Roos Field Renovation

[BLACKFALKIN1]

Here is the money quote from the CWU article:

“I was just at a high school facility a month ago and that facility put ours to shame. Are we really offering an optimal experience? Are we offering our alumni an optimal experience? This is a basic level of service to bring an academic adequacy of these facilities.”

The other key piece I extracted was they made this announcement 4 days ago and plan to have it completed by next season. Good for them.

I'm not sure what the answer is at Eastern, but everytime I hear about it, I keep hearing this concept of "premium seating" being the priority. I disagree. The first hurdle to clear is adding substantial capacity and general aesthetic improvement. The big money guys can still get their box on the Westside. We need to get to 12,500 at a minimum, and frankly, erector set high rise bleachers would at least solve the problem of such limited capacity and the terrible image of a one-sided stadium. It's not ideal, but it's fairly safe to say reaching the "ideal" is not an option... at least not in the immediate future.

Spot on. Look at our north endzone seating, looks good right? If an expansion takes place on the Eastside would they demolish the existing north endzone seating? I personally don't think so. That means build an Eastside grandstand that mirrors the Westside grandstand but without pressbox & media facilities. And build it using the same materials and "look" as the Northside endzone grandstand. There's 5,000 seats on the westside, 2,500 in the endzone and create 5,000-6,500 more on the Eastside and call it a day.

Maybe even add a small building at the south endzone,(or under the new Eastside seating) almost like a "non sport specific" unit that's has a "locker room feel" where home (and possibly away) players and coaches can gather immediately before games & during halftime for pep talks, tunnel runs and whatnot. No running water, just lighting. Walking to and from the FB lockerroom in the phase during halftime is stupid & high schoolish.

Rename it Eagle Stadium at Roos Field or something Stadium. BTW, just leave the track! Oh well, it was a great thought but it's a pipe dream at this point. It's been 14 years and it's time for something big to happen.

EWU Football is not taken seriously because they don't have a legitimate identity... Our beloved program needs a stadium we call all be proud of. Maybe even consider crowd funding, idk, the point is... It's time.

 

[scottywashere11]

Maybe even consider crowd funding, idk, the point is... It's time.

They need to make a specific fund that is only dedicated to the stadium renovations.

 

[Rafter_Reese]

I agree with everything from the post above except the part about leaving the track. GET RID OF IT!!! On the other hand, I've always thought Eastern should try to put some sort of a building in the South End Zone. It would give the illusion of the stadium being even more full and filled out and look better on ESPN. I love what WSU did with the building they added in the end zone. I think they have the perfect model. Now, obviously we don't have the funding available to put up something that massive.....but maybe find a way to put up a scaled-down realistic version of something like that. Also, find a way to put a little bit of seating in front of the building. It's a clean look. Here's a picture of what Utah State did that illustrates the idea. I love everything they did except for the lack of seating at the bottom of the building. Even 5 rows of seating would be adequate.

http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/ust/graphics/auto/northendzone1.jpg

I know this is asking a lot...but it's what I'd do if we had the funds. Needless to say, this would be in addition to our eye-sore on the east side.

go eags!

 

[tomq04]

I tried listening to the mentioned AD podcast but 3 little children are making it tough. Can somoene give sparknotes to what they said about rennovation?

https://soundcloud.com/ewuathletics-1/athletic-director-bill-chaves-podcast-08-03-2017
edit- I found the spot i'm after.
"I'd rather under promise and under deliver" - Bill Chaves
I would rather have visibility into the issues to see how the alumni can help.

 

[Obzerver]

Chaves before:

Chaves after:

"I'd rather under promise and under deliver" - Bill Chaves
How bout under achieve and under deliver?
Bill, your legacy is getting the visitor side done or not..it is the biggest blight on our otherwise fantastic looking campus. Ask President Mary Cullinan if she would take a picture next to the high school bleachers to put on prospective literature sent to potential students who believe we are a big time/first class university.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I tried listening to the mentioned AD podcast but 3 little children are making it tough. Can somoene give sparknotes to what they said about rennovation?

https://soundcloud.com/ewuathletics-1/athletic-director-bill-chaves-podcast-08-03-2017
edit- I found the spot i'm after.
"I'd rather under promise and under deliver" - Bill Chaves
I would rather have visibility into the issues to see how the alumni can help.

You touched on the part I struggle with... It's almost like you have to force information out of Chaves on what he is working on. There appears to be no plan; there is no money hurdle presented that needs to be hit to make something happen. It just always seems to be handled behind closed doors with no timeline and no concrete plans. Remember, only a few years ago "it wasn't a matter of if the Gateway Project would happen, but a matter of when." It's hard to take the things said seriously any longer.

 

[JasonEWU]

Chaves before:

Chaves after:

"I'd rather under promise and under deliver" - Bill Chaves
How bout under achieve and under deliver?
Bill, your legacy is getting the visitor side done or not..it is the biggest blight on our otherwise fantastic looking campus. Ask President Mary Cullinan if she would take a picture next to the high school bleachers to put on prospective literature sent to potential students who believe we are a big time/first class university.

Holy Sh*t, how is it 2017 and WE STILL HAVE NO UPDATED EAST SIDE. Look at that PICTURE! This is a program that has multiple people in the NFL now, and multiple people drafted in the same draft, and we play in a LOW budget high school stadium. Not even a nice HS stadium. The fact we are recruiting players to play here from Texas, CA, and even Florida with this DUMP is amazing. As far as I'm concerned Bill will never fix this. He is useless. I have emailed him countless times, and spoken with him in person 3 times about this, he does nothing but talk BS and change the subject. The president is no better. Until one of them, or both are replaced, I dont see the Football Stadium ever being updated. Not to mention our massively outdated Basketball arena from the 1960's.

 

[clawman1]

lots of negativity here but nothing that contributes to the conversation. What are your expectations?

 

[EWU98]

For Pete's sake would someone please win the 450m. Powerball so we can just end this thread!

 

[dudeitsaid]

lots of negativity here but nothing that contributes to the conversation. What are your expectations?

I don't know what changes will take place regarding facility upgrades. I have to think some improvements will be made over time, but nothing like the grandiose Gateway Project. Personally, as much as I'd love to see some serious upgrades, I am still incredibly thankful for the culture, staff, and team we have. I think keeping that momentum going is priority number one. For the kind of upgrades that would truly make us happy, it's going to require the type of donors EWU just doesn't have a lot of. As EWU98, someone please win powerball, and exceed the expectations of everyone!

 

[scottywashere11]

Bill's Linkedin still says the GWP should be completed by Fall of 2016....GRAB YOUR PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES!






jk, I think he is a great AD but I am growing old and tired of not seeing shovels in the ground. Again, we need a dedicated stadium fund

 

[EdubU10]

Bill's Linkedin still says the GWP should be completed by Fall of 2016....GRAB YOUR PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES!

jk, I think he is a great AD but I am growing old and tired of not seeing shovels in the ground. Again, we need a dedicated stadium fund

^This. Bill has done a great job with coaching hires. But I want to see improvements.

 

[JasonEWU]

lots of negativity here but nothing that contributes to the conversation. What are your expectations?

What are our expectations?? Do you need to ask this? The expectation is to get a new stadium for a program that has been only getting better and better each season. A program that is carrying the school athletically and putting EWU on the map nationally. If a new stadium isn't in the cards, then AT LEAST an updated East side to not look like Cheney Middle School. I do not think we as fans and alumni are asking a lot of our administration. The fact that a MUCH lower funded DII program at Central has gotten a multiple million dollar plan approved just shows this is easily attainable and possible, IF the right people are in charge.

 

[clawman1]

This question is for former students. How would you like a set of bleachers under the scoreboard that is students only? It is now becoming popular to have a DJ for the student sections, so add add that for the students. With the right guy as DJ and full of students this could become quite a raucous group, and add to the game day experience.
Would this be an upgrade and bring more students to the games?

 

[tomq04]

This question is for former students. How would you like a set of bleachers under the scoreboard that is students only? It is now becoming popular to have a DJ for the student sections, so add add that for the students. With the right guy as DJ and full of students this could become quite a raucous group, and add to the game day experience.
Would this be an upgrade and bring more students to the games?

That sounds reasonable, but as a student I preferred my premium 50 yard line seats.

 

[Rjones61]

This question is for former students. How would you like a set of bleachers under the scoreboard that is students only? It is now becoming popular to have a DJ for the student sections, so add add that for the students. With the right guy as DJ and full of students this could become quite a raucous group, and add to the game day experience.
Would this be an upgrade and bring more students to the games?

Students are the noisiest crowd. I wouldn't restrict them to one end zone.

 

[eaglefan53]

Here is a small section on what Jim Allen (Spokesman review sportswriter) replying to a guest's question, asking when will the stadium be upgraded.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/aug/31/eastern-washington-football-chat-the-full-transcri/

 

[BLACKFALKIN1]

I wonder if EWU ever completed something like this. If they did, I'd love to watch.
https://youtu.be/a-PYOfkTbZ4

 

[360Eag]

Here's the new stadium that Abilene Christian is about to debut.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ACUFootball/status/907622139456618496[/tweet]

 

[DFW EAGLE]

I read this article the other night about Liberty's facility growth and found one piece very interesting.

Liberty has 15,000 students on campus, but the real cash cow is its more than 100,000 online students, whose tuition and fees have helped fuel a $1 billion on-campus building splurge.

Eastern currently has zero online presence (from what I can find). I know many schools have gone this route, and it seems to be paying huge dividends at Liberty. I would never expect EWU to get to this level of 100,000 students, but is something like this even being considered as a means to fund projects on campus in Cheney?

Article:
https://pilotonline.com/sports/columnist/harry-minium/c-usa-rejected-liberty-university-s-generous-offer-to-join/article_4aef1fa8-6614-58ea-97f4-25805187fa70.html