Have you ever seen the current wrestling facility? The Shac was remodeled, but that definitely was not. Looks the same as it did 20 years ago. I think he is saying they need to upgrade what they currently have. Suites at the Shac would be great. That area now on the east aide was great when that was the only place you could drink; but it is empty for most games. I would tink that is the area they would make into suites.
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If we are going to add Suites to the SHAC then we need to gut the whole arena portion, especially the upper west side and start from scratch. The whole thing was a boondoggle and needs to be redone properly.
In addition, now that it looks like FBS is inevitable, we have to get the FFD expansion done. As part of that, we MUST find a way to get the capacity up as well. Good G5 teams and crappy P4's don't travel to small stadiums period. As it sits now, we are going to have the smallest capacity stadium in FBS.
Last edited by AKBison; 05-10-2024 at 09:26 PM.
NDSU either needs to get super involved in fixing the dome or building a new outdoor stadium on our own. The dome is an ancient relic, the planned renovation from a football/facility standpoint was extremely uninspired and deserved to fail. Way too focused on the convention center aspect and doing little to bring an obslete facility up to date. It would have been like the SHAC renovation, a very expensive mistake we would have been stuck with for a long time.
NDSU to the FBS always. In all ways.
I am not sure capacity is a huge issue, the problem with the dome is that it has very little club/suite seating, next to no fan amenities and is like sitting inside of a hanger. It should really just be leveled so we can start over from scratch. Any kind of renovation is going to be SHAC like unless you spend as much as a new facility would likely cost.
NDSU to the FBS always. In all ways.
Leveling the dome is a bad idea. We couldn't even afford to do it if we wanted to. Plus it's paid off
Building a 2nd stadium is a tremendous idea whether it's outdoors or indoors
A dome remodel would be nothing like the SHAC. They spent a lot of money but 95% went towards the 100k SF addition to it like the weight room, administration offices, locker rooms, academic rooms, ticket office, etc. A chunk of it went into the ugly indoor track too. They added no capacity to the SHAC, no square footage and very little suite space. They didn't even build permanent stands
And you are correct capacity isnt the issue. It's amenities, most which would have been addressed with the last Fargodone expansion plan. 100 yards of club seating on the west side top. Corner party decks. Wider concourses. More bathrooms. Suites. Floor level restrooms and amenities. More food options. Tailgating plaza. It would have increased capacity too, just not in traditional seats
The economic impact of the Fargodome is insane. The only thing holding it back is NDSU Football taking up nearly 25% of all available Saturdays in a calendar year. A new stadium would free those up
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17X National Champions: 65, 68, 69, 83, 85, 86, 88, 90, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21
Join the Green and the Gold Collective to take Bison football to the next level. Starts at $10 a month
The Green and The Gold Collective is excited to announce our #DriveToFive membership campaign. The goal of this campaign is to get to 500 monthly members. Reaching this goal will help us provide financial support to NDSU student athletes, including every returning member of the football team that saw action on the field last year!
https://thegreenandthegold.com
There would be cold November games but you also aren't going into a hanger on a perfect September day either, so there is a trade off. An early season game under the lights would also kick ass. The more I think about it the more I want it, go FBS and go outdoors. Screw the city, do it ourselves.
NDSU to the FBS always. In all ways.
The metrodome was paid off and it was leveled. It is a very flawed facility, if NDSU went outdoors the city should be a Sioux Falls type of arena. It doesn't really need a dome. Renovating it is a complete and total waste of money. Current stadium design is so far from where the dome is, it isn't just amenities, you have a tomb like facility that has zero natural light with all seating on the same level. It is outdated to its very core. Building it was a great decision and it has served its purpose but the future should be looking at a new facility. That said we don't do things right up here, so we'll slap some more lipstick on the pig just like the SHAC.
NDSU to the FBS always. In all ways.