 yr Akron U. to build stadium downtown Thursday, August 02, 2007 Laura Johnston Plain Dealer Reporter Akron -- In place of dumpy rental houses, dank dorms and a few businesses, the University of Akron sees a 30,000-seat, gleaming brick-and-glass home for its football team. The $55 million InfoCision Stadium at the edge of the urban campus will replace the 65-year-old Rubber Bowl, tucked miles away from the university in a far-off corner of Akron. When it makes its debut in September 2009, officials say it will create a game day atmosphere of tailgates and camaraderie missing from what has been traditionally a commuter school. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/118604405374120.xml&coll=2
August 3, 200717 yr As UA has done so many times in the past decade, they blew my mind again yesterday. The renderings released a few weeks ago, IMO, depicted a stadium that was much nicer than I expected. Then, yesterday, UA did it again. The new stadium design is AMAZING, even better than the earlier renderings. I'm glad to see the improved design of the dorms surrounding the stadium. The design is similar to the other new dorms built. Also, you can see in the stadium from Exchange street. Imagine, driving down Exchange Street at night, looking over and seeing 30,000 people cheering on the zips. The additional renderings show how the stadium will look from the inside, and it looks to be nicely done all the way around. I'm not sure what the building in the North endzone will be, but I imagine it would be a locker room or storage. State of the art video screen and grass seating in the South endzone. Apparently there will be no retail space in the new design. Overall, I'm very impressed, great job UA!
August 3, 200717 yr zipsrifle, I agree. My dad worked for the U of A till he retired, so I spent a lot of my childhood on that campus and came away with the impression of that was what all college campuses looked like. It wasn't until I started looking at colleges and visiting other campuses that I realized how stark and bleak Akron's campus was. I was last enrolled at the U of A in 2001 and they were just starting to do a lot of the revitalizations; they had just started working on the new student center. Now, 6 years later I can barely recognize the place, and that's a good thing. They've created a more of a college atmoshere on an urban campus; that atmosphere is what Akron had been lacking for a long time. Now adding that atmosphere to the much improved football program will make quite a difference for the campus community. Exciting times for the U of A indeed!
August 3, 200717 yr I must say, those stadium renderings are sick! I saw an Akron U soccer game on ESPN or FoxSportsOhio a year or two ago, and I was thinking "That's Akron!?" Nice!
August 13, 200717 yr Akron U. growing at city's expense? Sunday, August 12, 2007 Laura Johnston Plain Dealer Reporter Akron- The towering silos of Crowne Plaza Quaker Square once stored tons of oats. Today, guests sleep within those concrete walls in what's dubbed the "Most Unique Hotel in the World." But in months, no more. The 196 round rooms carved from those Quaker Oats grain silos will become the University of Akron's newest residence hall. Linked to plans for a new $55 million stadium, the swank dorm is the latest in the school's New Landscape for Learning, which has already transformed the once-commuter college into an enviable campus. Some laud the growth. Others wonder whether the school teeters on taking over the Rubber City. Read the rest at the Ohio.com archives! I still can't believe they interviewed a student from Findlay about changes at Akron.
August 15, 200717 yr I think UA is doing great things for the city of Akron. It's unfortunate that it is portrayed as taking over the city. Everyone understands how tough it is in NE Ohio right now, especially for cities like Akron who have lost their manufacturing base and the downtowns have lost residential and retail to the suburbs. As Dr. Proenza states, UA is not going anywhere. UA is building lots of new dorms and is bringing young people to downtown Akron. When I started at UA, the last thing you did was go downtown. Now, downtown is benefiting from the students who spend money at the establishments near Canal Park. A few years ago I went back for a FB game, and my wife and stayed at Quaker Square. It seemed that we were the only people in the hotel that night, but when we walked down to the clubs, it was hoppin! UA has given part of the Quaker Square land for a new hotel. If the demand for a hotel is as high as the Mayor says, we should hear about plans for a new hotel soon. I agree with those who say that it is too bad to see such a unique hotel turned into dorms. Personally, I wish UA would have bought the Mayflower. That is close to Polsky's and Canal Park, a much better fit to where the students would want to be. When InfoCision Stadium is complete, there should also be benefits from people attending games there. UA has mentioned that it hopes the new stadium will be used not just for UA football, but also for HS football, concerts, etc. University Park Alliance is also making headway in transforming the area around campus. Across Exchange Street from the InfoCision stadium there was talk of new condo's. I don't know if that is still the plan or not. I understand that UA's expansion is not without some heartache. Eminent domain for the new stadium is a bit of a bullish tactic, and I wish there was an easier way to build the stadium without kicking people out of their businesses.
August 15, 200717 yr I'm kinda torn on this one. I recently was down at the Crowne Plaze at Quaker Square and all I could think was, "this is going to be turned into dorms?" I really wish they could have picked another location seeing how unique Quaker Square is; but hey, it's business. In all honesty, Akron more than likely won't miss the hotel all that much; from what I've heard occupancy rates have been pretty low between the Crowne Plaza and the Radisson. But the place is so unique, I just hate the thought of it being converted into dorms.
August 15, 200717 yr I do have one thing...UA is pretty good about perserving history and such...what makes anyone think that they won't do the same here? Everyone is so stuck on ambience and is so afraid of the college kids "ruining" it. That's not going to happen.
August 16, 200717 yr I really dont see a problem with the university expanding into downtown. I think the university and all of its students going to the bars and clubs at night can be credited with helping the revitalization of downtown. I was at quaker square earlier this summer and it seemed pretty dead. It seems to do well during the soap box derby, the pro football hall of fame induction, and the pga tour, but when these events are done, it seems to be pretty quiet. I also think that the university owning this will help to draw students to the university. If the city really needs another hotel, I dont see why the mayflower couldnt be converted back into a hotel. It is right in the heart of downtown across from canal park. I believe it is used now for low income housing. Anyway, it is nice to see all of these projects going on at the university. The University of Akron is starting to grow up and is shaking off their community college image.
March 2, 200817 yr They just started up the stadium cams covering the construction of The University of Akron's Infocision Stadium. Just pushing dirt around right now, but from watching over the past few days, they aren't messing around. Unfortunately, the 3rd camera is already not working. Refresh rate is great, every 2 or 3 sec. Enjoy! http://www.uakron.edu/stadium/cams/videoFeed.html
April 5, 200817 yr http://www.ohio.com/news/17319029.html UA stadium construction officially kicks off About 200 attend groundbreaking for $61.6 million university facility By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Saturday, Apr 05, 2008 Gray skies and a brisk wind didn't stop attendees from praising the University of Akron's new stadium at the official groundbreaking Friday. ''I've been told even the popcorn will taste better,'' UA President Luis Proenza told about 200 guests gathered under tents at the side of the construction site, a mass of mud and pooled water. The sound of construction equipment could be heard throughout the hour-long ceremony.
May 25, 200817 yr http://www.akronnewsnow.com/community/itemdetail.asp?ID=20381 UA's InfoCision Stadium Going As Planned 5/23/2008 2:54:36 PM | Craig Simpson The University of Akron's new on-campus athletics complex, InfoCision Stadium/Summa Field, is progressing well. In fact, the project is currently ahead of schedule. While the first game at InfoCision Stadium is not until Sept. 19, 2009 (versus Indiana), the first football game for 2008 - the 66th and final year in The Rubber Bowl - is Sept. 13 versus Ball State, just over three short months away. Season tickets
May 27, 200817 yr Here ya go from zipsnation.com: http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=9647 How about some pictures!! :)
May 29, 200817 yr really nice.. coming along just fine.. I never get a chance to drive over and take a look... I'm going to have to do that soon..
April 7, 200916 yr http://www.ohio.com/news/42488147.html Stadium tour attracts UA alumni who won't miss Rubber Bowl Zips fans can't wait to take a seat By Bill Lilley Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Sunday, Apr 05, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beacon Journal staff writer Carol Biliczky contributed to this report. Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or [email protected].
April 19, 200916 yr Great Pics. I went to the Spring Game a few weekends back and they had tours of the stadium. It is going to be, without a doubt, the best stadium in the MAC. Our tour guide said UA also thinks it will be as good, if not better than stadiums in CUSA. Here are some of the additional things I picked up on: 1) He said they were shooting for a very LOUD stadium. To achieve this, he said that the slope on the stands is steeper than most stadiums. He also pointed out that they intentionally wanted an upper deck and a large press tower to drive the noise towards the field. He also said that this is why they went with metal seating, but I have to believe that was probably driven by cost. 2) He said there would be a ribbon board on part of the East front upper deck. This would be expanded if additional money comes our way. I can't think of any College Stadium that has one of these. 3) The scoreboard resolution won't be as good as what it is at the Q. It will be close, but not as good. 4) He said they have locker room facilities for back to back games. They intend to have high school games there so I imagine that each team can get a locker room and they can have a couple of games a day. 5) The upper deck of the endzone facility are lounges for the Baseball team, the Softball team, the Soccer team and the track team. 6) They wanted the fans to be very close to the action and I"ll tell you what, it looks like you will be. 7) The lights on the West side will be on top of the press tower. The lights on the East side will be at the ends of the grandstand with one in the middle. The lighting will meet the requirements for TV for an NCAA National Championship Broadcast. 8 ) They have much more restroom space than what is required for a stadium of that size. Big improvement over the RB and without a doubt better than the port-o-potties they have at the Horseshoe. Can't wait! I have never been to a sellout game in Akron. We came close a few times, but never a sellout. I think we will have 3 this year. Opener agains Morgan State, the following week against Indiana, and against Kent State.
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