No new taxpayer stadiums!

[take57]

Originally Posted by stevek64

Does almost $200 million dollars for "maintenance" sound a bit excessive to anyone?

Hey... Japanese toilets complete with remote controls and ion-barrier surfaces for the skybox crowd ain't cheap

Toto Neorest 700H

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by AlohaAZ

The Coyotes and Glendale are done. There's nothing they're going to work out.

Suns: It's not a matter of whether venues are fine anymore. It's a matter of keeping up with everyone else, in the eyes of ownership. The Bucks are moving out of the (privately financed) Bradley Center in Milwaukee in a few years. It was built in 1988, four years before America West Arena at the time. US Airways Center will be the third oldest arena in the league, besides the renovated MSG and Target Center. I'm not saying it's right what ownership will do, just saying it's the way it its whether the public likes it or not. Everyone wants the latest and greatest.

Dbacks: The county is the one who came up with the checklist of deficiencies. The Dbacks rent Chase Field. Pretty sure the electrical grid, you know the thing that keeps the A/C running in there, along with plumbing aren't minor. Why fix it quickly and cheaply? You'll just run into the same problem sooner than later. I see both sides to the issue, but too many people don't realize what is needed behind the scenes for stadiums to operate over long periods of time. Whether the actual number is close to $200M is the real question.

Why dont the Suns just stay put and make-do with what they have? Its perfectly fine. The whole "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality in sports is what gives us cookie cutter, lame stadiums that have ZERO flair and ZERO personality. What happened to the days of Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Tiger Stadium, etc? Everyone loves the old venues, they reek of history and make the experience unique. I say let the stadium age! There's some good history there (Steve Nash days, etc), and the older it gets, the more awesome it will get. Think of a fine wine... it only gets better with age. Thats why place like Fenway and Wrigley are so much fun to visit, they offer an experience that no other stadiums offer.

As for Chase Field? Same story. Repair it as needed, let it age. Theres no need to build newer and better just because! A World Series victory was claimed there, it has a good history being a new stadium. If the Cubs had to hang nets below the upper deck to keep crumbling concrete from falling on fans, the D-Backs can certainly work with what theyve got.

[take57]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Why dont the Suns just stay put and make-do with what they have? Its perfectly fine. The whole "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality in sports is what gives us cookie cutter, lame stadiums that have ZERO flair and ZERO personality. What happened to the days of Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Tiger Stadium, etc? Everyone loves the old venues, they reek of history and make the experience unique. I say let the stadium age! There's some good history there (Steve Nash days, etc), and the older it gets, the more awesome it will get. Think of a fine wine... it only gets better with age. Thats why place like Fenway and Wrigley are so much fun to visit, they offer an experience that no other stadiums offer.

As for Chase Field? Same story. Repair it as needed, let it age. Theres no need to build newer and better just because! A World Series victory was claimed there, it has a good history being a new stadium. If the Cubs had to hang nets below the upper deck to keep crumbling concrete from falling on fans, the D-Backs can certainly work with what theyve got.

Part of the problem with the aesthetics of new stadiums is they're virtually all being done by the same architectural firm HKS. When a club holds elected officials for ransom to pay for a new park, it makes it easier to swallow if the work is done by a known quantity. HKS does know something about slapping stadiums together, and like as folks said in the old days of purchasing business equipment, nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.