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BisonMav
08-12-2004, 02:52 PM
I have heard a lot of people bash the BSA. I may be one of the few, but I like the BSA for basketball. There may be a few things that need to be updated. I like the bench seats because they get people off their arses during the games. What do others think is so bad about the BSA?

PS: To whom it may concern, don't even start with the fieldturf.

NDSU_grad
08-12-2004, 02:56 PM
The only thing I don't like about the BSA is that it's too big. Not in terms of seats but rather space. It's almost like playing in a big dome. Hyslop was a dump but the bball atmosphere was always pretty cool.

roadwarrior
08-12-2004, 02:59 PM
Putting more seats in the end zones would have the effect of "closing in" the court. Even now, they do a pretty good job of hiding the size of the arena by having no lights turned on over the north and south ends.

Comfortable seats would be nice though ;D

WYOBISONMAN
08-12-2004, 04:10 PM
There needs to be endzone seating to give a "Bowl" feel to it. That is probably the cheapest way to improve it.

JBB
08-12-2004, 04:47 PM
IVe watched a lot of BB in there myself. I dont like the bleachers any more, but have spent a lot of time in them. Its not a bad place to go to see a game. I dont know what the locker rooms are like anymore or any of the other facilities, but the BSA has other problems that dont involve the game atmosphere or seating.

WYOBISONMAN
08-12-2004, 05:03 PM
The ideal would be a new 12,000 seat arena, but that would cost a little bit of cash!!

mikelsch
08-12-2004, 06:21 PM
Anyone heard any updates on the BSA revision?

IMO, the BSA should be revised as a top-notch training facility and office complex. Also, in order to be taken seriously as a DI school, we need a nice 8,000 seat (give or take) arena for basketball. NDSU Volleyball and wrestling matches could also be played there. This would be a great venue for High School Tournaments, smaller concerts, and other events (maybe a NIT game or two). Best location: Dacotah Field. It would mean tearing down an icon, but no other logical place on campus. It is close to large parking lots, BSA, and Fargodome. Of course money is the issue, but there has to be a way for the university to make it happen. Although, it won't occur until NDSU improves its classroom and living space for the increased enrollment and educational programs.

Bisonfan1234
08-13-2004, 12:15 AM
At the minimum, the BSA is simply not a place you want to show off to recruits. It's just too old. It was probably the greatest thing ever back int he 70's, but it's time for something new.

I would support a new BB/VB arena built on top of Dacotah.

SKYdreamzzz
08-14-2004, 07:41 AM
the BSA is going to ROCK this year with our first year of DI opponents!!! Oh MAN!! mayville state...bemidji..minot...WAIT???? isn't that the same crap we've kicked the last MANY years without the promise of playing real teams down the road??? are we really DIVISION ONE??? HELP???

SKYdreamzzz
08-14-2004, 07:44 AM
At the minimum, the BSA is simply not a place you want to show off to recruits. It's just too old. It was probably the greatest thing ever back int he 70's, but it's time for something new.

I would support a new BB/VB arena built on top of Dacotah.

Start dialing up your alumni....I don't think NDSU or the State (could or SHOULD) pony up the dough to fix up that old pig!! Maybe you should have thought about upgrading facilities BEFORE you made the BIG MOVE to DIVISION ONE (aa*)

*Not to be confused with REAL DIVISION ONE

tony
08-14-2004, 03:31 PM
C'mon skydreamzzz, we have a smack board so Bison fans don't have to wade through a lot of junk to see the stuff that interests them. If you have a point (like this post does), then that's OK, but if it becomes clear that your only intent is to be a jerk, then post over on the smack board. Anyway, this is your second warning.

You can't be expected to know it, but NDSU's thinking was that no matter which division NDSU was going to be in, the BSA would still need to be renovated ASAP. However, it would just be an easier sell to donors if NDSU made the move to DI.

Moreover, with UNC and UC Davis moving up and rumors of big changes to the NCAA structure, they thought the best place to be to be able to weather and react to changes was DI. If NDSU didn't go DI when they did, the Big Sky might be discussing expansion with the possible candidates being UNC, SUU, and maybe SDSU.

bison_baseball
08-17-2004, 07:41 PM
The BSA needs alot of work, I know personally as a former SU athlete! When I was recruited to play baseball at SU, I had first experienced Newman Outdoor field (which is one of the best facilities in D-I and D-II sports for baseball) and then I saw the Fargo Dome and then finally I arrived at the BSA. Not only is it an eye-sore but also very outdated. There should be no way that a facility like that should be at a top level university like SU. They should just pick it up and move it north, it would probably fit right in at UND.
There was talks a few years ago about the fact that if SU moves into D-I, then they will have to renovate the BSA....not only for basketball but also for baseball/softball and wrestling. The last thing that I heard was that they were talking replacing the outdoor turf with a indoor baseball/softball facilty and then renovating the BSA for basketball and wrestling. Hopefully they can find the funding soon....cause we sure need it!

IowaBison
08-17-2004, 08:05 PM
I think that if the bison football team wins at least 6 games and average 12000+ at their games, the university will start they're drive (pure speculation on my part)

I think it takes a lot of energy to change divisions, find a conference, increase donations, and win

I strongly believe that a new, not remodeled venue that seats at least eight preferably twelve thousand for basketball and wrestling is the way to go, JBB can buy.

tony
08-17-2004, 09:30 PM
Last I heard the plan was to renovate (rather than replace the BSA) with a price tag of about $15 million - didn't matter if NDSU stayed in DII or moved up to DI, NDSU wants it fixed up.

I haven't heard where that process is - probably having architects look at it and decide what can be done.

"The emphasis of the work at the BSA will involve improvements to the facility and the existing infrastructure. Areas of emphasis will include: HVAC system, ADA compliance, locker room expansion/upgrades, athletic training areas, classroom technology enhancements, and offices/conference/meeting rooms relocation (for space efficiency). Along with these, refurbishment of the pool area for better ventilation, chemical monitoring, and leak repair, replacement of the unsafe playing surfaces in the building, and replacement of the bleacher systems due to safety issues and concerns are also being planned. Funding for this project would be provided through private funds obtained by fund raising and would be classified as local funds. No additional operating costs are being requested, as the building will not be enlarged."

bison_baseball
08-18-2004, 08:24 PM
They should open the design of the BSA to the Architecture students and faculty. This could cut cost substantially and also provide an oppurtunity for the architecture department to be noticed. There are various licensed architects in the program at SU and would be great to see something like this happen. Just a thought....

dnk
08-19-2004, 05:13 AM
How old is the BSA? Was it built like in the early 70's?
Just curious.

Bisonguy
08-19-2004, 05:26 AM
How old is the BSA? *Was it built like in the early 70's?
Just curious.

1970 at the cost of $3.1 million.

tony
08-19-2004, 02:08 PM
Here's a history of the BSA:

History of the BSA (http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/archives/ndsubuildings/Bison/history.html)

For bison_baseball, I do think they still want a indoor practice facility like a sports bubble over Dacotah or something. I can't seem to find a price for one of those... I've never seen one up close and am wondering about their construction and materials. Anybody know what they are called or who makes them?

bison_baseball
08-19-2004, 04:24 PM
A sports bubble would be a great addidtion to Dacotah Field, kind of like what they have in Minot just at a lower scale. It's just really hard to practce indoors on the floor of the BSA, and it would be nice to actually be able to practice in the winter on some sort of a turf and not have to work our schedule around basketball and wrestling. I can't even imagine how hard it is for softball to practice in the Bunker....that roof is pretty low and they have all hardwood in there. I really think SU needs to take of this, if we are going to be a D-I University we need to start acting like one and looking like one.

Bisonguy
08-19-2004, 04:27 PM
I think any sort of sports bubble would look like, well, the Sports Bubble in Fargo. That, or they could put up a steel building fairly inexpensively. I've seen some practice facilities that use steel buildings, but usually they're for football.

BisonMav
08-19-2004, 04:46 PM
I think any sort of sports bubble would look like, well, the Sports Bubble in Fargo. That, or they could put up a steel building fairly inexpensively. I've seen some practice facilities that use steel buildings, but usually they're for football.
They have a couple bubbles in the Twin Cities. Stillwater and Woodbury both have full size soccer fields inside theirs.

IowaBison
08-19-2004, 05:11 PM
Iowa State just finished building a large and very nice steel building which i'm sure cost much more than a bubble, but also looks a lot better

the U has a steel practice building that is quite a bit older, but functional none-the-less

Flintstone
08-19-2004, 05:17 PM
A pre-engineered steel building would cost around $40.00/SF depending on what type of electrical and mechanical systems are in it.

IowaBison
08-19-2004, 06:00 PM
is that a building that's 30 feet or 80 feet high?

Bisonfan1234
08-19-2004, 06:03 PM
the U has a steel practice building that is quite a bit older, but functional none-the-less

Actaully they have a relatively new indoor, full sized (high enough to kick as well) practice field with fieldturf.

IowaBison
08-19-2004, 06:12 PM
that's what i was referring to, the building isn't new though, they must have remodeled it


http://www.gophersports.com/Facilities/gibson_nagurski.asp

Flintstone
08-19-2004, 08:13 PM
$40 is a ballpark figure for a large structure. (Large area and height)

NDSU_grad
08-20-2004, 12:45 AM
I think ISU's practice field cost around 9 million.

Bisonfan1234
08-20-2004, 12:46 AM
that's what i was referring to, the building isn't new though, they must have remodeled it


http://www.gophersports.com/Facilities/gibson_nagurski.asp


The current Gibson Nagurski Football Complex was finished in 1985 and had no interior updates prior to the summer of 1997.

You were right.

NDSU_grad
09-10-2004, 03:47 PM
I wanted to bump this topic up after reading this in the forum.
"NDSU will soon kick off a capital campaign to pay for renovations to the Bison Sports Arena, where the basketball teams now play. The goal is to raise $8 million to $16 million for arena improvements. NDSU recently received a $1 million anonymous donation."

That was in an article talking more about the Fargodome/NDSU "controversy".

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=69374&section=News

Bisonfan1234
09-10-2004, 07:09 PM
They need to surround the court with permanent seats and buy a new indoor track that could be set up on Dacotah with a bubble.

Bisonguy
09-14-2004, 05:53 AM
Sounds like the $1MM dollar donation to start off the reported $8MM BSA renovation might be put to use on a new court and a new scoreboard as early as this year. Gene Taylor said architects have been consulted for the project for recommendations, but now they are looking at getting into specifics. Structural improvements to the BSA are thought to be a few years off.

This via WDAY 10:00 news at 11:30 this evening. ;)

BisonBBALL
09-14-2004, 05:28 PM
The BSA unfortunately has a ways to go before it will match the "Betty" for basketball.

Bisonfan1234
09-14-2004, 05:49 PM
Actually, with this new court and scoreboard, and possibly a new exterior and new seats in the future, it might be just as good if not better.

bison_baseball
09-14-2004, 06:29 PM
Not only does the BSA need a new court, and seating but the locker rooms and training room facility are pretty outdated. That training room gets filled up pretty quickly around 3-4 o'clock. They need to expand it and provide more training tables. As for locker rooms, I don't really know much about the ones in the BSA, as I myself spent 5 years in the ones at Newman. Now that's a good D-I facility. But as I was saying, I've only heard the rumors as to how bad the lockers rooms are at the BSA. This needs to be improved, not only for our current athletes but also for recruiting purposes. You can't compete with the U of M for northern prospects bout of high school by showing them the BSA and Bentson Bunker. It just doesn't work!

Bison_Dan
09-14-2004, 09:30 PM
The BSA unfortunately has a ways to go before it will match the "Betty" for basketball.


How do you know? *There has yet to be a BB game played in the betty! * 4000 seats? *

NDSU_grad
09-14-2004, 09:55 PM
When you guys say "court", do you mean the wooden one they bring out for actual games, or the permanent rubber one. I would think the wooden one is just fine, and shouldn't be that expensive to replace if it is outdated. So $1 million dollars gets you a scoreboard and a floor. Ouch.

bison_baseball
09-14-2004, 10:24 PM
The wood court is fine, if you are looking at it from the stands! But the way that it is pieced together for each game, has cause some wear and it has numerous dead spots up and down it. If you only had the chance to walk it or dribble on it, and you'd understand quickly where I am coming from.

Bisonfan1234
09-15-2004, 01:26 AM
All courts are peiced together. If our currect court is bought dsicounted off another school and is 20+ years old, fine, get a new one.

Otherwise, why waste money?

roadwarrior
09-15-2004, 04:11 AM
The current wood floor at the BSA resided in the former Minneapolis Auditorium and the Mpls Lakers played on that floor. Yeah, its old!

bison_baseball
09-15-2004, 05:12 PM
Let us not forget, this topic is not solely for the purpose of talking about how old the basketball court is but rather the BSA itself and how IT is outdated. This place is architecturaly an eye sore from the inside out. I understand that SU doesn't have all the money that we wish they did, but something needs to be done. If they decide to build a bubble on Dacotah, do you really think this is a good place to move the indoor track events and practice? I thought that it was intented to be built for the use of baseball and softball during the winter months, when the indoor season for track is on. There are so many scheduling problems during the winter it isn't even funny. You have wrestling meets, basketball games and practice, baseball practice, track practice along with meets. We need to find a happy medium here and break things up. If you move baseball and softball to the bubble, you still have a scheduling conflict as to who gets what time in there. Then you throw track in there too....it's pretty much the same situation as the BSA. Any thought?????

bison_baseball
09-15-2004, 05:14 PM
Oh, and I forgot the mention inter-mural atheltics, they like to get in there during the week too and really put a twist to things!!!!

Bisonfan1234
09-15-2004, 05:45 PM
Intramurals are going to have to move to the bunker.

Perhaps the bunker should just be demoted to the intramural campus gym. It's where gym classes are held anyway, right?

Vball could just pratice in the BSA on the new court.

So 3 teams are on that court practicing.

Baseball, softball, soccer will need space. That's where the Dacotah Bubble comes in.

Now, what about indoor track?

The only thing I can think of is to set it up at the Dome. Football won't need the space until late spring when when track is outdoors anyway. A new, banked, modular track can be taken down and stored at the dome very easily. The only thing would be getting the dome to let them use the space. Why not? They let football do it.

bison_baseball
09-15-2004, 06:42 PM
1234, great idea! They could locate the new track in the dome, which actually would be a great location. Not only will you have adequate seating, with plenty of places to lay and rest as track doesn't get the greatest attendance in the north for meets but you could also utilize the concourse for warming up. Now for the bubble, with pitching mounds and batting cages located on the upper deck, you would open the floor to both baseball, softball and soccer. And then it really comes down to a scheduling factor, who has morning practice on the floor or in the cages and who gets practice time in the evening? As for volleyball moving to the BSA, that actually works also. The bunker gets way too hot for games anways. Another question....why doesn't SU open up the windows in the Bentson? That would look amazing, with the ivy and everything. It would definitely make the building from the inside out look a little more appealing!

Bisonfan1234
09-15-2004, 06:58 PM
I think if they opened the windows the entire structure would collapse under it's own weight.

BisonBBALL
09-15-2004, 11:07 PM
Bison Dan.
Re Your Questions: How do you know? There has yet to be a BB game played in the betty! 4000 seats?

Toured the Betty and it appeared impressive.

What's the problem with 4,000 seats? My guess is that will be enough for the Sioux...they probably average around 2500 per game.