Originally Posted by
Hammersmith
That's effectively what I'd like to see happen, but the key words are economically feasible. The people on here who actually know about things like this(as opposed to the ones that only think they do) believe the price of an expansion project like that would be in the same ballpark as a brand new stadium.
Rebuilding vs New Pros:
Reuse existing infrastructure
Keep perfect location for Bison FB(next door to SHAC)
No unneeded duplication of facilities(Fargo doesn't need both a 19k AND 35k seat facilities)
Rebuilding vs New Cons:
Just as expensive as building new
There are always design compromises when renovating as opposed to building new
Facility would be out of service for a year or more(this is the big one to most people here)
BTW, the joke they're referring to was an old conversation(10+ years ago ?!?) where someone(Herdbot?) said "just take out the pillars and add seating in the corners". Except he said nothing about building a new roof structure. It had to be pointed out to him that those pillars were more than just decoration and kinda served a purpose.
My (unrealistic) dream would be to build an all new roof structure and concourse around the perimeter of the FD while it was still in operation. When the work has gotten as far as it can, shut down the FD and start demo. Open the old roof and start hauling out the old stands and roof structure. Lower in new stands in a full bowl arrangement with a much lower seating pitch. You'll lose rows at the top, but you'll make up for it with the corners and a much more functional second deck. Then bring in the second deck that follows the current NSEW layout without corner seating. Underneath the second deck goes a large amount of suites. Finally close up the new roof and open for business. If everything is staged correctly, I bet the FD would be down for less than 12 months. But I also bet the project would be more expensive than starting fresh.