Are Fans To Far Away From The Court @ CKA (And Other Arena Discussions)?

[ripemupshocks]

Once upon a time, there were issues raised by the fire marshal with the number of people who were being squeezed into the Chuck. I don't recall if it was before or after the renovation; probably after.

For the record, IMO, this is a stupid discussion.

Back in the old standing room only days (long before the renovation) when the Fire Marshall would always look the other way, the steps served as additional seats. I'll bet there were games they packed 12,000 into the joint. But that was back in the good old days when you could hang a coach in effigy and get away with it. I was only a wiggler back then. But I heard stories.

:wink-new:

[kstarheel]

The building is round. That means the seats form a circle around the court. Behind the baskets and at center-court, the seats are quite a ways away from the court. thaat's what happens when you try to put a circle around a rectangle.

Lowering the court doesn't provide any way to get seats closer to the court, it just lowers the court.

With the required clearnce at the ends of the court and on the sides of the court, the best you can do with a basketball court in a round building is to place the seating in a circle that will exactly go around a rectangle 106' long and 62' wide. that is a circle with a diameter of ~123' - let's call it 124'.

The closest seat directly behind the basket is 15' from the court. The closest seat at half court is 37' from the court. That is the disadvantage of a round building. The advantage of a round building is that it gets really loud. While the fans aren't right on top of the court, that's not important in a round building. The round roof focuses all the sound in the building directly to the floor, which is more disruptive than having fans sitting 6' off the edges of the court.

Nice. Obviously not a k-state grad. :-)

[kstarheel]

I love the Chuck. The Dean Dome seats twice as many people and yet isn't nearly as loud; partly because it's like a retirement home down by the court. The roundhouse is darn near perfect for a school like WSU.

[wuhog]

The round design already puts ALL fans closer to the action. I've been to AFH and the upper half corner seats feel like you're in another zip code. That's the problem with all of the rectangle arenas. The round is what makes the Chuck great. I would love to see suites if it is doable without losing current seating capacity.

Chuck >> AFH (even if I didn't hate the chickenhawks)

BTW - I love unladen swallows :-)

[MoValley John]

I don't have a dog in this fight, so don't kill me. With that, there are several round basketball arenas around the country that can serve as ideas. Purdue and Notre Dame ring a bell. Purdue has a lower floor with seating transitioning up to the sideline. Notre Dame, while round, has the lower seating running parallel to the sideline.

I'm not saying it should or shouldn't be done, nor do I have any idea if the water table would allow for it, but if the floor were lowered 10-12 ft, the areas at centercourt and under the basket could be utilized for more seating. Probably not cost effective, but who knows.

[boyshocker]

Back in the old standing room only days (long before the renovation) when the Fire Marshall would always look the other way, the steps served as additional seats. I'll bet there were games they packed 12,000 into the joint. But that was back in the good old days when you could hang a coach in effigy and get away with it. I was only a wiggler back then. But I heard stories.

:wink-new:

Your are right, it would be packed and the smokers only had to go out in the concourse to do their business. Halfway thru the second half there would be a cloud of smoke hanging at the top of the arena. That's something I don't miss.

[shockmonster]

Back in the old standing room only days (long before the renovation) when the Fire Marshall would always look the other way, the steps served as additional seats. I'll bet there were games they packed 12,000 into the joint. But that was back in the good old days when you could hang a coach in effigy and get away with it. I was only a wiggler back then. But I heard stories.

:wink-new:

I think the official record for the Roundhouse is 11,500.

[KC Shox]

I think Syracuse's, Vanderbilt's and Texas A&M's are worse than ours.

[pogo]

Yes, but a contractor (non-engineer) veered away from the engineer's design in the Hyatt and the original engineer didn't analyze the change request. So basically the walkway collapsed due to lack of engineering.

Plus it was designed to be a walkway not a place for people to stand and drink and congregate shoulder to shoulder. And the Challenger deal was you have to remember that the contracts given out to mfg the parts and components go through a bid process and the lowest one wins. So think about it, you are flying into space in a vehicle that was built out of parts that the lowest bidder built. That makes a guy feel warm and fuzzy right there.

[shock]

Did you just ask in code how fast she can swallow?

African or European?

[Rlh04d]

I guess you could make it more like Allen Field house and replace most of the seating with benches and no seat backs.:beguiled:

While sucky, benches are better for sound generation. The current seats absorb more noise.

I've heard of taking the roof off and going up but maybe going down is realistic. More close seats would make it more intimidating.

Could also lower the court, ala Autzen Stadium. Again, also good for sound generation.

[ciaomichael]

Your are right, it would be packed and the smokers only had to go out in the concourse to do their business. Halfway thru the second half there would be a cloud of smoke hanging at the top of the arena. That's something I don't miss.

Yeah, I remember the smokers. Well, at least it gave them a place to relax where they didn't have to go out into the freezing cold.

I also remember when there was a day game that was being televised, there would be thick black curtains draped across the interior entries to the arena. I guess it was to control the lighting for the telecast. It was rare, maybe only once or twice a season, but you always knew it was a big game when those curtains were up. The ushers stood there and guarded those curtains as if their pension depended on it, kind of giving you a dirty look if you dared to enter and exit during the game.

[pogo]

I think going down would be just as cost prohibitive as going up. The supporting foundation of the current structure may not allow it to be excavated.

[molly jabali]

Okay, why couldn't they lower the court. I don't know, lets say 10' to 15' and then use the extra seating (at least behind the team benches) for students. I think it looks pretty good with the students right behind the benches, standing cheering and giving verbal assaults to the opposing team. I am pretty sure you could get another 300 to 500 seats.

Just my thoughts.

I that what they did at OSU? I forget how they went from 6 to 13 or so....

[ShockBand]

I that what they did at OSU? I forget how they went from 6 to 13 or so....

O-State built up. Way up.