WBN Kentucky Basketball Roundtable: What are your thoughts on a "new" Rupp Arena?
By Paul Jordan
Good morning BBN. I know it’s been a rough 36 hours or so, but hopefully this edition of the WBN Kentucky Basketball roundtable will get your brains stimulated and ease some of the pain of yesterday’s dual defeats. As you recall last week, I asked our panel about the Enes Kanter situation and if the situation would be the same if Kanter remained a Husky. Well, today Dick Vitale made the comment via Twitter that Kanter would not have been declare permanently ineligible if he remained a Husky … so the debate on that question still continues.
Joining the WBN Round table this week are Glenn Logan and Ken Howlett from A Sea of Blue, Brian Eldridge from Kentucky Sports Report and Scout.com, and the WBN’s very own Greg Edwards and Jonathan North. We will have a new member joining the roundtable next week, but you will have to wait a week to see who that will be. Without any further ado, here is my question to this week’s roundtable and let’s see how this question was answered:
"On last Saturday, the nation got a look at the impressive new KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. In your opinion, what is it going to take for Kentucky to get a new basketball arena and what is your timeframe that this will happen?"
Gregory Edwards, Wildcat Blue Nation: The only problem I foresee is Mitch wanting to take care of Football first. I understand his concerns and something does have to be done with Commonwealth, that is for sure. This is probably a stretch, but UK is one of the few schools that could make a multi purpose facility work. Retractable roof facilities are now the norm instead of an anomaly. UK should probably look into putting a multi purpose facility on campus, or do a joint venture with the Lexington/Fayette Municipalities and try to build one facility for both. UK has the ability to put 40K people at a basketball game. We are one of the few schools that can do that. Upgrading Commonwealth is a patchwork project at best, and it will eventually have to be replaced anyway. By doing a joint facility, UK can save money (although not much if using a retractable roof facility) by only having to build one. The alternative is to have a domed facility for football games. This is not an unacceptable alternative, and might be attractive to help draw top tier recruits into UK. And it also would give the Cats an indoor practice facility, since the basketball team already has the Joe Craft Center.
Glenn Logan, A Sea of Blue: I have no idea what it will take to get a new arena. Probably just some more time. As for a time frame, maybe inside this decade somewhere.
Jonathan North, Wildcat Blue Nation: For Kentucky to get a new basketball arena I think it’s going to take some time and effort. I think Louisville getting a nice arena probably speeded up the process and made the UK people think that because they are a prestigious program that we need the best arena in the nation (in my opinion that title right now belongs to Louisville). Also one must look at Rupp Arena because let’s be honest it’s not in the worst shape ever and is still a nice place to catch a basketball game. So for us to get a new arena it’s going to have to be head and shoulders better than Rupp Arena. I think in the next 6-7 years we will see a new arena with the Kentucky brand getting more popular with the national media and with Coach Calipari at the helm
Brian Eldridge, Kentucky Sports Report: I expect Kentucky to build a new arena within the next five years. I don’t know exactly where the funding will come from, but there were some preliminary plans in place with the IMG deal. It won’t be long, though, with Calipari’s success and with UL occupying one of the most impressive facilities in the nation.
Ken Howlett, A Sea of Blue: I don’t pretend to be an expert on public financing, or bond issues, but in order for the city of Lexington (partnered with the University of Kentucky), to build a new arena, the people of Fayette County have to be asked to pony-up so dough. And at this point, with the economy sputtering as it is, I don’t anticipate that request to be met with much enthusiasm. But, with that said, I think a new arena is something most UK fans want, and generally, UK fans get what they want (kind of like my three little girls). When will ground be broken on a new arena? I only wish I knew, but, I think it is something that will happen in the next five years or so. UK’s lease at Rupp Arena doesn’t expire for five more years (I believe), so the sense of urgency for the decision-makers will kick-in in the next two years or so.
Paul Jordan, Wildcat Blue Nation: I definitely think that a new arena is going to be John Calipari’s legacy at Kentucky and I think this is as important to Calipari as any number of national titles that he may bring in. For one, he knows that Rick Pitino wanted to see a new arena here, and if Calipari can be the one to deliver it, it’s all the better. To be honest, I don’t know what the timetable would be to start this project. My guess would be if members of the public started contacting their elected officials in Lexington and let them them know that they want a new arena. I do know that quite a few of Kentucky’s “heavy hitters” were at the Louisville game and came away impressed with the building. Maybe it starts with Calipari rallying them to put up money or raise money initially.
"What is your wish for a new “Rupp Arena” in terms of location and seating capacity?"
Gregory Edwards, Wildcat Blue Nation: Make it 75k seating for football. 35K-40K for basketball, put the luxury suites all over the place and you would have one of the premier facilities in all of college sports. This will cause some diehard fans to complain about not having a basketball facility only, but it is practical, and it would be unique in the SEC and most of college sports as a whole. Syracuse makes it work with the Carrier Dome, why not have the Cat’s Cage in Lexington?
Jonathan North, Wildcat Blue Nation: For the new Rupp Arena, I say keep the seating around the same amount and put in boxes and other seats so it can move big time fans closer to the court.
Brian Eldridge, Kentucky Sports Report: I’d like to see UK build an on campus arena and hope that it seats enough people for Kentucky to continue to lead the nation in attendance every season. In the end, the main thing is that the facility is state of the art and represents the University and it’s basketball history in the best manner possible.
Ken Howlett, A Sea of Blue: As far as the location of a new venue … I really don’t care, as long as there is plenty of available parking. And the capacity? Let’s go with 25,000-28,000 — Anything more and the expense really escalates, and the building becomes almost too big. And it goes without saying that the new arena MUST keep the name, Rupp Arena. An arena by any other name is just a
building to play basketball in, not the most hallowed hall in all of college basketball.
Paul Jordan, Wildcat Blue Nation: I don’t know how feasible it is, but I would love to see an on campus arena. And I think that we can go bigger and better with the design. I think that seating should be increased to about 28,000 and the seating can be arranged with a steeper lower bowl that will allow more seats closer to the action and I think that it be mandated that student seating be increased significantly in the lower bowl. It is possible to design where no alumni seats are lost while increasing the student section. And I agree with Ken that it keep the name Rupp Arena. I think the new design should pay homage to the old building as well like maybe have the top 15 rows all bleacher seating or something like that.
There you have it for this week. Feel free to add your opinions in the comments section or if you have a question you want the roundtable to answer, feel free to leave it as well. Thanks for joining us this week and have a great week.
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