UNC Charlotte Football

[AuLukey]

I know Spartan, but with their late consistent success and popularity, I wonder if Appalachian would be considering venturing into 1-A by 2013. That would potentially leave an opening for Charlotte. There are some schools in the same student body range as Appalachian in 1-A, so it's not unfeasible that they would consider it. Just shooting an idea out there. I do see your point about having to act as a stepping-stone conference though.

[Spartan]

If ASU moved to I-A then that might work. But that then begs the question as to whether of not ASU would actually do that. They dominate I-AA but unless they went to the Big 10, they would probably not get into a BCS conference and succeed at the same level... plus they would lose their SoCon rivalries. Thats probably another discussion though.

[Niner National]

the CAA mentioned Charlotte in their recent discussions about creating a 14 team league, although they said they had not yet contacted Charlotte officials. The CAA or Southern Conference would be ideal as they are the top two FCS level football conferences, but the SoCon is very unlikely to let Charlotte in only for football. The SoCon is vastly inferior to the A-10 in regards to basketball and once Curry is gone from Davidson, mediocrity will be the universal theme in that conference.

The stadium will be on the intramural fields and I was told the design would be a sunken bowl so that they would have more room to expand if need be. They say 12,000 seats in the media, but its actually going to be in the 20,000ish range.

The first payments for PSL's will be due in March.

[Andyc545]

The stadium will be on the intramural fields and I was told the design would be a sunken bowl so that they would have more room to expand if need be. They say 12,000 seats in the media, but its actually going to be in the 20,000ish range.

This is the first time I'm hearing this in a form of a fact. Have they already completed studies for possible locations, because I was under the impression that very little would be done until they knew that football would be coming to UNCC for a fact, which has just been announced officially in the last 2 months. I've seen some drawings for the Mallard Creek/Tryon corner and have seen where it has the potential to replace the track, but I'd assume there is a lot more to research before this is the final decision.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Andyc545

[Rufus]

http://masterplan.uncc.edu/node/40

This was provided via the link on the school's homepage. Currently there are two designs proposed. One is near the Alumni House, the other being the intramural fields. Rumor has it that the location has been already approved as being the intramural fields, which has garnered some praise among those who have seen the very preliminary plans.

Edited January 14, 2009 by Rufus

[Niner National]

I've been told by more than one source close to the administration that the intramural field location has been the proposal chosen. I was told it would be a sunken bowl design so they could more easily expand, but I don't think that is set in stone. It would make the most sense however as it would allow them to build up if we make it big.

[AuLukey]

I like their plan to build the stadium up by 29 in CRI. This doesn't put it along Tryon to interfere with the eventual pedestrian/light rail corridor but does give it visibility. It will also bring more attention to CRI to students, alumni, and businesses who may otherwise overlook it. I'm extremely glad to see that the school is putting a lot of focus on the LRT also. Wish they had built it while I was still attending classes there, would've saved me a lot on parking.

[Niner National]

Charlotte announces its fund raising committee:

http://obsfifty.blogspot.com/2009/02/heavy...c-football.html

The honorary co-chairmen are Wachovia Championship general chairman Mac Everett and Lincoln Harris president Johnny Harris, who are involved in just about anything that Charlotte's institutions try to do. As is FairPoint CEO Gene Johnson, the guy who will have to do the heavy lifting as chairman of the committee.

More help is also available; the executive chairs are three former 49ers who are now chief financial officers at major corporations. David Hauser of Duke Energy, Bob Hull of Lowe's and Joe Price of Bank of America are on board.

Also, former Carolina Panthers Mike Rucker and Mike Minter are ambassadors for the group.

That is a pretty impressive group of people to be running the fund raising campaign. I know times are tough right now, but as long as they don't set any arbitrary time lines and are patient, this could be very successful with people that have that kind of pull in the community.

As of right now, 5400 orders (actual sales, no longer the pledges) have been taken from over 2,000 people. Payments are due for a little while, but as long as they all pay up, that leaves only 2100 more PSL's before they sell out.

[AuLukey]

I think that this campaign has already done well more than prove itself. With that many seats already sold in such an incredibly short period of time (in the grand scheme of the campaign,) they may need to reconsider the size of the stadium, at least by a little. I know the plans are to built in stages, for obvious reasons, but if they are that far along right off the bat, perhaps they should consider building more than just the first stage right off the bat. This assuming the campaign doesn't lose steam of course.

With the economy hopefully picking back up in the next few years, this program will be kicking off (pun intended) at just the right time.

[NLP]

This thread hasn't seen any action in about 7 months so I add:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/...50222.html#none

With a month remaining before a self-imposed Oct. 15 deadline, the Charlotte 49ers have raised nearly $3.3 million toward a $5 million goal to start a football program in time for the 2013 season.

I'm disappointed in this figure, as a lot of people are, since we had such a large number of pledges. HOWEVER, given the absolute horror of an economic situation the country and this region has been facing, I'm not all that surprised. This, though, gives me a lot of encouragement:

Momentum appears to be building as the deadline approaches as 150 FSLs have been sold since last Thursday, school officials said.

Since the end of July or so sales had been going at about a 9-10/day clip. To sure to around 50 a day for the last few days is nice indeed. A lot of credit should also be given to the volunteer sales force mentioned in the article. Without them there's a chance football at UNC Charlotte dies.

[AuLukey]

At 5:30am this Thursday Fox News Rising will be broadcasting from the new Student Union on UNCC's campus supposedly promoting the football campaign. Hopefully that will garner at least some increase in ticket sales as well. God knows this town needs a new football team to watch when the Panthers hit the off switch like so far this year.

Edited September 16, 2009 by aussie luke

[Niner National]

Good to see that purchases are picking up. If we can hit 3500 by October 15th, I think we'll be in good shape. Hopefully they will indeed have the renderings available on Thursday. That will surely generate some excitement as would the announcement of capital gifts and/or sponsorships.

[Batou]

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/view.gal?id=53633 Has some new stadium concepts for one that would be near north tryon

[AuLukey]

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/view.gal?id=53633 Has some new stadium concepts for one that would be near north tryon

aww you beat me to it! I like the first orientation the best although it seems it would limit the stadium's size in the long haul. I just love being able to drive along the side of a college stadium when visiting friends and family on other campuses, just seems more fitting for Charlotte to follow in the same tradition.

Edited September 18, 2009 by aussie luke

[Batou]

Yeah the angled one seems kinda limiting I agree.

[AuLukey]

Actually, on closer observation, it appears (in terms of orientation to surrounding buildings) that the angled location would actually provide the most room for future expansion. The two plans that call for a straight orientation are limited by the CRI campus as well as the baseball stadium/facilities which aren't well represented in the rendering.

Also, an article by the O mentions that Dubois and the BoT are considering building the temporary stadium on the same location as the permanent stadium which in the short term would add up to $5mil extra up-front but could save much more later on (the original plan was to upgrade the track & field complex to use as the temp stadium.) This new plan makes the most sense to me as they could slowly upgrade the stadium rather than build a whole new one. My only gripe is that if they underestimate the space needed for the permanent stadium, the location of the temporary stadium (and the money that went into building it) could be completely compromised.

EDIT: On a side note, did anyone see the Fox News Rising broadcast? IMO it really made UNC Charlotte fit the typical college stereotype in the worst ways. Honestly, did they really need a kid stuffing his face with a donut to prove anything? Also Mark Mathis leaving out the second C in UNCC to start off the presentation made him look even more brilliant than usual. And it was either Mike Minter or Mike Rucker that kept referring to the university as "UNCC-Charlotte."

Edited September 18, 2009 by aussie luke

[Niner National]

all further proof that the name needs to be changed to University of Charlotte. I'm so tired of being called UNC, UNCC Charlotte, NC-Charlotte, etc

[southslider]

IMHO, the angle or axis missing from the CRI/Stadium sub-area of the UNCC master plan is the desire-line between it and the future LYNX/BLE station at JW Clay.

As currently laid out (Football Rendention I), the Stadium and future bridge over Toby Creek lead you on a more direct path to the new signal across from Kohl's. Yet the station is not here, but at JW Clay. As such, I think there is a missing additional, diagonal axis running between the Stadium/Toby Creek Bridge and JW Clay Station/University Place.

Another way to view this missing angle/axis is as an extension of what you can see today on aerials connecting the lake within University Place to Tryon at JW Clay. I think this "diagonal axis" (it's more true east-west than slanted Tryon and CRI internal streets) should be extended across Tryon to more directly link the future Stadium and Toby Creek pedestrian bridge. And like University Place, it doesn't have to be a street, but a pedestrian walkway diagonal to the street grid.

The future pedestrian bridge over Toby Creek will greatly improve the walk over to Tryon. But imagine how many more students would actually continue walking to University Place, if there were a more direct path there via the LYNX station. Likewise, 49ers fans using LYNX shouldn't have to zig-zag through CRI buildings to attend a game.

Edited September 23, 2009 by southslider

[InitialD]

IMHO, the angle or axis missing from the CRI/Stadium sub-area of the UNCC master plan is the desire-line between it and the future LYNX/BLE station at JW Clay.

As currently laid out (Football Rendention I), the Stadium and future bridge over Toby Creek lead you on a more direct path to the new signal across from Kohl's. Yet the station is not here, but at JW Clay. As such, I think there is a missing additional, diagonal axis running between the Stadium/Toby Creek Bridge and JW Clay Station/University Place.

Another way to view this missing angle/axis is as an extension of what you can see today on aerials connecting the lake within University Place to Tryon at JW Clay. I think this "diagonal axis" (it's more true east-west than slanted Tryon and CRI internal streets) should be extended across Tryon to more directly link the future Stadium and Toby Creek pedestrian bridge. And like University Place, it doesn't have to be a street, but a pedestrian walkway diagonal to the street grid.

The future pedestrian bridge over Toby Creek will greatly improve the walk over to Tryon. But imagine how many more students would actually continue walking to University Place, if there were a more direct path there via the LYNX station. Likewise, 49ers fans using LYNX shouldn't have to zig-zag through CRI buildings to attend a game.

Actually, wouldn't the on-campus station be closer to the stadium that the JW clay station? At least by the way the bird flies. I guess which one would be easier to access the stadium would depend on pedestrian pathways.

[southslider]

The future stadium sits roughly halfway between the JW Clay and UNCC stations. However, the walk from the UNCC station requires you to walk through the Residence Halls, around the Student Union, then across a new bridge over Toby Creek running between the northern corner of Woodward Hall and the new Stadium.

If busy Tryon isn't sufficiently calmed to walk across to a median station, or it's a zig-zag walk via the CRI portion of the campus (as currently proposed in the draft campus master plan), folks may very well opt for walking across campus and the creek instead. The diagonal axis (or maybe curved following the surface lots there today) I'm pushing would not only make the Stadium walk to/from JW Clay more direct, but also shorten the distance for students who may actually then be able to walk over to University Place, their pseudo-village center, if you will, from the new Toby Creek bridge connection. I think such axis would be a more pleasant walk than walking Tryon between Kohl's and JW Clay.

Edited September 29, 2009 by southslider

[AuLukey]

I highly doubt that the JW Clay station will be the preferred station for attending games. I have a feeling that upon final design of the stadium (and a clearer LRT outcome,) the campus will address the need for a link between the station and the stadium. The campus does rather well to brick/pave worn paths made by students creating dirt shortcuts across campus now, so I feel that even if there isn't a direct path built along with the stadium, one will be built within a year or two as students and fans create their own path across Toby Creek.

Here's my idea of the path that will eventually be conceptualized as the stadium and LRT station are being constructed: (sorry for the crude MS paint job, I haven't reinstalled photoshop yet)

Regardless to the final orientation of the stadium, the station on campus is a much closer walk. A pathway built where the green line is would not be ripping through any forestry/underbrush as the trees shown in the picture are just a canopy over a relatively open, grassy space. This pathway would only require a small bridge be built over the creek. However, if you were to take the JW Clay station to the games, there wouldn't be any weaving through CRI. You would simply just walk along Tryon (which by then should have sidewalks along this area) and then cut straight across the existing courtyards as represented in orange.

This is a picture taken from the BOT Sept 17 presentation. Those interested in the future of the campus should take a good look at that presentation, there are a lot of improvements that kinda shocked me.

[Rufus]

There are already two walkways that lead towards the proposed station, or close to it. One goes from Woodward to the Rec fields, and another goes from Lynch hall to the Rec Fields. So, in my opinion, it would be easier to continue using them, and/or build a new walkway from the station to the stadium. Also, remember, the stadium may be oriented North/South, and not like the image indicates. While it is too early to tell, there is resounding positive comments on the N/S orientation that would basically place the stadium center of the rec fields.

Also, the BOT presentation is pretty interesting. While I like most of what is going on in the presentation, I do have some questions regarding the art walk, new performance arts building, and a few other things. But that is for another day.

[southslider]

A big criticism of University Place has been that it's not walkable from UNCC. Well, the UNCC Master Plan is a chance to make CRI a "bridge" to University Place and an additional LYNX station, not a "barrier."

That indirect "walk from JW Clay" shown as a gold line on Aussie Luke's map is exactly why I suggested a diagonal path between the Stadium/Toby Creek Bridge and JW Clay. The diagonal also lines up with the diagonal path within University Place (unfortunately just off Aussie's map) that connects JW Clay to the Lake, so a natural continuation of that axis.

Edited October 2, 2009 by southslider

[Niner National]

The trustees met again today and decided to push forward with football for 2013. They changed plans again and decided to build a permanent stadium facility from the outset rather than spending any money on a temporary facility only to spend more money to replace it later. The main reason for this was the low cost of loans and construction at the moment. The fact that the uptown building is 25% under expected construction costs probably played into that. I have attached the first real rendering of the stadium

I love the arches in between Duke and Grigg halls.

[tozmervo]

The trustees met again today and decided to push forward with football for 2013. They changed plans again and decided to build a permanent stadium facility from the outset rather than spending any money on a temporary facility only to spend more money to replace it later. The main reason for this was the low cost of loans and construction at the moment. The fact that the uptown building is 25% under expected construction costs probably played into that. I have attached the first real rendering of the stadium

I love the arches in between Duke and Grigg halls.

I just do not understand UNCC's obsession with goofy, ill-proportioned neoclassical facades.