I was searching the fausports site for the capacity of FAU gym but I could not find it. I was looking because I was just reading an article on George Washington University basketball on espn.com. Apparently the capacity of their gym is 5,000. And thats the no. 6 team in the nation. Gonzaga's capacity is 6,000. Granted Gonzaga's gym is a lot more professional looking, but GW's is not too impressive. I was wondering if a new gym is really necessary, or if upgrades could be made to change atmosphere and what not.

Note: i do not know because I have not seen a game at FAU for probably about 8 years and I can't remember what it was like.

I agree, maybe a major remodeling would be the most efficient thing to do for the gym. I've only seen the outside of the building. I don't know what has to be done inside, but this might be the most cost effective way to get the basketball facilities up to speed. But, according to the stadium video, Doherty wants to use the dome as a recruiting tool.

The way it is set up for basketball the capacity of the arena is 3,000 - 3,500. It is about 5,000 with the second floor bleachers utilized.

Supposedly they are planning to upgrade the current arena to get through until the dome is built. Due to Hurricane Wilma the roof will have to be replaced this summer and the floor will have to be fixed.

OK sportsparadise, sounds like you have some info, maybe. could you share? Is the dome construction going to start soon?

The potential for the dome is still being investigated. According to the papers a firm has been hired to investigate the interest in suite sales, naming rights and other items that would help finance building it. This information will be analyzed to see if it is economically feasible. According to one firm they could have the dome ready to go by the fall of 2009. It all comes down to finances.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard anything since early February. I guess I am real anxious to see something started along with other members of this board. There is some bad rumours circulating on other boards in the state including our rivals to the south that the dome is a myth and the myth is being used to recruit athletes.

It is definitely being analyzed seriously. I believe the other schools would tell recruits it is a myth just to try and make FAU look bad. If FAU were to make up a myth simply to impress recruits it would only come back and hurt them in the long run. You can only tell stories for so long before kids catch on. Then recruits won't believe anything you say.

As for the current arena, one area that needs major improvements are the locker rooms. They are no where near Division I level- actually not even as good as my old high school locker room.

Well in terms of the locker rooms, logic would lead me to believe tat they would be some of the easiest and least expensive to renovate.
I must say it is hard being a fan of a team while your waiting on stadiums to be built. Currently my two favorite baseball teams are the Marlins and Nationals, and then of course there is FAU and these things are taking FOREVER. Can't nanotechnology get these things built real fast? Get on it Scripps.

sportsparadise said

The way it is set up for basketball the capacity of the arena is 3,000 - 3,500. It is about 5,000 with the second floor bleachers utilized.

Supposedly they are planning to upgrade the current arena to get through until the dome is built. Due to Hurricane Wilma the roof will have to be replaced this summer and the floor will have to be fixed.

I could be wrong, but I believe that the roof and floor were fixed before this past season started.

Also, renovating the locker rooms, at least the FAU locker room was the first thing that Doherty did when he arrived. I think he talked about it in the ESPN show The Season.

fauowls44 said

sportsparadise said

The way it is set up for basketball the capacity of the arena is 3,000 - 3,500. It is about 5,000 with the second floor bleachers utilized.

Supposedly they are planning to upgrade the current arena to get through until the dome is built. Due to Hurricane Wilma the roof will have to be replaced this summer and the floor will have to be fixed.

I could be wrong, but I believe that the roof and floor were fixed before this past season started.

Also, renovating the locker rooms, at least the FAU locker room was the first thing that Doherty did when he arrived. I think he talked about it in the ESPN show The Season.

Thanks to Doherty, and the team he put together I went to the majority of the home basketball games this year for the first time and I agree with fauowls44, the roof and the floor I'm pretty sure were fixed just prior to the start of the season.

In the past have been an advocate of putting the time and effort into trying all options to get the dome built for football as well as basketball. I'm starting to change my opinion, if a decision isn't made soon it is going to start hurting our recruitment efforts with both sports. I don't believe for one second that there was any misleading of recruits regarding the dome but unfortunately things don't always work out as planned. If the economics aren't there to make a final decision by the start of football this year, that should be the decision to renovate the gym and built an outdoor stadium that can be upgrade in the near future. If either one of the programs does not continue to move forward as they have due to this issue it will make it much more difficult to recruit in the future.