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IDEA: Improve The Burrow?

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The97Revolution said

Local Owl said

Mark said it. We need CASH and lots of it. There are a lot of things in my personal life that I want and will never have.
Posted On: Apr 8th 2017, 7:07 PM #368234


    The question is whether the post season earning we could generate (Bowls, Tournaments, CWS, etc.) can help with this. It may come down to team performances or conference realignments.

Posted On: Apr 8th 2017, 7:13 PM #368235
There is only one entity that makes money with the post season and that would be the television networks (ESPN CBS etc).  Most teams lose money to go play a bowl.  We get 25,000 and exposure from ESPN for hosting the boca bowl.  I would rather have the cash.


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The97Revolution said

GeorgiaOwl said

Bulldozer?
Posted On: Apr 8th 2017, 5:52 PM #368223

Bulldozer is an option. But you got to have something to put there afterwards. What where you thinking?
Posted On: Apr 8th 2017, 6:00 PM #368226

Just bein funny. We need a real D1 level convocation center seating about 10K. But we all know that!
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fauowl said

I don't think the trouble is finding a place for it, I think the trouble is finding the money for it.

It could go in Lot 5 where the current Rat's Mouth tailgate happens behind the stadium or on all the vacant land near Glades near the eastern most entrance to FAU.  We have the land, we need the $.
Posted On: Apr 8th 2017, 6:58 PM #368233

What about the parking lot for employees of the stadium over there by the research Park. That might also be a pretty good place to put it but others places suggested were great was well. We are all in agreement our facility needs a upgrade, but like everything else, its all about the "money, money, money." but keeping burrow for volleyball or a practice facility is actually a great idea. As far as upgrading goes, I think the baseball facility should be done before basketball. It can be done more cheaply and faster than building a whole new arena. now if someone would just gift say 80 million we can do a lot with it. :)  
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USMCOWL said

What about the parking lot for employees of the stadium over there by the research Park. That might also be a pretty good place to put it but others places suggested were great was well. We are all in agreement our facility needs a upgrade, but like everything else, its all about the "money, money, money." but keeping burrow for volleyball or a practice facility is actually a great idea. As far as upgrading goes, I think the baseball facility should be done before basketball. It can be done more cheaply and faster than building a whole new arena. now if someone would just gift say 80 million we can do a lot with it. :)  
Posted On: Apr 9th 2017, 1:09 PM #368240

FAU doesn't own that property, it was all sold to the Research Corp. years ago. The University also sold the airport and properties along airport road,  University Commons and a couple other parcells. Either because they were strapped for cash or felt being a landlord wasn't in their best interest. So during game day that space is leased from the owner for parking.
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As you probably know The Burrow underwent a $9M renovation in 2007-2008 that added new scoreboard, chairback seating, the underutilized club seat area, overhangs, ticket office, etc. Nice upgrades, to be sure, but even then we realized that the Burrow has sort of hit its peak in its current form.

Some ideas didn't make it to fruition:

- I did locate an image (can't find it now) where they had given the Burrow a dome. That might have been interesting but no doubt costly.
- The east and west entrances were supposed to get legitimate FAU signage and that never happened.
- The paved area on the south side (main entrance) was supposed to be a hub of activity with tabling, music, games, etc and for some reason they never went forward with this.

I don't know if they have plans for more concessions (or to expand the current concessions stand) but even at our current levels it's an annoyance having essentially one line for very limited options. To FAU's credit, though, they did bring in a food trailer that cooks sliders etc and the main lobby hosts vendors from time to time. Still, it's nowhere near the same experience as an actual Div.1 arena.

Personally I really like the idea of building a new Burrow in the parking lot east of the existing Burrow and connecting the two facilities, with the entrance plaza facing the West University/Volusia intersection.

Furthermore, it'd be interesting to see a new baseball stadium rise up on the southwest side there, again with its plaza facing the intersection, which would create a more unified "sports area" there that echoes some of the things they do with sports arenas in dense urban environments.

In terms of what the new Burrow would offer… I'm somewhere between 5K and 10K seats. I'd like to see 5K expandable to 10K in the distant future but I don't know how common that is in college basketball - usually schools just build out entire new arenas if they want to make a jump like that, as far as I know.

Dreaming big I'd like to see saltwater tanks, concession food courts, saltwater tanks, floor-to-ceiling video screens in the concourse playing highlights, a basketball arcade game area, a central scoreboard vs a wall-mounted one, ribbon screens in the arena, and of course that technology they used in the Olympics where projectors make the floor look like it's different things/show animations/etc for the intro… but I read that's like $2M for that technology. Kentucky and Duke have it, IIRC.

Again… dreaming big.
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Owl2Doc said

As you probably know The Burrow underwent a $9M renovation in 2007-2008 that added new scoreboard, chairback seating, the underutilized club seat area, overhangs, ticket office, etc. Nice upgrades, to be sure, but even then we realized that the Burrow has sort of hit its peak in its current form.

Some ideas didn't make it to fruition:

- I did locate an image (can't find it now) where they had given the Burrow a dome. That might have been interesting but no doubt costly.
- The east and west entrances were supposed to get legitimate FAU signage and that never happened.
- The paved area on the south side (main entrance) was supposed to be a hub of activity with tabling, music, games, etc and for some reason they never went forward with this.

I don't know if they have plans for more concessions (or to expand the current concessions stand) but even at our current levels it's an annoyance having essentially one line for very limited options. To FAU's credit, though, they did bring in a food trailer that cooks sliders etc and the main lobby hosts vendors from time to time. Still, it's nowhere near the same experience as an actual Div.1 arena.

Personally I really like the idea of building a new Burrow in the parking lot east of the existing Burrow and connecting the two facilities, with the entrance plaza facing the West University/Volusia intersection.

Furthermore, it'd be interesting to see a new baseball stadium rise up on the southwest side there, again with its plaza facing the intersection, which would create a more unified "sports area" there that echoes some of the things they do with sports arenas in dense urban environments.

In terms of what the new Burrow would offer… I'm somewhere between 5K and 10K seats. I'd like to see 5K expandable to 10K in the distant future but I don't know how common that is in college basketball - usually schools just build out entire new arenas if they want to make a jump like that, as far as I know.

Dreaming big I'd like to see saltwater tanks, concession food courts, saltwater tanks, floor-to-ceiling video screens in the concourse playing highlights, a basketball arcade game area, a central scoreboard vs a wall-mounted one, ribbon screens in the arena, and of course that technology they used in the Olympics where projectors make the floor look like it's different things/show animations/etc for the intro… but I read that's like $2M for that technology. Kentucky and Duke have it, IIRC.

Again… dreaming big.
Posted On: Apr 10th 2017, 12:17 AM #368245

Great insight. Agree with a more urbaneste complex. The current layout of the Athletic complex can be improved, and would hopefully will once the Schmidt is built.

Revolution- n. A large amount of change in a short amount of time.   FAU- n. The place where tomorrow begins.
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I wouldn't be surprised if they put a new basketball arena, whenever it came to be, north of the football stadium and create a sports row there.

That would suck from the perspective of the students, who have shifted their tailgates to Lot 5, albeit with some issues raised by the proximity to the Preserve. It would also suck to lose Lot 5 if we're trying to put some sort of Greek Life complex, in some form if it's not going to be actual houses, up there.

In the big boy world, they would probably put the basketball arena there but also build a sizable public park/public plaza between the two athletics facilities which could house tailgating, conference spillover, FAU fundraising events, farmer's markets, you name it.

I actually really like this idea, come to think of it.

But that would eat up all that space and where would people park? Could they do a plaza, basketball arena AND a new parking garage on Lot 5? Maybe?

The other idea would be to put a new basketball arena on the south-east corner near the future (hopefully) hotel and capture some interest from people driving by on Glades. You might even be able to get the hotel chain to pay for part of it by explaining that they can offer it as their conference facility when games are not being played. The eastern most Glades FAU entrance would get way busier.

The downside to that plan is you disconnect the basketball arena from the rest of Athletics… but then again, so did the stadium. So maybe for massive projects you make an exception.

Now that I've laid that out the "adjoining Burrow site" option that I first proposed seems the least interesting to me, in retrospect.
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FAU basketball arena improvements

Happy our owls are finding some success at the beginning of this basketball season. I have enjoyed watching them win in person.


One night after a game I decided to look at the opponent's basketball arena. Additionally, I started looking at many other schools basketball arenas within our conference and in others.


I have to ask my fellow owls, do you see us having a renovated arena anytime soon? Do you think they would just build a brand new facility or make significant improvements to the arena we have now?

Some improvements I am looking for are atleast the overhead replay and scoreboard and more seating.

I know we need to fill the small arena first before even talking about expansion but this could also be a venue for graduation and local events as well. Something to compete with schools in smaller conferences such as the Cajundome at ULL.


Let me know what you guys think.

Go owls! :Big-Grin:
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I haven’t been able to make a game in person yet but I will be at most starting in January.

I don’t believe there is any reason to renovate our gym, I mean arena.  I know everything revolves around money but for this program to be taken seriously we need a true area and I agree it can be used for many other purposes such as gradutions and concerts.  Another problem is we need a baseball stadium as well but the baseball stadium only has one use but it would be a lot cheaper than a new arena.

GO OWLS!
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At this point, we need to stop putting lip stick on a pig.  Unlike football, we've proven we can fill this place with some consistency if we put out a solid, entertaining product.  Those were some fun times, and I think we can be there again soon.  
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