Interesting…yes, you pass through uptown to get to Ox College, but it is a really long way from south quad, etc I would venture a bit farther than Millet.
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And there certainly isn’t an inch of open undeveloped property in the immediate area surrounding Ox College. Buying four or five blocks could be expensive and controversial. I think the arena would be the only Miami facility detached from the campus. Locating it there would also compound traffic issues for traffic coming in and out from 73 and 27. IDK. Kind of SMH on this option.
General rule when I was in school was if you found a prospective date lived in Ox College you said “Never mind.”
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Appreciate the information but I really struggle to see a positive about building an off campus arena so far from where most of the students live. I can think of some other concerns as well but no need to go into them now. I would rather see a complete gut and rehab of Millett than this idea. But it’s not my money.
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If they were to do a complete gut and rehab of Millett where does basketball and volleyball play during the construction?
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The idea tossed around was to build a future volleyball only facility as an add-on to the east side of Millett where basketball would play until the remodel is done.
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Yes, that was and I believe still is a scenario. The complete rehab of Millett with a small field house added on for Volleyball (and bball during renovations) is still an option. I am not sure that this uptown idea is viable or good - I just wanted to share that this is a real thing being discussed - I was a bit surprised to hear that DS was talking about it out loud. That indicates to me that it is well beyond a random idea discussed in a conference room in a brain storming session.
For the record, there is a modest bit of open space at the end of Collins (up the hill from the old tollgate shopping center - a couple houses and other structures occupy what amounts to a few acres - I think this will involve buying houses, but there is some less dense space there - maybe that’s what they mean.
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The university owns some of the property to the west of Ox College on Elm St. It used to be part of culinary support but has recently been redeveloped into the Fisher Innovation Center.
An arena could potentially go there assuming the purchase of 6 homes and an apartment building. It would probably be very tight and I can’t imagine they would be keen on tearing down a donor backed project that just opened.
Shademakers has taken over the old feed lot south of that and has done a really nice job with the space. I doubt they would be too interested in relocating if needed for a parking structure.
But if it gets doners talking well, as Chazz Michael Michaels might say It’s provocative, it gets the people going!
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We just hired a new coach so maybe better to start now as I think that program is about to get very good again.
Talawanda HS
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There are many public-private arenas. If the city of Oxford wants more tourism $ they may be inclined to assist in securing land for an arena if projections show an uptown arena could accomplish this goal. There are several significant rental property owners who also may be ready to call it a day and donate run down rentals for major tax write-offs and naming ops. Uptown could happen - though unlikely.
If Millett moves to Cook (always liked this idea) the. Move the IM-fields to where Millett stands now
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Yeah if they had the funds to build anew, that would be a good spot. Accessible for most all of campus and could be a jewel right there in a prominent location.
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Not sure if anyone has seen what Duke has done to their stadium, but this looks awesome, especially when many treat the game as a social event versus actually watching the game. It did reduce the stadium from 40K to 35K. Cost is $45 in addition to a game ticket, so it’ll be about $75-150 per game for a seat and access to the area, inclusive of food/non-alc bev. I could see this being an great option for a small company outing, not as exclusive, but certainly cheaper than a suite and family friendly.
They’ve also added in a pre-game Club Blue Devil, complete with DJs. And in-stadium they have Blue Devil Backyard which is covered with lawn games and rocking chairs (for all you old folks, lol).
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Miami athletics should be taking note and doing the exact same. However, they are too stuck in their own ways or will act like they are strapped for cash.
In 2010-2014 they couldn’t even get tailgating sorted out correctly
Even if we had the money to do something like Duke, the way the stadium is configured it would be difficult. No room in either end zones. I guess at a large cost the scoreboard endzone could be turned into something.
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Even other “poor” G5/MAC schools have come up with some nice premium hospitality areas that could generate good revenue. Not sure what we are doing and it’s a little frustrating…
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We’re winning titles.
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I would not do anything to our two end zone areas, I think they are unique and near perfect. However , there are two areas where improvements would be great. Our pressbox area is old and small and I also think you could take the Northernmost section of the student side and create something like Duke has.
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Yeah look at Akron for example.
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