Pix of stage being built in North End.

it wont. it will be built up several feet though.

 

I don't know where I've been while all of this has been going on, but can someone explain why they would build a stage where The Crew's best support groups reside?

 

So that back of house for concerts isnt the main entrance to the stadium. So they can park the semis for equipment where they will be unloading to make turnaround for an event a smoother process. For the privacy of artists, etc.

Pretty much this whole ordeal could have been avoided if they would have built the stadium 180 degrees the toerh way

 

If I read this correctly, there will be a roof over the length of the walkway? If that's the case, i sorely hope that they at least extend the the roof partially over what remains of the North End.

Otherwise I might lean over to the side that is 100% against the stadium.

Or if I'm wrong on what you meant, disregard.

 

Because they really don't give a shit about their "Supporter's Groups". They can go hang out in the Men's Room or the Parking lot, they couldn't care less.

zak has been trying to get this through to you guys for years now. Maybe someday someone will listen.

And when it finally becomes time for them to move the team to St. Louis, the stadium will be much, much more attractive to the Ohio Expo people. They can just tear down all that sillyassed Crew signage, spread some Quickrete over the soccer ball on kicker plaza and change the name to Kroger St adium, because at that point - irony of ironies - with the soccer garbage out of there, there'll be no shortage of local corporations eager to hang their name on the place. It'll take maybe 10 minutes to arrange.

But on the bright side, they'll be able to sell a couple thousand more Rascal Flatts tix next August.

Roof over stage: no problem

Roof over soccer fans: Are you joking?

Somebody want to guess what this renovation is costing? Would a million bucks be in the ball park (so to speak)?

Really, the point is that they're trying to make the building as crappy as the team they put on the field.

 

you guys are gonna get some more money, so you might get better talent. you win, they win, we lose(maybe).

 

Pandora, open thy box.

 

And there it is. Consider the nail hit directly on the head.

 

But, if they don't care about the supporter's groups, then why did they organize a new section for us? Why don't they just ban tailgates, drums, any standing in the seating areas, confetti, flags, flag poles, organized cheers, scarves, supporter club t-shirts, etc? They could easily say "anyone caught with anything resembling an item used for organized team support will be removed from the premises." I don't see that happening.

It looks to me like the FO wants the supporter's groups, it's just the matter of needing additional income in order to keep the team competitive, while keeping event tickets at a reasonable price. Sure, the stage could not have been built, but who wants to pay $40 for a ticket in section 137? The other alternative is to see a damaged field as a result of a huge stage reaching halfway to center field. Does anyone really want these things? Keep the north end, and these could have become real possibilities.

 

I hate the stage, and with all this supposed business acumen, the Hunts couldn't figure out how to build the stadium correctly the first time? And this time, they make no corresponding adjustment to the south stands?

I seem to remember catching some considerable flak for suggesting ownership may be more interested in $$$ than anything else, and would have no problem moving us to a bigger market. I got shouted down (in typical BS fashion) as a conspiracy theorist.

Are people coming around to my original way of thinking? Or do we know buy the company line that this stage is an effort to make the site more marketable in hopes of building a new stadium in town?

I must admit, with the shirt sponsor and the plans to upgrade the practice facilities, and Friedel's Academy in the area, I was harboring hope this could be a prelude to an attempt to build a better stadium in Columbus and sell the CCS to the Fair Board. Essentially, I bought the company line this time. Am I a fool again?

 

I hope your defense of the FO and such is well warranted. I, however, do not have the same optimistic approach. I hope for the sake of the Crew and its fans, that you are more correct than I. But, I will have to be proven, rather than persuaded, that my skepticism is not needed.
Please don't see this is a rebuttal to your views, I would very much like to be in your camp.

 

Thanks for the pics Froggy. I was wondering what the current state of construction is.
Is this grand new addition to our beloved Paint Can supposed to be complete by the opening of the season?

 

It looks like ass. What a fantastic way to junk up the stadium.

 

Exactly so.

I know the reasons they claim this had to be in the North End even though the South end was already much better suited and would have involved very minimal rearrangement of fan seating. And I don't understand that ground level area there anyway: is that by invitation or something? Cocktails and lobster tails? Who are those people down there?

Regardless, what they should have done - assuming that they care so goddam much about their beloved supporters groups (you know, the same guys they conned into driving to Indianapolis to cheer for the Crew's first round pick on TV and then traded away the pick for a bag of magic beans. Talk about a kick in the balls) - is flip some seats into the South End and put the supporters there.

Interesting, isn't it, that they didn't do that; in fact, with some engineering and forethought they could have removed the seating from the North end and MOVED it across to the South.

Instead, they made it a net loss.

Now tell me: why? Why would you give up a couple thousand seats which do occasionally make you some money? Beckham is coming SOMEDAY, presumably. The team will win something someday. If it were me, I would have built stands in the south end BEFORE tearing out the North End.

They didn't, and it isn't because they didn't think of it - rather, it seems obvious they didn't WANT to.

Am I alone here?

I think the ownership is mostly interested in finding a way to extricate themselves from a difficult position: they own a team that no one locally will buy, now or ever. They clearly wish they didn't own it, and so the only thing left to do is cry alligator tears and sell it to some guy in St Louis.

Except that they can't move the building. Every last galvanized rivet belongs to Clark Hunt and various family members including Lamar's widow.

So you have to dump the building somehow, and since they don't own the land the thing sits on the only people who can possibly take it over is the fairgrounds people, for whom it's a natural fit.

If it's a concert venue.

I don't like it any more than anyone else - less, probably - but the facts are the facts: Hunt WILL unload this club, and there's only one likely scenario for how it happens. Just one.

Oh, it's a move to make it more "marketable" all right. But there is NO CHANCE ON EARTH that the city will help build a new building. There will be snow on the hills of hell before Columbus spends a dime on a soccer stadium.

[quote[I must admit, with the shirt sponsor and the plans to upgrade the practice facilities,[/quote]

The shirt sponsor is mobile. They paint houses everywhere. All it does is make the team more salable.

As for the phantom "practice facilities" - let me know when they stop having meetings and asking for "preliminary proposals" and start moving dirt.

We've ALL been fools, lo these many years. From Day One in Ohio Stadium, this team has been doomed. The only thing keeping it here was Lamar Hunt (may he rest in peace) and he's stone cold at the moment.

 

Like I needed to be more down on this team, thanks.

I'm with you on the switching end thing. In fact they originally were talking about doing it that way, along with swapping the jumbotron, were they not? So we know they considered it.

I don't begrudge HSG for jumping on a business opportunity (closing of Polaris), which has the possibility of making the team more stable (most specifically the added value it will bring to stadium naming rights which could be spent on upgrading the facilities, etc., etc.)

I've actually long been for adding permanent south end seats (or at least keeping the temporary bleechers there and removing them only as needed, etc.) and closing down the east upper deck, if not the west upper deck as well, until the entire lower bowl is 80% sold or some such.

But like I said, if they go so far as to put a roof over the north end walkway without extending it out over what remains of the stands down there, then there's no way around the fact that the organization has completely thrown soccer out the window.

 

(1) Let's see what the final result looks like before we condemn it completely.
(2) The main reason they were not able to build it "right" in the first place had a lot to do with the time crunch the team was under. After tOSU essentially kicked the Crew out due to the renovations on Ohio Stadium, they had to work quickly. They really thought that they would (a) get the voters to vote for the downtown arena and stadium complex or (b) get the voters to vote for a Dublin-area stadium. When both fell through, then it was time for plan c--what we have (and it may have even been plan e, f, or g). In retrospect it was pretty amazing that they were able to work things out with the politicos and get the thing built by May of 1999. I doubt that concerts were a big thought at the time. Remember Polaris Ampitheater was going great guns at the time and I think everyone thought that the Schott and Nationwide would take the rest (and the Fairgrounds were happy at the time with the Celeste Center). Remember too, there were signage and video restrictions enforced by the Fairgrounds that impacted the stadium design.
(3) The area below the South Stands is a group sales area--you can rent all or part of the the area for a group and have a catered deal during the game down there with prices depending on the choice of menu/size of group. The rest of the time it was a designed as a staging area for concerts, etc. as we know. This was a way to make some money out of it when it wasn't being used for concerts.
(4) I've been saying what Bill has been saying about the team possibly moving for years. I think the league *never* wanted a team here but was forced into it when we were the only city that came anywhere near close to selling the requisite number of season ticket deposits. However, Mr. Hunt did love it here originally, but the family may have soured on Columbus when they lost a nasty fight regarding their share in the NHL franchise that later became the Jackets.
(5) Most of what is being done does enhance the value of the franchise and the stadium for a potential sale--and not necessarily in one piece.
(6) The key may well be a new practice facility. Obetz would like the land back for their own needs at some point and have no interest in a larger facility on the current site (and there is really no room there anyway). If the Crew break ground for a new training center in the next 18 months or so, they are staying. If not, watch out for moving trucks (and I will *never* spend a dime or a minute on MLS again).

 

How does this impact future Nat games at the stadium? I enjoyed my time up there when I saw the US beat Mexico, but geez, this looks truly awful now.

 

Gheez, I take a lunch break and kgilbert beats me to it. Oh well, my answer is below:

The first one, as we all know, was a prototype. I don't believe anyone knew what they were getting into. You take the first of something and see what works or what doesn't work and build the second.

Plus, it was just something like nine months and one day between groundbreaking and the first game...If you were there that first day, you may recall that the office wasn't completed, and neither were the ticket windows. If more time was had to build the stadium, then perhaps it would have been done a lot better. The stage would have been built in a place where it would not damage the field, a brick-and-mortar stadium club may exist, a partial roof may be in place, who knows??

So, not only did they have very little idea of how to build it, they had to build it fast. Blame the voters for that. May 1997 (I think it was) saw a vote in Franklin County for a sales tax to fund a downtown stadium. I don't know when construction would have started, but let's say the ground is "buildable" in September 1997. If the first game was held in April 1999, then that's more then enough time to build, including time off for the winter months.

Now, we see maybe a year and a half or more between groundbreaking of a soccer stadium and the first game. Look at how long it took to build in Chicago, Colorado, and Dallas. Plus, they have "rough drafts" upon which to improve. We didn't have such a luxury.

I do agree though...this whole charade would have not existed had they extended the south stands all the way down and moved the scoreboard behind the stage. However, who's to say that won't be coming in the future???

That 25-year (is it that long? longer?) lease may have something to do with why we aren't hearing anything about a new stadium. Not only would a new stadium have to be built, but the lease would have to be terminated, and the terms of such an early termination may include a fee be paid???

 

The feeling is such that we'll get the US v. Mexico game and maybe one or two other games per cycle when the US needs that home-field advantage in a "must-win" game.

As for things like the ASG or MLS Cup, those things get harder to land when more stadiums are built and more cities get teams. Nothing about the stage (which may actually be a benefit for any halftime shows), it's just the simple fact that "more teams = more competition" for those games.

 

Honestly, I have no idea why some of you people haven't committed suicide yet.

What stands? They're putting a stage in the north end.

Yes?

What company line? Why would you think the Crew would get a new stadium? Crew Stadium is less than 10 years old. Any new stadium is more than a decade away.

 

Remember that 0-0 game against DC a few years ago when Ray Hudson was the DC coach?

Anyhoo, I was down on "Party On The Pitch" for that game.

Frankly, it needs some improvement. The "field-level" seating is an interesting concept, but at the time, there was no way to see the videoboard for replays. The only scoreboards you can see are the smaller ones at midfield which are a long way away. Perhaps things have changed, but the only access to the section was beside the Crew Gear shop. If you had to use the restroom or visit a concession stand, you had exit beside the gear store, and then either go up the stairs onto the southwest concourse or around the corner by the southwest ramp.

The two things i'd do to improve it would be to add some TVs down there, and allow access out the southeast corner, both east and south. I would also consider allowing fans to walk in front of the office to directly access the subway stand and stadium club.

Basically, for a ticketed guest to access, POTP is a PITA.

But I digress...

 

I guess I'll step up and be a dumb ass for now, at this very moment, thinking the Crew are going to be in Columbus and at Crew Stadium for quite a while; at least another decade.

I can't explain why.

I can't even offer evidence to refute any of the well-formed and well written explanations out there that paint a picture of a slow, quiet death of this organization and of professional soccer in central Ohio.

Maybe the Hunts won't be the owners of the Crew in that near future...

I would like to believe that this isn't about a bunch of high-dollar corporate chimps drinking martinis and strategically planning the eventual liberation of one soccer club from the "social and financial" sewer that is Columbus. I'll probably be blindsided in the coming years if all this proves true but let's hope that the business of the Columbus Crew is actually trying to work for us to provide the best product they can given the tight restrictions and questionable playing field offered by the league; not just milking us to minimize loss while methodically pulling the plug.