How big is Frost Arena

[BTownJack]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

I know that new seating is planned for the upper level, but I don't know what the timetable is for that.  I'd love for them to figure out how to make the upper deck a continuous bowl of bleacher seats, around the 3/4 of the arena where the running track is.  Figuring out a way to put useable seats in the two southerly corners of Frost would increase the total capacity somewhat, but again, I don't know if that's what is planned.  

The new seating for the upper level is planned for this coming summer.  The south bleachers (behind the benches/scoring table) on the upper deck will be replaced.  They are going to raise the bleachers 9 feet and put in chairbacks, similar to what is on the north side of Frost.  The reason they are raising them is because now when you are sitting there and the students are on their feet your view of the court is partially blocked.  This will reduce the capacity even more but I'm not sure how much.  

[NightHawk78]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

How long will the upper bleachers on the east and west sides (the ones that are rarely used now) going to stay in place? Will the new seating on the south side be permanent or retractable?

[thebluehatman]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

I would think permanent because in 2 years there will be no need for using the track due to the news wellness facility.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

No, Frost Arena is not too big. It's been filled, or nearly filled, many times in the past 25-plus years. It just hasn't sported many large crowds the last couple of years, as the men have struggled through the transition to D-1. The days of big crowds will be back. Especially after the Jacks become a factor in the Mid-Con and perhaps renew rivalries with teams like USD and UND. Frost Arena remains an excellent venue for basketball and, if anything, is a little small for a facility that serves the state's largest university. As a public facility, it could and probably should host more state high school tournaments, like the DakotaDome does in football.

[SDSU_TUBA]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

 There are issues with the outside upper level exit steps on the southwest side of the arena (deteriorating concrete) that may be a contributing factor in SDSU wanting to limit the upper level capacity somewhat.  They've put some tent-style booths and a kid's play area on the west side of the upper level, so those bleachers are likely to stay folded up this entire year.

From what I herd from a retired Brookings firefighter is that they have to keep the upper west side pulled in because of fire codes. The stairs on the southwest side, at least the last time I was there, you can't use one of the sides going down, so that reduces the fire escape capacity, so they have to reduce the seating capacity of the upper deck. Once they fix the stairs then they can pull out the upper west side again. To fix those stairs I think they need to replace the whole thing because they tried patching it and that only works for a short time.

[BTownJack]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

I would think permanent because in 2 years there will be no need for using the track due to the news wellness facility.

I would have to argue these chairbacks will be retractable. The track area on the upper level of the HPER will still get extensive use by SDSU athletes even after the wellness facility is built. There is currently extensive use of the track area by many SDSU teams right now and that won't change with the wellness facility getting built. This is just my opinion though since I haven't heard for sure either way.

[SD-STATE]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

I would have to argue these chairbacks will be retractable. The track area on the upper level of the HPER will still get extensive use by SDSU athletes even after the wellness facility is built. There is currently extensive use of the track area by many SDSU teams right now and that won't change with the wellness facility getting built. This is just my opinion though since I haven't heard for sure either way.

This would make the most sense. Where else will all the athletes be working out? The Multi-use athletic facility hasn't even gotten off the bar napkin yet.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

Has anyone heard if the new chairback seat project on the south side and new bleachers on the ends will go ahead as planned this spring/summer. I heard we have a bid, but not sure if the money is there to move forward in 2007.

[HoboD]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

[quote=SD-STATE]

This would make the most sense. Where else will all the athletes be working out? The Multi-use athletic facility hasn't even gotten off the bar napkin yet.

As I understand it, the Wellness center is not being built as a varsity sports facility.  It is for use by the student body not varsity programs.  Therefore, the track in Frost is needed until the "field house" project gets done north of CAS.  

The Board of Regents was just given sizeable M & R dollars to fix things like the steps coming out of Frost.    

[SD-STATE]

Re: How big is Frost Arena

[quote]

Quote:

This would make the most sense. Where else will all the athletes be working out? The Multi-use athletic facility hasn't even gotten off the bar napkin yet.

As I understand it, the Wellness center is not being built as a varsity sports facility. It is for use by the student body not varsity programs. Therefore, the track in Frost is needed until the "field house" project gets done north of CAS.

The Board of Regents was just given sizeable M & R dollars to fix things like the steps coming out of Frost.

Ummm, yeah, exactly. :-? :-? :-?