fifth third renovation

[ralph1950]

Originally Posted by Btown Bearcat

i have heard things like 100 million but i think they could do alot just by making the bottom a bowl shape just that alone would make the place so much better

A brand new state of the art arena would have a price tag of $150 million to $200 million.

IMO that would be the way to go. IMO renovating, no matter what you spend, will be like putting whipped cream on a pile of dung.

IMO UC is years away from doing either.

[#BearcatNation]

Originally Posted by ralph1950

A brand new state of the art arena would have a price tag of $150 million to $200 million.

IMO that would be the way to go. IMO renovating, no matter what you spend, will be like putting whipped cream on a pile of dung.

IMO UC is years away from doing either.

Untrue. Yeah, if you want an NBA-like arena like the Yum Center, it would cost a ton. But if you just want a nice arena with around 12-14k capacity, it wouldn't cost THAT much, unless it truly was unbelievable. Hell, Mizzou built their beautiful arena in 2004 that holds 15k for $75 mill ($92 mill in 2014 dollars). For $80-100 mill, you can get yourself a very nice arena. Not unbelievable, but a very solid home court. If they can find the $$ for it in a few years, I'm all for it. I think it just depends where it'd go on campus and if they'd just knock down FTA. But then again, if they can renovate US Bank for cheaper and make it look great, I wouldn't mind that either. I'm kind of torn. My only question about downtown is student dedication.

[Bearcat_NTS]

Originally Posted by ralph1950

A brand new state of the art arena would have a price tag of $150 million to $200 million.

IMO that would be the way to go. IMO renovating, no matter what you spend, will be like putting whipped cream on a pile of dung.

IMO UC is years away from doing either.

Correct. Renovating 5th 3rd to become a modern state of the art arena wouldn't cost much less than just building a brand new arena.

We have plenty of time to debate this topic though, I would be surprised if UC was playing in a new arena before 2020.

[Shoemaker]

The YUM Center works for Louisville for a variety of reasons: 1. They are the major league team in Louisville. 2. They've played "off campus" for a long time so they never felt pressure to keep a tradition of playing the games on campus. UC's campus is heads and shoulders above Louisville's, so to move downtown I feel would be forfeiting our strongest asset and recruiting tool.
The funding for Nippert has gone very well, which leads me to be cautiously optimistic about the possibility of a new or renovated arena.

[Scheids21]

Wasn't the estimate on renovating 53 $100 million? Thats the last thing I want them to do.

[UCalum08]

Originally Posted by Cataclysmo

If were going to build a new arena, I want to take some time and build a true state of the art palace, no matter how long it takes to raise that money.

I completely agree with you on that!!

[ralph1950]

Originally Posted by Scheids21

Wasn't the estimate on renovating 53 $100 million? Thats the last thing I want them to do.

Yep, if renovation is going to cost $100 million, and that is the cost that Whit has mentioned, in the long run, UC would be better off spending $200 million to build a state of the art arena from the ground up.

[Cataclysmo]

Originally Posted by ralph1950

Yep, if renovation is going to cost $100 million, and that is the cost that Whit has mentioned, in the long run, UC would be better off spending $200 million to build a state of the art arena from the ground up.

200$ million is a lot. Cintas was only 60$ and thats a very nice arena despite its smaller size. 100$ million should put us on equal recruiting grounds compared to the rest of the nation...

[ralph1950]

Originally Posted by Cataclysmo

200$ million is a lot. Cintas was only 60$ and thats a very nice arena despite its smaller size. 100$ million should put us on equal recruiting grounds compared to the rest of the nation...

Cintas was finished in the year 1999 and the cost was more like $40 million. Construction costs have more than doubled since 1999. To build an exact replica of Cintas today the cost would be at least $100 million if not more.

If UC does decide to build a new arena it has to be a heck of a lot better than Cintas. If your neighbor buys a Cadillac, you need to buy a Mercedes.

UC has to be able to recruit on an equal footing with P5 Conference teams, Ohio State, Louisville, Indiana, Kentucky. Xavier and Dayton are not the schools UC should want to be competing againse for recruits, UC needs to be better than that.

[LaxCat31]

Originally Posted by #BearcatNation

Untrue. Yeah, if you want an NBA-like arena like the Yum Center, it would cost a ton. But if you just want a nice arena with around 12-14k capacity, it wouldn't cost THAT much, unless it truly was unbelievable. Hell, Mizzou built their beautiful arena in 2004 that holds 15k for $75 mill ($92 mill in 2014 dollars). For $80-100 mill, you can get yourself a very nice arena. Not unbelievable, but a very solid home court. If they can find the $$ for it in a few years, I'm all for it. I think it just depends where it'd go on campus and if they'd just knock down FTA. But then again, if they can renovate US Bank for cheaper and make it look great, I wouldn't mind that either. I'm kind of torn. My only question about downtown is student dedication.

I agree with your question about student support if it's moved downtown. As a current student I am at every game at 5/3rd and I find it very annoying if we have to drive downtown to see any team play, football or basketball. I understand most adults like it downtown because of the bar scene and what not, but most students wouldn't appreciate having to drive AND pay for parking to see them play.