Georgia State University president eyes Turner Field (Atlanta, Temple: bankrupt, high school)

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Capitol Ave is part of the streetcar expansion plan as far as I remember.

That's the easy part.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Capitol Ave is part of the streetcar expansion plan as far as I remember.

I remember that discussion we had; does anyone have a link to the projected citywide streetcar expansion?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

I remember that discussion we had; does anyone have a link to the projected citywide streetcar expansion?

http://beltlineorg.wpengine.netdna-c...ort-022514.pdf

[Steelers10]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

Correct, football is lucrative to a school, but I just don't see it catching on at GSU. It's an enormous investment up front that isn't guaranteed to pay off. I just don't think it'll ever reach near the level of its sister schools. UGA and Tech have football traditions that stretch almost to the very beginning of the game itself. GSU can't even fill a tenth of the Georgia Dome. GSU alumni also aren't the sort to develop an attachment to this team. There will be no memories of tailgating on the campus common or of raucous parties after a big victory because there IS no campus common nor big victories(0-12 in 2013). It's just the nature of the school. My friends who went to UGA and Tech are diehard Dawg and Jacket fans. I can't even guarantee many of my fellow GSU alumni can even recall GSU's mascot.

Whoever said GSU football will always mean the Eagles first and foremost is right.


What Georgia State said about attendance | Georgia State Sports | www.ajc.com

We are the Panthers my friend. Same Panthers who won the men's basketball regular season for the Sun Belt Conference in our first year in the league. The one-point loss in the conference final that knocked us out of an NCAA berth stung, but GSU can very well be on its way to a basketball tradition not unlike a VCU, also an "urban" school not in a major conference.

No, Panther football does not have tradition nor is it heavily supported. Currently-enrolled students never make up the largest proportion of attendees of ANY FBS division programs. But a stadium surrounded by dorms and retail activity can bolster attendance. Having gone to both big-time sports schools and then of course GSU, GSU shares a common problem with many non-traditional universities in the Sun Belt (and I'm not just talking the conference, I'm talking about the entire Southeastern U.S.) in that there is no campus life infrastructure to speak of that would cause alumni to even come hang around for a game. If you have ever been to the campuses of South Florida, UCF, FIU, or FAU you know what I'm talking about. UCF just won the Fiesta Bowl and they've got a freakin' strip mall (well two) across from their campus! And that's it.

Remember, it is the raucous atmosphere that stimulates attendance, not just the presence of seats. Winning generally produces such an atmosphere which GSU hasn't been able to do in its brief football history. GSU can have just as rapid acceleration in the competitiveness of its football program as UCF and South Florida. However, I would hardly evoke Tech as a football model to emulate. Any school playing in the ACC with an "on-campus" stadium should have more than 117 people at their spring football game.

I would not be concerned about the lack of spatial contiguity of the Turner Field site to the downtown campus. Many universities have "South Campuses" that serve residential and athletic functions. In my day, I used to take the Panther shuttle bus from the parking lots at Turner Field (they were clearly the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Lots that hadn't been paved in 30 years) to campus downtown. I missed the last shuttle a couple of times and walked from campus to the Turner Field lot and I'm here to say I survived to tell the tale! It's really not that far.

By the way, Georgia State University was "GSU" twenty years before Georgia Southern ever was!

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

jsvh - Is GSU talking about building a new stadium in the front print of the former Fulton County stadium? Sorry if the answer is in the stories you linked...

Yep. They would use part of Turner as their football / soccer / track stadium and build their baseball diamond of the Fulton Co Stadium and keep Aaron's wall.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by Steelers10

We are the Panthers my friend. Same Panthers who won the men's basketball regular season for the Sun Belt Conference in our first year in the league. The one-point loss in the conference final that knocked us out of an NCAA berth stung, but GSU can very well be on its way to a basketball tradition not unlike a VCU, also an "urban" school not in a major conference.

No, Panther football does not have tradition nor is it heavily supported. Currently-enrolled students never make up the largest proportion of attendees of ANY FBS division programs. But a stadium surrounded by dorms and retail activity can bolster attendance. Having gone to both big-time sports schools and then of course GSU, GSU shares a common problem with many non-traditional universities in the Sun Belt (and I'm not just talking the conference, I'm talking about the entire Southeastern U.S.) in that there is no campus life infrastructure to speak of that would cause alumni to even come hang around for a game. If you have ever been to the campuses of South Florida, UCF, FIU, or FAU you know what I'm talking about. UCF just won the Fiesta Bowl and they've got a freakin' strip mall (well two) across from their campus! And that's it.

Remember, it is the raucous atmosphere that stimulates attendance, not just the presence of seats. Winning generally produces such an atmosphere which GSU hasn't been able to do in its brief football history. GSU can have just as rapid acceleration in the competitiveness of its football program as UCF and South Florida. However, I would hardly evoke Tech as a football model to emulate. Any school playing in the ACC with an "on-campus" stadium should have more than 117 people at their spring football game.

I would not be concerned about the lack of spatial contiguity of the Turner Field site to the downtown campus. Many universities have "South Campuses" that serve residential and athletic functions. In my day, I used to take the Panther shuttle bus from the parking lots at Turner Field (they were clearly the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Lots that hadn't been paved in 30 years) to campus downtown. I missed the last shuttle a couple of times and walked from campus to the Turner Field lot and I'm here to say I survived to tell the tale! It's really not that far.

By the way, Georgia State University was "GSU" twenty years before Georgia Southern ever was!

Great points, you argue well.

[therealpattman]

I think this would truly make Atlanta the undisputed capital of football. From the north you have Ga Tech, from the west you have the Falcons, from the south you have Ga State, and from the east you have UGA in Athens. It would be interesting if Ga State can grow and join the ACC and compete against tech.

[brownhornet]

GT will never allow that to happen, they'd be recruiting directly against them. The problem with sports in Atlanta in general is that if you aren't a championship caliber team, nobody cares. You see it with the fan support from college to the pro level here. The Hawks get crap support, the Falcons get crap support unless they're winning, GT gets crap support unless Clemson, Miami, FSU or UGA are in town. UGA gets decent support, but then again they're the state flagship in a town where there's nothing else to do but go to games. With the college football conference shift pretty much over, i'd say GSU's best option for moving "up" will probably be conference USA. And unfortunately for them, the teams in the Sunbelt nor CUSA simply aren't going to garner a lot of interest here in SEC land. Best they can do at this point is hope for 2 for 1 type games with big name schools, but with the playoffs going into effect and strength of schedule becoming a huge factor going forward that's probably not going to be as easy anymore either. I just don't see huge crowds turning out to see Arkansas State or FIU, but if they at least start winning they should be able to muster up 20k fans a game.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yep. They would use part of Turner as their football / soccer / track stadium and build their baseball diamond of the Fulton Co Stadium and keep Aaron's wall.

I really hate those Track/Football fields. GT used to have one. The track around the football field just looks bad and cheap.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by dpatt.marine1

I think this would truly make Atlanta the undisputed capital of football. From the north you have Ga Tech, from the west you have the Falcons, from the south you have Ga State, and from the east you have UGA in Athens. It would be interesting if Ga State can grow and join the ACC and compete against tech.

It would be just nice if GSU could compete successfully. I'm not sure GSU would ever even reach GT's level of football. And KSU might over shadow GSU with their program.