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Long-term plan for CU facilities upgrades

Can they at least add a few more portapotties for now? At our parking lot, there were TWO just like there has been for ages and the lines were super-long. At least a third would be nice. Plus it seems like they didn't have enough of them near what used to be Ralphie's Corral (which I guess has been taken over by Toyota?).
 
nepbug said:
Yeah, I think they need to add seats and then take out the first few rows so they can expand the sidelines. It's always been a bit dangerous, they should address that.
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Those lowest seats are awful and great at the same time if youve ever sat in them.

Historical pictures show that there used to be a track and field track at Folsom. The ‘COLORADO’ in the end zone covered what was the turn end. I dont know when it was removed. Under that concrete is an older wall thats the historical edge.
 
hokiehead said:
In a sense, I support the idea of adding capacity in the spirit of "CU betting on themselves being successful", but we don't have reason to believe this year's ticket sales are sustainable, yet...

1. Let's start by selling out the home slate this year, (2 games remain not sold out, thanks Yak)

2. Show me that Colorado sports fans can sustain interest in a college team for more than one year (i.e. demonstrate that the reasons why we didn't sell out Folsom in 1991 aren't valid today).

3. Show me that a successful CU football team can still draw well in an era where the Broncos are also doing well.

Then let's talk about expanding Folsom.

Edit: updated sold out games for this year, thanks @The Alabaster Yak
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Or....

We do what CP wants to keep him happy. If he wants a gold plated Folsom, make it happen.
 
Darth Snow said:
Resurfacing the Colorado before the game is a great sign that he cares about how Folsom looks at least. If his retinue complains about stuff, **** will get fixed. I assume none of the visiting celebrities are using troughs though :LOL:
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Yep, totally agree. I guarantee you that if Prime is serious about being here long-term, he will be directly and heavily involved in any facility upgrades.

EDIT: including being the marketing focal point to any fundraising necessary.
 
It won’t happen, but Folsom needs to be gutted and rebuilt while maintaining the exterior facade. That would take more than 9 months so would require playing a season in Denver. Folsom is at least 30 years past its original design life.

An option might be phasing over a few years with each phase being started and completed in an off season.
 
DBT said:
It won’t happen, but Folsom needs to be gutted and rebuilt while maintaining the exterior facade. That would take more than 9 months so would require playing a season in Denver. Folsom is at least 30 years past its original design life.

An option might be phasing over a few years with each phase being started and completed in an off season.
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A&M completely overhauled Kyle Field but did it in 2 phases that occurred in the off-season so the team wasn’t forced to relocate. It’s incredibly expensive, but it’s possible.
 
SINKRATZ said:
A&M completely overhauled Kyle Field but did it in 2 phases that occurred in the off-season so the team wasn’t forced to relocate. It’s incredibly expensive, but it’s possible.
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It could be done. But 9 months is an extremely short duration. They would have to accelerate (double shifts, weekends, etc.) which, as you point out, is pricey.
 
DBT said:
As I see it, they would have to demolish the entire structure from the bleachers down to grade then rebuild. It would entail all new infrastructure, foundations, architectural work, the works.
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Would likely be a better investment, and if there is the ability to add SF within an underground space, that would help.
 
SINKRATZ said:
As much as I love the thought of adding capacity someday, they need to vastly improve the gameday experience for the 55k who show up now first. Folsom is in one of the most beautiful setting in college football, but the stadium itself needs an overhaul. I don’t know how you prioritize this stuff but:
- Balch needs to be replaced entirely, it’s a sweat box with awful concession setup.
- Concessions need a complete overhaul. They’re still using food trucks to handle concessions on the west side and they can’t keep up with demand so lines are ridiculous.
- concourses need to be widened - way too many pinch points so takes forever to get to from some sections.
- whole A/V system still way below average
- bathroom have been mentioned ad nauseum but they’re 3rd world.
- I feel like Ralphie deserves a more permanent pen/setup for game days. A place of honor and create a photo op out of it. It’s still strange to see handlers carrying a mobile pen with Ralphie inside to get her in position.
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55k is functional as the revenues will increase as demand allows for higher ticket prices. A bunch of new nosebleed seats would end up going at a lower price while dropping the value of other existing seats for higher value games.

Need to keep in mind that we are talking about 6-7 home dates per year, maybe 8 if seasons expand or the copy other schools in scheduling more heavily at home.

I wouldn't tear down Balch but I would gut it and completely redo the inside. Install professional concession facilities there. This could be done while still developing the space for use for other events including rental for conferences, etc.. Redo the seating on the west side in front of Balch into a double decked set up with covered seating available (and sold at a premium price,) appealing to many older higher income fans who don't want to sit out in the wind, rain, and snow.

To the north of Balch extend the stands up and move visitors seating here freeing up those lower sections for additional student seating. If you want additional capacity do a matching upper seating area to the south of Balch that maintains balance with the seating added to the north and somewhat consistent with the lines on the upper sections on the east side.

The area under these new seating facilities could be used for additional restroom capacity, concessions, team store, etc.

On the east side the covered area under the upper stands were the food truck concessions facilities currently are gets completely redone.

Build a structure in there making that space two floors high. Lower floor gets permanent facilities for "fast" type concessions plus additional restroom facilities, Second floor gets additional concession facilities with more higher end items and potentially a seating area with video and sound. This would also be an area with potential for generating event revenues outside of game days.

Concourse issue is an expensive one again that would also cost seating capacity to fix. A cheaper, at least temporary fix would be to add additional ushers who control entry at key portals pushing people coming in before the game starts and halftime to walk to their general entry point on the outside instead of entering and trying to go around half the stadium on the narrow concourse in all the traffic.

A/V and Ralphie your points make sense.
 
DBT said:
It won’t happen, but Folsom needs to be gutted and rebuilt while maintaining the exterior facade. That would take more than 9 months so would require playing a season in Denver. Folsom is at least 30 years past its original design life.

An option might be phasing over a few years with each phase being started and completed in an off season.
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Two seasons at Mile High Stadium is highly likely in that case. UW had to do the same thing when they did a rebuild of Husky Stadium.

I think improving the experience should take priority over maintaining anything from Folsom Field. Utah used to have an "UTAH" in the same area as we have our "COLORADO" in the south EZ area. The Utes got rid of that and then now there's a building with a big "UTAH" painted on it that is visible.

1694384360445.png

Today's stadium...look at where the UTAH is located at these days.

1694384466674.png
 
skibum said:
1. The troughs are classic.
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Excited Lets Go GIF
 
rynobuff said:
What's a realistic capacity to aim for if we want to be in the big boy conferences by 2030?
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If you believe, as I do, that the student section needs to be expanded by at least 5,000 seats, then I don’t think anything less than 65,000 gets you what you need going forward. And a big chunk of those 65,000 need to be premium seats with big donations attached.

the student section is essentially the same size it was when the undergrad population was 2/3 of what it is today. They’ve added 10,000 undergrads but not one additional student seat in Folsom. That needs to be addressed.
 
Not Sure said:
If you believe, as I do, that the student section needs to be expanded by at least 5,000 seats, then I don’t think anything less than 65,000 gets you what you need going forward. And a big chunk of those 65,000 need to be premium seats with big donations attached.

the student section is essentially the same size it was when the undergrad population was 2/3 of what it is today. They’ve added 10,000 undergrads but not one additional student seat in Folsom. That needs to be addressed.
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Honestly kick out all the traitor boomers on the west side that sell their tix and replace them with students
 
Not Sure said:
JMHO, we need to add at least 15k in capacity. A 58k capacity stadium would put us at a distinct disadvantage, revenue wise, with our peers going forward. We need to do all the other stuff, too. But we simply cannot afford to be pulling in half of the game day revenue of our peers. Just can’t.
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I agree. If we're at least to 65k, we'd have the largest stadium in the Big 12. That's a significant competitive advantage for revenue and for making an impression on recruits.
 
SINKRATZ said:
The Empire State Building was built in 1 year and 45 days. You just have to be ok with a few dozen dead workers being entombed in the concrete.
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There's a joke about this being an acceptable price to pay given that the labor force involved would include a bunch of fuskers, but I can't seem to find it without coming off like an insensitive dick.
 
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