University of Texas DKR Football Stadium Expansion and Renovation

[brando]

Some Tidbits from Chip Brown. Take them for what they are worth:

DKR IMPROVEMENTS

Improvements to DKR this fall will include an LED renovation to Godzillatron, new speakers throughout the stadium (including microphones for the band so you can actually hear the Longhorn band!) as well as improving the strength of the WIFI by 300 percent.

While locker room renovations are well underway, DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium renovations are set to begin in the coming weeks. According to drawings attached to the University of Texas' request for proposals, the Longhorns are looking to add the following updates inside the football stadium:

South Endzone,



West Sideline,





North Endzone





East Sideline



Upgrades to the main video board are expected to be complete by July 19, with the remaining stadium modifications finalized by August 1, according to documents obtained by Horns Digest.

All of the new ribbon LED displays should be cool. They can do a lot of neat stuff with those. The new LED scoreboard will be great as well. It'll likely be sharper and brighter but the display is only about 190 sq feet larger which isn't a lot when you are looking at it from so far away. A complete teardown and rebuild of the South Endzone is in the master plan but that is far out. It's likely a lower priority than the new basketball arena since they want to teardown the Erwin Center to expand the new Medical School. The new south end zone will just consist of a lower bowl and suites and won't mirror the north end zone. It's unlikely they could build a 2nd level since it would require a bigger footprint that might require the athletic facilities to be completely torn down. I doubt they need that much additional capacity. I think a lot of this has to do with adding additional better seating than just adding a lot more seats. The south end zone is typically reserved for the band and UT spirit groups.

BETTER GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE

Perhaps the biggest change coming to Texas football gameday experience is Tom Herman's push to reduce so-called "ads" aired on the video board during games. (THANK THE LAWDY!!!)

Obviously, this is a hugely sensitive subject for Texas women's athletic director Chris Plonsky, who is in charge of marketing and has given Texas marketing partner IMG a lot of leeway in selling ad packages that includes "a presence" inside DKR during games.

I'm told the football office would like for graphics wizards Tommy Lakes and Matt Lange to be turned loose in creating energy raising video clips that would be tagged with an advertiser logo briefly at the end. The video ring inside DKR at the mezzanine level, which will be connected from the east side, around the north end to the west side, could also be used to satisfy previous agreements with advertisers, sources said.

"It's been made very clear that Tom Herman thinks the advertising being done on the video board detracts from the gameday experience," one source close to the situation said. "And right now, it's been, 'What Tom Herman wants, Tom Herman gets.' So, there's a lot of discussion going on about how the gameday experience can be improved. It will probably be better in Year 2 and Year 3 than it might be in Year 1 - again, because of existing agreements. But it's going to get there." ...

[MichaelB]

Please please don't let this turn into more Ads!!!! PLEASE!
I see mention of Tom Herman's push to reduce ads.... yes.please.
One reason I like college ball more is less commercialism.
Bring on the band and the cheerleaders and all the student spirit......
Don't crush it with louder commercials.

[brando]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Please please don't let this turn into more Ads!!!! PLEASE!
I see mention of Tom Herman's push to reduce ads.... yes.please.
One reason I like college ball more is less commercialism.
Bring on the band and the cheerleaders and all the student spirit......
Don't crush it with louder commercials.

I don't mind it as long as it doesn't get in the way of anything else. The current owner of the Astros isn't very wealthy and installed a shit ton of small billboards above the outfield wall blocking the skyline view. It was disgusting. When Reid Ryan was hired, he had the thing removed.

[brando]

It's very nice to finally see an upgrade to the west side of the stadium. It's not anywhere close to watching the newer North and East side but at least it's a little nicer. The picture makes it look a little plastic but maybe it looks better in person. It has a sort of Solider field or Yankee stadium look.

Apparently there is work everywhere in the stadium. The new LED scoreboard is already in operation. Herman was on the radio this morning saying a player left some trash in the lounge and that means the entire team will have to wait an additional day to use their new home locker room. They'll be in the visitor's locker room when they report on Monday until at least Wednesday. Maybe that's just cover because he's not sure if the Locker Room will be done. They are still working on it. How much would it suck for a player to see a video highlight on their locker monitor of them ****ing up?

[lzppjb]

Now I know who you are on shaggy.

[DoubleC]

Vibe I'm getting of the thread; putting money and profit first ruins everything, if not degrade the experience.

[jg6544]

They should replace those south end zone bleachers with a more permanent structure like Ohio State has (as a practical matter, I don't see them building out the south end zone anytime soon). They should also move the Band and the student section to the east stands between the goal line and the 50. College football ought to be principally for college students. Old farts like me can watch on t.v. at home.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by jg6544

They should replace those south end zone bleachers with a more permanent structure like Ohio State has (as a practical matter, I don't see them building out the south end zone anytime soon). They should also move the Band and the student section to the east stands between the goal line and the 50. College football ought to be principally for college students. Old farts like me can watch on t.v. at home.

That's the plan for the south end. Add a permanent lower bowl similar to the north end. Then stack some luxury suites on top of it. It won't look exactly like the north end because they aren't trying to add that many seats.

[lzppjb]

From 4th_and_18:

Originally Posted by 4th_and_18

scaffolding company put out a short description of their part of the project
500 tons of scaffolding
20 18 wheelers of just scaffolding
10,000 man hours to assemble and takedown of scaffolding alone
500,000 cubic feet of scaffolding

[brando]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

That's the plan for the south end. Add a permanent lower bowl similar to the north end. Then stack some luxury suites on top of it. It won't look exactly like the north end because they aren't trying to add that many seats.

bingo. They could make a big push to the donors if the football team has a good year. I'm guessing they put the arena first but they might try to raise money and build both at the same time.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by brando

bingo. They could make a big push to the donors if the football team has a good year. I'm guessing they put the arena first but they might try to raise money and build both at the same time.

Especially if the basketball arena is indeed going by the south end zone (has that decision been finalized?). It would be one mega construction site. I wonder how they would connect the two structures...would there be any shared spaces, etc.?


Edit: I'm a dummy. I forgot the basketball arena was proposed south of the soccer/track stadium, not DKR.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by drummer

Especially if the basketball arena is indeed going by the south end zone (has that decision been finalized?). It would be one mega construction site. I wonder how they would connect the two structures...would there be any shared spaces, etc.?


Edit: I'm a dummy. I forgot the basketball arena was proposed south of the soccer/track stadium, not DKR.

Still, that's just across a small street. If both projects are going at once, that'd be a major construction site.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Still, that's just across a small street. If both projects are going at once, that'd be a major construction site.

This is true. My question was more along the lines of architectural/engineering possibilities as to whether or not it would be one structure - basketball facilities and the south-end bleachers. Given that they're across the street from one another, the chances of this happening are highly unlikely...

In a perfect world, these two construction sites would be active at the same time, and the realignment of Red River/Robert Dedman would also occur at the same time. I remember seeing a map (probably on this forum) showing Red River from MLK Jr Blvd. connecting directly to Robert Dedman Dr. (to the west side of the giant water cooling tank that everyone loves).

[Owlhorn]

still no reason they can't replicate the north end zone and add a minimal amount of seats. Have they not been paying attention to stadium design since the North Endzone was built?

[brando]

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

still no reason they can't replicate the north end zone and add a minimal amount of seats. Have they not been paying attention to stadium design since the North Endzone was built?

What do you mean? They've already announced the project.

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

That's the plan for the south end. Add a permanent lower bowl similar to the north end. Then stack some luxury suites on top of it. It won't look exactly like the north end because they aren't trying to add that many seats.

Not trying to add that many seats is smart. I never believed in the notion that Texas could consistently fill a 130,000+ seat stadium.

[Owlhorn]

Originally Posted by brando

What do you mean? They've already announced the project.

They haven't announced the project officially. Only a discription by some in the know has been given of what is wanted. Same as the basketball arena concept.

The could simply finish the structure(something DeLoss seemed to want, but seemed to go away with Patterson) and a) add more individual seats throughout the stadium. Especially along both sidelines or b) simply put in some larger seats like Miami or Jacksonville or c)put in some loge type decks like OU has put in their new endzone. Any combination of that and you could easily keep the capacity under 105,000 or even reduce it. Would much rather have the aesthetic and sound of a complete bowl instead of some franken stadium. Those days seem to be over for major schools outside of A&M, but maybe we didn't get the memo.

[AusTex]

The new gray paint color on the west exterior is an odd choice. It is a "cool" gray vs. a "warm" gray. The brick is a warm color and this new gray clashes with it. A better choice would have been a warmer shade of gray that blends better with the brick. Burnt Orange clashes with cool gray!

[drummer]

I still think in 16 colors, haha. Burnt Orange is #17, so I guess seventeen colors.

[brando]

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

They haven't announced the project officially. Only a discription by some in the know has been given of what is wanted. Same as the basketball arena concept.

The could simply finish the structure(something DeLoss seemed to want, but seemed to go away with Patterson) and a) add more individual seats throughout the stadium. Especially along both sidelines or b) simply put in some larger seats like Miami or Jacksonville or c)put in some loge type decks like OU has put in their new endzone. Any combination of that and you could easily keep the capacity under 105,000 or even reduce it. Would much rather have the aesthetic and sound of a complete bowl instead of some franken stadium. Those days seem to be over for major schools outside of A&M, but maybe we didn't get the memo.

The project has been announced. It was included in an official athletic facility master plan released earlier this year. I'm sure I posted a link to it earlier in this thread. As previously said, it will be a lower seating bowl, suites and the scoreboard. The thing that isn't known is when it will be built since that is contingent on funding. My guess is that they announce a fund raising campaign for both the new basketball arena and north end zone.

Just so there is no confusion, this project is just for the stands. It would not include demolishing the UT football offices which are just south of the south end zone. There are plans to renovate these offices but it's not part of a demo for a new south end zone early next year. I'm sure a 10 win football season will help that message.

It seems like it would be easier to build them both at the same time because they are both going to create problems with Robert Dedmond.