Facilities Master Plan

[Local Boy]

So what do you think? Renovation of memorial stadium. Possibly making it indoors or what? Maybe connect it to the parking tamp (reason for bridge to nowhere) and add TONS of seating or what?

[SiouxCrew11]

I totally agree with that. Plus, the Alerus center doesn't have a large enough capacity. We want to look towards the future, and hopefully be wehre NDSU is in 4 years. This would mean selling out about 19,000 every game. The Alerus center only holds 13,500 for football and to be honest it's a bit of a tin can.

Do we have the money to have our own footballstadium?

Is there enough room/resources to renovate Memorial stadium into a large capacity stadium probably indoors?

I need info!

Anybody know of anything?

[PCM]

UND needs to own their football stadium so they can bank the revenue from the football program and other events.

Ticket sales, advertising, concessions, etc.

Does anyone know how owning a large stadium on campus compares to renting the Alerus? I assume that depending on how a new stadium is financed, the cost of ownership could be considerable. And even if the money is raised to fund the construction costs, there are still expenses involved in operating and maintaining such a facility. That makes me wonder whether there would be bankable revenue from ownership.

[supersioux]

I've always thought it would be interesting to see the usage agreement that UND has with the Alerus and be able to compare it to the usage agreement NDSU has with the Fargo Dome. It seems that NDSU uses the Fargo Dome more than UND uses the Alerus (ie spring practices, office space, spring game, ect.). That makes me wonder if they have a better agreement with their city owned facility than we do.

[PCM]

That makes me wonder if they have a better agreement with their city owned facility than we do.

Or maybe they just have a different agreement.

[The Sicatoka]

Fargodome is on property owned by NDSU. That can't hurt their arrangement.

[supersioux]

Fargodome is on property owned by NDSU. That can't hurt their arrangement.

I forgot about that. I'm sure that has helped them tremendously or at least given them some bargining power.

[TheGreatSiouxNation]

Does anyone know what UND pays for rent?? I heard around $20,000 a game. Don't know if that's true. Sounds high to me.

[GeauxSioux]

How does this stadium look??

JLG consulted with UND athletics staff and University administration during the masterplanning exercise. Considering the overall campus masterplan, JLG provided the University of North Dakota Athletics with three options to centralize their athletic programs and facilities while meeting the many requirements to move to Division I Athletics. In a five year phased approach Sioux athletics could be a top tier Division I Athletic program. With these parameters and planning, UND athletics has in hand options that will help them succeed in their move to Division I Athletics.

Athletics Master Plan

There are more images of the stadium on the JLG website.

[UND Fan]

How does this stadium look??

Athletics Master Plan

There are more images of the stadium on the JLG website.

Wow! Any specific details as to when this could become a reality? I would think it would be many years from now!

[SiouxCrew11]

I think I'm in love....

It would have to be down the road though. i don't think UND has the ability to sell out a stadium that big right now (we don't even sell out the Alerus). Obviously a lot of things have to happen first in order to have that happen.

[PCM]

How does this stadium look??

Too open.

[GeauxSioux]

Too open.

At least the field runs east/west and the cold north wind is somewhat blocked.

[bincitysioux]

It looks very nice. I bet the atmosphere in there would be fantastic with ~5,300 people.

Where are the other two options?

[GF_siouxfan]

How does this stadium look??

Athletics Master Plan

There are more images of the stadium on the JLG website.

this new plan seems like a Gem to me

[PCM]

Anyone notice that in the other images, the current Fighting Sioux logo is gone? People are wearing the UND flame logo. Plus, football fans are attending games outdoors in shorts and T-shirts. I guess we should be prepared for global warming and life after the Fighting Sioux.

[GeauxSioux]

Anyone notice that in the other images, the current Fighting Sioux logo is gone? People are wearing the UND flame logo. Plus, football fans are attending games outdoors in shorts and T-shirts. I guess we should be prepared for global warming and life after the Fighting Sioux.

But it does still say Sioux in the end zone. Of course there is "Force of the North on the scoreboard.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Those are simply awesome renderings. I wonder what the capacity of that stadium is. Outdoor football is great, but when it starts getting to 15-20 degrees out, it is going to be very tough to pack a stadium like that. Hopefully bigger opponent names will spark interest.

[supersioux]

I know it's just a rendering, but doesn't it look too big? It may just be me but it looks like a stadium that 50-60k. I always thought that the talk was 20-25k.

[star2city]

I know it's just a rendering, but doesn't it look too big? It may just be me but it looks like a stadium that 50-60k. I always thought that the talk was 20-25k.

If you build a stadium for 25K and later want to expand it, the later expansion should be part of the preliminary drawings. It's interesting to note that the turrets of Memorial Stadium remain standing and are dwarfed by the new stadium.

Also, aren't almost all football stadiums north-south in orientation?

[bisonguy]

If you build a stadium for 25K and later want to expand it, the later expansion should be part of the preliminary drawings. It's interesting to note that the turrets of Memorial Stadium remain standing and are dwarfed by the new stadium.

Also, aren't almost all football stadiums north-south in orientation?

Not so much any more. Close to one-third of all NFL stadiums run east/west. Prevailing winds, scenic views, and land availability are a few reasons why the north/south orientation is not always followed.

It used to be followed closer when stadiums were smaller, to keep the setting sun out of the players eyes (also why it's still followed more often for soccer).

BTW- nice looking stadium plan.

[GeauxSioux]

If you build a stadium for 25K and later want to expand it, the later expansion should be part of the preliminary drawings. It's interesting to note that the turrets of Memorial Stadium remain standing and are dwarfed by the new stadium.

Also, aren't almost all football stadiums north-south in orientation?

It also appears that there is a skyway going from Hyslop to the old Memorial. The "bridge to nowhere" from the new parking deck appears to go to a second parking deck (in the first picture posted) with another skyway from that parking deck to the new stadium.

[dakotadan]

I know it's just a rendering, but doesn't it look too big? It may just be me but it looks like a stadium that 50-60k. I always thought that the talk was 20-25k.

Ding, Ding, Ding! Every mention of UND moving back on campus by the administration has mentioned 20-30,000. This rendering looks bigger than that. However, I would hope that any future stadium for UND is planned for the largest capacity possible and then scaled down from there. The Alerus had no growth possibilities what-so-ever. That is why UND is looking at getting back on campus(besides suite and sales revenue). Take off the horse-shoe endzone and what does the capacity look like? Build the north side the first year, south side the second while keeping Memorial stadium as the end-zone and you have a decent sized start with alot of future room for growth!

One thing that I think UND has had lack on is vision for the future. While the full rendering may look too big for right now, at least they are leaving their options open for the future.

By the way, did anyone else see the KVLY report a couple of weeks ago that talked about how UND hoped to some day have a 30,000 seat DOME on campus with Memorial as part of it. I don't see any plans for a dome in these plans.

[star2city]

How does this stadium look??

This is what $285 Mill is buying for the Gophers 50,000 seat stadium:

The pitch of the UND rendering is seems steeper, and the seating not as expansive in the upper deck. Perhaps it is 35,000 seats --> maybe $150 Mill ?

[PCM]

The "bridge to nowhere" from the new parking deck appears to go to a second parking deck (in the first picture posted) with another skyway from that parking deck to the new stadium.

The plan that's been out for a long time was to connect the "bridge to nowhere" to another parking ramp on the east side of Columbia. Because of the parking problems on campus, that's going to happen regardless of whether a new stadium is built. The "bridge to nowhere" was always going somewhere, or it wouldn't have been built.