What if we moved the baseball stadium off campus?

[The Croom Diaries]

Can't talk about coaching so here's something else. Idea inspired by the Braves move yesterday- moving off campus and starting from scratch...

http://maroonandwhitenation.com/2013/11/12/msu-moved-baseball-stadium-campus/

[messageboardsuperhero]

Everyone knows I'm a proponent of starting over, but I don't know if our coaches or players would want to move the stadium off campus. The best thing about all of our baseball facilities is that they are centrally located on the same part of campus. What will probably end up happening is the DNF grandstand will be torn down and a new stadium is built in it's place.

Not a bad idea in theory, but I just can't see it working out that way.

[DawgInMemphis]

Can't talk about coaching so here's something else. Idea inspired by the Braves move yesterday- moving off campus and starting from scratch...

http://maroonandwhitenation.com/2013/11/12/msu-moved-baseball-stadium-campus/

No... no, no, no... moving the sports venues off campus really takes away from the "college feel" to me.

[engie]

Want it to stay on campus.

Wouldn't mind seeing a major change to orientation or something else with the current location. The Palmeiro Center and the Hump block the ability to even see the stadium as is -- so there's no point in going fancy with facades, etc. Another thing -- an open concourse stadium with good sightlines will be much "wider" than Dudy Noble down the base lines. I don't know that there's room between the stadium and the hump to make that happen on the exact current site...

[godlluB]

Which suburb would be best, Maben or Sturgis? Mayhew is my dark horse.

[starkvegasdawg]

Which suburb would be best, Maben or Sturgis? Mayhew is my dark horse.

After that water park out at the county lake folds that Stans invested in they can put it out there and have their own splash zone where long home runs end up in the lake. Have part of the fence a clear plexiglass so people can watch the game from their boats docked right outside the fence.

[Coastdog28]

Probably too late now, but if you incorporated it in with the Cotton Mill, I think it could have the potential to be incredible.

[bully99]

Absolutely not. That's why you hired all those fancy architects to figure out how to use the available space. Janet Smith did that at Fenway Park. Of course I love Engie keeping us informed on those sightlines. Engie, the new park must be no cricks allowed.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Want it to stay on campus.

Wouldn't mind seeing a major change to orientation or something else with the current location. The Palmeiro Center and the Hump block the ability to even see the stadium as is -- so there's no point in going fancy with facades, etc. Another thing -- an open concourse stadium with good sightlines will be much "wider" than Dudy Noble down the base lines. I don't know that there's room between the stadium and the hump to make that happen on the exact current site...

That's very true. If it does stay where DNF currently is, I have a hard time imagining the wider grandstand with the exact same orientation. It's already a tight squeeze with The Hump there, so I can't imagine there's much room to work with.

We do have the right person working for us on the feasibility team. JM Smith is the best in the world at designing baseball stadiums to fit in with their surroundings. She gets paid the big bucks to figure out stuff like this.

[hailmari]

Probably too late now, but if you incorporated it in with the Cotton Mill, I think it could have the potential to be incredible.

^Hmm. Not a bad proposal at all.

[The Croom Diaries]

No... no, no, no... moving the sports venues off campus really takes away from the "college feel" to me.

Ok. What if we built it where the intramural fields are now? Still on campus and all the room we need.

[engie]

Absolutely not. That's why you hired all those fancy architects to figure out how to use the available space. Janet Smith did that at Fenway Park. Of course I love Engie keeping us informed on those sightlines. Engie, the new park must be no cricks allowed.

We know you are obsessed with getting owned in that debate by basically the whole board -- directly before Stricklin and the meetings told you the same thing. No need to keep telling us how butt-hurt you are in every single Dudy Noble thread on here. We get it already.

[Tbonewannabe]

Absolutely not. That's why you hired all those fancy architects to figure out how to use the available space. Janet Smith did that at Fenway Park. Of course I love Engie keeping us informed on those sightlines. Engie, the new park must be no cricks allowed.
Someone has never sat in those shitastic bleachers.

[Political Hack]

build it by the lake and have people in kayaks (thinking of you yakalot) fight for the HR balls. would have to reroute some roads and clear some trees, but it's possible.

that's if they were forced to move it. I'd hate for it to be moved.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Someone has never sat in those shitastic bleachers.

This is the guy who argues that being able to comfortably see the game from your seat is not important.

Pay him no mind.

[Thick]

Do we know if they are tearing the grandstand down and starting over?

[DCdawg]

Probably too late now, but if you incorporated it in with the Cotton Mill, I think it could have the potential to be incredible.

+1 Maybe because I'm a student, but if the stadium were to move it could still be close or on campus and close to the cotton district. The district has great potential but has a lot of eyesores also. Maybe with a stadium close by, there would be an incentive to renovate some places and expand.

[messageboardsuperhero]

build it by the lake and have people in kayaks (thinking of you yakalot) fight for the HR balls. would have to reroute some roads and clear some trees, but it's possible.

that's if they were forced to move it. I'd hate for it to be moved.

This is a cool idea if the stadium were to be moved somewhere. I don't know how feasible that would be, but it sounds very interesting.

The stadium would have a PNC/AT&T Park type feel.

[engie]

Do we know if they are tearing the grandstand down and starting over?

Given what they've said -- and who they have hired -- it's basically assumed truth at this point in time...

[FlabLoser]

I hope we move baseball away from its current location - long enough for current location to be bulldozed for a new baseball stadium.

[Thick]

Given what they've said -- and who they have hired -- it's basically assumed truth at this point in time...

So engie, where would we play until the new stadium was completed, or can it be built in between seasons? That seems impossible, but I guess it can be done. Arkansas comes to mind, because that was a complete overhaul right?

[FlabLoser]

I vote for Trustmark Park. But it will probably go to Starkville High. Bracky will sit on a grassy knoll and watch for any SHS prospects to come in contact with our people.

[ShotgunDawg]

I vote for Trustmark Park. But it will probably go to Starkville High. Bracky will sit on a grassy knoll and watch for any SHS prospects to come in contact with our people.

Is this even plausible?

Could we throw $500,000 or so dollars into Starkville High's baseball field, put in some bleachers. like we had in North Endzone, and make it work for 1 year?

Play all midweek and non-conference games there, and play our SEC homes series at Trustmark, AutoZone, and the new Coast Stadium?

It would only be 5 weekends away from Starkville, and my guess is that we could play 3 of those at Trusmark, 1 on the coast, and 1 at Autozone.

[engie]

So engie, where would we play until the new stadium was completed, or can it be built in between seasons? That seems impossible, but I guess it can be done. Arkansas comes to mind, because that was a complete overhaul right?

It depends. They've got to come up with a logistical outline before we can know any of this...

I don't know if you can complete a new stadium on the same site between seasons... would be a VERY tight schedule. I think Trustmark Park was built in like 10 months start to finish -- and they had to clear timber, build the field and parking, etc. The biggest part preventing us from completing that quickly is the demolition time of the current grandstand. Fact is -- there's alot of stuff we'd want to preserve probably -- like the new seats, etc...

Arkansas built Baum in 96 on a new site. It's been constantly expanded ever since -- and it's easy for them to do this during offseasons because of the tremendous, modular initial design... I think it's being expanded again soon, I believe after this coming season -- with a new 360* concourse finally completed with a grand entrance plaza from center field -- to look like this. Just this expansion is looking at costing them $18-23 million...

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6169/6258972644_9710ab9c42_b.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6171/6258972712_b51880250f_b.jpg
http://uatvonline.net/wp-content/uploads/UniversityofArkansas-Fayetteville-BaumStadiumEntrance2.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6235/6258972674_dfe1778210_z.jpg

[ShotgunDawg]

Very impressive and all the more reason why WE MUST build a new stadium

[Dawgbite]

North farm. A retractable roof football stadium similar to Lucas Oil in Indianapolis and a new 12000 seat baseball stadium with ample parking between them. Every parking space will have a grassy area behind it for tailgating and real bathrooms along a central walkway. Build a monorail from campus over old 82 for the students. If you're gonna dream, dream big. It's just a billion dollars!

[Todd4State]

Here's a real crazy idea- why not just move the Hump? Too bad we just built that new complex for basketball.

I like the idea of a baseball community- that has some serious potential. And that's the perfect place to have a community like that because it's on campus, but very close to being off campus.

We could build a retirement home where everyone in there has their seat attached to their door with their name on it.

[bully99]

We just need good sightlines.

[engie]

one trick pony

[bully99]

Chill out engie, it's all in good fun. I've sat in those bleachers many times and they are awful, but better than the old wooden bleachers you had to pick splinters out of your ass after every game.

[State82]

Engie's right. Completing a new facility at the existing site during an off-season would be a monumental task, but you can accomplish most anything from a construction standpoint if you have enough dollars. Like Engie said, the monkey wrench would most likely be the demolition aspect of the existing structure, especially if they would want to salvage the seats. Working 24/7 could possibly get it done, but I don't know the % increase that would add to the contract amount. Probably substantial. However, its something that should be investigated and probably will be. Factors such as playing the last SEC series at home or on the road, being in the running for hosting a regional/super regional, etc. could be a major player because those things could cut as much as 4 weeks off a potential construction time frame. That is very significant in a fast track project. Whatever it takes, we just need to make it work. And in my opinion, on the existing site. Or at least on campus if for no other reason than convenience for students.

[engie]

This is a friggin huge project... I'm glad the administration got the memo on what needs to happen -- but I don't envy their task of making it reality.

There's so many questions that have so many ramifications.

Build elsewhere = wasted several million in playing surface and drainage improvement to DNF. Rotate stadium, mostly same thing(plus finding the room) and not inconveniencing a season. Move stadium, you've got to find room and start over on field work and all(and still go through demolition of DNF and/or retrofit it for softball).

Once you make it to the point that the existing grandstand has to come down, the options are limitless -- whereas they were very confined before.

It's honestly something I haven't put that much thought into yet -- was stuck on making sure everyone saw the limitations of DNF and that it had to come down. Now that we've accomplished that, it's really exciting with all the possibilities...

[Todd4State]

About a month ago I looked at the 1987 schedule the year the grandstand was built for reference. It appears as if we did indeed play home games at MSU before the grandstand was dedicated to start the season.

What I would do is tell the SEC that we are going to start construction in 2015 (or whenever) and reuest that our last series or two is on the road. Before the season ends is when I would start. If we are good enough to host a regional that year, I would talk to the M-Braves and Trustmark Park so that if we host a regional, it will be there. There is precedence for this- a school playing a regional and hosting at a nearby neutral site, even though it is not the norm.

Then I would start the next season playing at Trustmark, the new stadium on the Gulf Coast, and Autozone and then try to get into a pre-season tournament or play someone on the road. And then perhaps our first SEC series could be on the road as well.

If we did that, it would almost buy us a year. During that 10-11 month period, we need to focus on the grandstand and the field. The outfield stuff- including the scoreboard, I think we could potentially do a lot of it during the regular season- I would prefer to do the terraces and etc. the season before the grandstand is built so that it all opens up at the same time.

It's going to be a challenge.

[godlluB]

FWIW, I was at an event recently at which Stricklin spoke some about the DNF work. Janet Marie Smith will NOT be designing whatever changes happen at DNF. This will be done by Populous and others. Smith will be serving as an advisor, making suggestions and acting as a sanity check and sounding board during the process.

[engie]

I'd add Regions Field to that list to play home games as well...

[Goat Holder]

I think Todd has it right in this thread on the logistics. My vote would be to keep it where it is. I mean the Palmeiro Center is right there as is our practice facilites, and the Sanderson Center. Parking is abundant. As others have said, we spent a bunch of money on drainage too. I'm all about having the best but we need a reality check on some of this. If aesthetics is what you desire, let's do something with the outside of the terrible Hump. I don't think we need to enlarge it, just get rid of the terrible design on the outside. And ****ing tear down Dorman while we're at it.

As for the season, at the end of the year, just play the regional at Trustmark if we make it. It'd still be a huge home crowd for us. Even if that didn't work, play the out of conference games of the following year at Trustmark, Biloxi. Play a big 4 game tourney on the road somewhere, actually we're probably already signed up for it. Play Memphis/UAB at Autozone and Regions. At minimum, that's 10 months. Add a couple of away series at the end of the year and beginning of the following year and there you go.

How to handle the ticketing situation? I don't have a clue.

[SheltonChoked]

I've said this before.

The only place I want to move the baseball field to would be moving it back to where it was before 1967. , where Dorman Hall is. We would still have the "History" argument as the we played baseball at that location from 1885 -1967, and that's where the Left Field lounge started. It would have planty of parking nearby. Pregame tailgating at the Junction. A better backdrop to the Junction than Dorman Hall is.