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BisonCity
01-02-2005, 07:57 PM
Why is there not a greater outcry by bison fans to make the new arena downtown suitable for Bison basketball play? An arena in the downtown area with division 1 basketball would do wonders for area businesses and it would also help the team recruit. Wouldn't it be a drawback to the program if tax dollars went to a arena that did not help them out?

JBB
01-02-2005, 10:30 PM
I think thats right.

Gamehunter
01-02-2005, 10:49 PM
I personally dont believe in that idea. I think that "skyscraper" is a very bad idea for downtown fargo, but thats just my opinion. And I'm not so sure the city of Fargo is ready to build NDSU yet another arena. Laying low for a while can't hurt anything. Besides, it appears like the BSA is getting renovated, not that I totally agree with that either...

BisBison
01-02-2005, 11:11 PM
Hey X-Factor, what ARE you in favor of? I love guys like you. Negative on other people's ideas and offering no ideas of your own. I personally think a BBall arena that seats 7500-8000 would be just the ticket for the Bison for the near term.

Bisonguy
01-02-2005, 11:41 PM
I like the concept of the Cityscapes project for downtown, but I don't know if a downtown Bison BB facility is in the best interest of NDSU. I would much prefer an arena on-campus, even if it's the BSA for another 10 to 20 years.

BisonMav
01-03-2005, 12:11 AM
I am not in favor of a off-campus arena for the Bison. You loose a lot of students by moving the games away from campus. The students are a big part of college athletics.

JBB
01-03-2005, 12:13 AM
well, if they have a campus at Northern School, more campus in the proposed development, good buses and a few parking spaces, combine that with a nice arena and the Downtown going on I dont see any harm. 8)

Gamehunter
01-03-2005, 12:57 AM
Hey X-Factor, what ARE you in favor of? I love guys like you. Negative on other people's ideas and offering no ideas of your own. I personally think a BBall arena that seats 7500-8000 would be just the ticket for the Bison for the near term.

Hey Bisbison, I think its time to grow up. :-/ I dont think you need to start a pissing match over something so arbitrary. I simply stated my opinion on the issue, that is all. I simply feel NDSU can do better than that arena in downtown fargo. Sorry if you don't.

The BSA has plans of being renovated; that will satisfy B-ball untill something much better can be done about the issue.

mikelsch
01-03-2005, 04:50 PM
"The BSA has plans of being renovated; that will satisfy B-ball untill something much better can be done about the issue."

This is exactly the position that NDSU is taking right now. NDSU wants an on-campus arena for basketball. Rightly so, NDSU wants complete control over its facilities. The fargodome locker fiasco is enough to solidify their stance on this issue.

tony
01-03-2005, 11:36 PM
I've never heard a convincing argument why a retail/office/residential development needs a hockey (or basketball) arena next door. It just doesn't seem to add anything to the development.

For example, if I were buying a place there, I'd rather be looking out over an outdoor rink in the winter that turns into a plaza in the summer (kind of like Rockefeller Plaza). That way I could look out at people skating or having lunch instead of a bunch of giant noisy HVAC boxes sitting on top of an even bigger brick box. Plus, they'd be destroying some of the unique buildings and possibly the businesses that make downtown more interesting and replacing them with something with no soul or utility. Cripes, a grocery store would make much more sense than a hockey arena and add a lot more for the current and future residents of downtown. Just saying the word "synergy" doesn't do it for me.

I like the rest of the project because having people live downtown is the only thing that will revitalize it. BTW, fourteen stories is no skyscraper :) Some people, believe it or not, like the vibrancy and convenience that comes with a little higher population density. Fargo has little to offer that type of person. In fact, all development in the Fargo metro area seems to be geared to creating as much sprawl as possible.

Anyway, this is kind of a roundabout way of saying that if the arena project doesn't make sense for Fargo, NDSU would be foolish to back it even if they built the BB team a palace downtown.

Maybe somebody else can sell me on the idea.

Bisonguy
01-04-2005, 12:23 AM
It would be nice if more defininte plans could be made available for the Cityscapes project. I've heard seating anywhere from 3,000 to "upgradable to" 7,000-8,000. I've heard of no parking plans, and now there's talk of two different parking ramp plans. If it's $40MM for a 3,000 seat arena, that's pretty ridiculous. REA was built for around $100MM for 10,000+ seats, and that's with some superfluous furnishings and two ice sheets.

tony- 14 stories IS a skyscraper in ND (even Fargo with the HighRise, Radisson, and Bank of the West (formerly Community First) buildings). ;)

tony
01-04-2005, 01:36 AM
If you do a search on the Forum's website for the word "synergies", you'll find a Q&A with the developer's head guy. He talks about a separate project for a parking ramp across the street. He also reiterates that a 4500-seat arena is the size, the quote was:


We've said from the beginning this could be expanded to 7,000 seats. But as we've done our homework on the project, we believe this is a financially stable project at 4,500 seats.

I don't know what he means by "financially stable."

Here's the full article if you're like me and feel dirtied just by having to type "synergies" (http://new.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=79475&section=News)

Bisonguy
01-04-2005, 02:05 AM
I think spinergy might be a better term....

I read that article previously, but it still doesn't clarifiy any of the other info I've heard about the proposed arena from The Forum, radio and TV media, and people with petitions to get a special election held.

So, we're looking at about $10k a seat- that's almost the same price that REA came in at. This "arena" better have two sheets of ice (the second one with about another 500-1000 seats) and speaking of seats, they better be leather for that price tag. Preferably rich Corinthian leather.

I'm starting to think they just pulled this $40MM figure out of the air. ::)