LNC renovations

A new arena is not a sure thing at all right now, depending on how they'd pay for it. Norman is a mess currently on funding development. They've tried to do something with the city in the past with no luck.

Locker room renovation project has been in the pipeline for a year or two. Construction documents are close to done.
 
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skyvue said:
Exactly. Donors stepped up to support the new softball stadium, and there are reasons for that: the historic success of the program and the love that fans have for Coach Gasso and her players, past and present. I have to shake my head when people downplay the popularity of OU softball, and it happens often. It's a sport on the rise and so far in this century OU is the undisputed top program in the country. When the new stadium opens, the softball attendance just might rival the average attendance at men's basketball games.
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lol no it won't and i like softball it is a nice distraction at the point of year it is on ... but the fan base is not giant ..
 
steverocks35 said:
It’s like trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear
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The architect who designed/renovated GIA seems to think otherwise according to this OUDaily story.

I get the feeling the powers to be aren’t crazy about an off campus arena. I’m not either. I’d rather they build a new one on campus.
 
steverocks35 said:
It’s like trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear
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I think it’s possible to completely gut the LNC and remake it into a new arena. It would take a major overhaul tho, not just some minor renovations. Although, I think the cost would probably be similar to just building something brand new, so why not just do that? Putting lipstick on a pig won’t cut it. It would have to be a complete overhaul.

I’m no architect or engineer but could they build a new arena next to LNC and connect it to the relatively new practice courts and then bulldoze the old LNC and make it into a parking structure? They could expand the practice gym as well. Or is that possible?
 
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mict085 said:
I think it’s possible to completely gut the LNC and remake it into a new arena. It would take a major overhaul tho, not just some minor renovations. Although, I think the cost would probably be similar to just building something brand new, so why not just do that? Putting lipstick on a pig won’t cut it. It would have to be a complete overhaul.

I’m no architect or engineer but could they build a new arena next to LNC and connect it to the relatively new practice courts and then bulldoze the old LNC and make it into a parking structure? They could expand the practice gym as well. Or is that possible?
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the number IIRC (and it was like 2007ish last i saw/heard this plan) was like 75 mil

that would be significantly more in 2023 dollars
 
mict085 said:
I think it’s possible to completely gut the LNC and remake it into a new arena. It would take a major overhaul tho, not just some minor renovations. Although, I think the cost would probably be similar to just building something brand new, so why not just do that? Putting lipstick on a pig won’t cut it. It would have to be a complete overhaul.

I’m no architect or engineer but could they build a new arena next to LNC and connect it to the relatively new practice courts and then bulldoze the old LNC and make it into a parking structure? They could expand the practice gym as well. Or is that possible?
Click to expand...

I know there are water table problems in the area around LNC. I always thought the ideal thing would be to build a new arena south of the practice facility but that might not be possible.
 
BoulderSooner said:
lol no it won't and i like softball it is a nice distraction at the point of year it is on ... but the fan base is not giant ..
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You may view it as "a nice distraction" -- with respect, that comes off as dismissive, as damning with faint praise -- but it'll be interesting to see how often the new 3,000-seat stadium is filled. I predict it will be quite often. Somehow I keep (mistakenly) thinking the new stadium will have a capacity of 5K, so yeah, the attendance can't approach men's basketball simply because there won't be enough seats, but the energy and enthusiasm is, in my estimation, higher among softball fans than it has been for some time for men's basketball (the fundraising for the new stadium is evidence of that).

Some anecdotal evidence from social media:

Official groups on Facebook:
Softball -- 167k followers
Men's hoops -- 71k followers
Women's hoops -- 30k followers
Baseball -- 23k followers

Offical Twitter accounts:
Men's hoops -- 581k
Softball -- 201k
Baseball -- 70k
Women's hoops -- 37k

I think it's clear that OU softball is, at worst, the third most popular sport at OU. And i can't help but wonder, if a plan for a new basketball arena were announced that would be built with donor funding, how quickly the money would flow in. I don't pretend to know the answer, but it'd be interesting to find out.
 
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skyvue said:
Official Twitter accounts:
Men's hoops -- 581k
Softball -- 201k
Baseball -- 70k
Women's hoops -- 37k
Click to expand...

If you're trying to compare OU softball to basketball, I think these numbers are doing the opposite of what you're trying to do. OU softball is a big deal, but even with the undisputed best program in the country, it still falls way short of our basketball program that is in the middle of a dark period. If the gap is still this large, I shudder to think what would happen if Patty Gasso retired and this team fell to "just a top 10 program."

But yes, it's definitely our #3 sport and has a comfortable lead over baseball.
 
Eielson said:
If you're trying to compare OU softball to basketball, I think these numbers are doing the opposite of what you're trying to do. OU softball is a big deal, but even with the undisputed best program in the country, it still falls way short of our basketball program that is in the middle of a dark period. If the gap is still this large, I shudder to think what would happen if Patty Gasso retired and this team fell to "just a top 10 program."

But yes, it's definitely our #3 sport and has a comfortable lead over baseball.
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Softball has a substantial lead over men's hoops on FB. I would argue that FB is a better indication for a couple of reasons: 1. Twitter is a younger audience than FB. Those fans still count, of course, but they buy fewer tickets and make fewer donations. And I wonder how many of those hoops Twitter followers are also Thunder fans and divide their time, attention and money between the two.

2. Twitter, in my estimation, is more about breaking news, highlight clips, etc. and not about community. So you can follow someone on Twitter just for the occasional tidbit that will turn up in your feed. For the most part, in my view, fans don't go to twitter to discuss OU sports; for that, they go to message boards and focused groups/pages on FB. And I think fans who want to discuss a sports team are typically more passionate and engaged than a fan who just wants to be fed info about a team.

That's just my take, based on my experience. I'll follow a person or organization on Twitter that I have just a passing interest in, but on FB, I follow only those groups/people in whom I have a strong interest.

But yes, softball is definitely #3 at worst, and, I would argue, trending upward. It'll definitely be interesting to see what happens when Gasso retires (hopefully many years down the road). I suspect that's why they didn't go even larger with the new stadium. The first hire (or two) after Gasso will be very important to the future of the program.
 
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Eielson said:
If you're trying to compare OU softball to basketball, I think these numbers are doing the opposite of what you're trying to do. OU softball is a big deal, but even with the undisputed best program in the country, it still falls way short of our basketball program that is in the middle of a dark period. If the gap is still this large, I shudder to think what would happen if Patty Gasso retired and this team fell to "just a top 10 program."

But yes, it's definitely our #3 sport and has a comfortable lead over baseball.
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Basketball is the second most popular sport in the US behind football. It has wide appeal, and OU still has residual interest from the last 4 1/2 decades of success. It is the red-headed stepbrother of football at OU, but still maintains a lot of interest because of knowledge of the sport and that OU logo on the uniform.

Softball is still a niche sport. It has a following in Oklahoma due to the Hall of Fame, the WCWS, and everything associated with it. Patty has built a dominant program over the last 30 years. She is a likable person that recruits likable players. And, most importantly: they're not only successful, they dominate their opponents. OU softball does what our fans wish football and basketball would do (and used to do regularly).

OU fans support softball because they like the sport, but even more because OU is dominant. If you go to a OU softball game, there's a good chance you'll see them run-rule a good team and absolutely slaughter a bad team.

The mindset of the OU fanbase is national championship or bust. It's not enough to be merely good.
 
Softball is not a niche sport in the conference we are about to join (SEC) or the Pac 12. It’s very competitive/popular nationally and growing.
 
Not sure how comparing softball to basketball advances the situation that the LNC is a dump, and the worst arena in the Big 12, at least it may be mid table or better in the SEC.
 
Swans said:
Softball is not a niche sport in the conference we are about to join (SEC) or the Pac 12. It’s very competitive/popular nationally and growing.
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softball is a niche sport everywhere ..
 
1HqbYGw.jpg


NAIA Architecture Firm. Lol, jk.
 
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[TWEET]https://twitter.com/ByEliLederman/status/1633215068136513537?s=20[/TWEET]
 
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