I think they'd have to partner with the city.  They could eminent domain the villas and use that space.  

Posted by: @kkott

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@tammany maybe Hooky is just cheap? Just a thought.

Do you have any idea what $600 gets you at Night Moves?

@hooky pink eye

Posted by: @iugradman

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Posted by: @whatthefrik

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@iugradman 

So, yes?

You just said Bloomington will never do it.

 

Bloomington wouldn’t but IU absolutely could. Galen Clavio also advocated for some mixed use development by Memorial Stadium.

 

Cool.  Did Galen Clavio then take that suggestion and use it as an excuse to piss and moan about IU again?

If there is an economic case for something, a developer will buy up older houses/apts and build it.  Just like in the rest of Bloomington.

This would probably happen west of Dunn.  All those massive apts have recently went up over there, so big projects can happen.  

I'd avoid touching the green space.  It's rare to have that and it makes our tailgate superb.

Regardless of how fun it is to play Sim City, what we are actually getting next is some sort of stadium renovation of the West and maybe East stand.  That'll be cool.

If only IU had a media deal and a president that wouldn’t siphon money from athletics for years while everyone else was building athletics facilities. This stuff should’ve been well underway a decade ago. IU is way behind still. It’s insane how good this staff really is. Anyone think if McRobbie was still the president that him and Cig would jive? 

@gros-louis I have to admit, I have no clue how today's elite level football players actually view things like practice facilities.  I just know that we are now entering in to a new world in terms of who we're going to be going head to head with... on the field, for recruits, for media exposure... And right now, 99.9% of that new found competitiveness is due to one man.  He's 64 years old... IU needs to do whatever they need to do, and can do, to bring the infrastructure of the program up to "top 10" levels.  And if you've ever walked through Notre Dame's practice facility... it makes Indiana's look and feel like a 3A high school programs.  Again, I don't know what kind of impact that has on players.  It seems like we're beating ND out for some pretty talented guys.  But how much of that is purely Cig/Shanahan/Haines related, right now?  

And that's another reason to dual purpose a new football facility.  Top tier college football programs are like NFL franchises.  They should be run accordingly.  Attract the best and brightest minds to support the team on the field... we should strive to have the best football marketing initiatives, the best medical support, the best media and broadcasting.  Attracting normal students is still very important and very much a business in and of itself.

And with regards to parking garages... tuck them in behind this new football facility, and surround them with some trees.  There are ways to accomplish these wild ideas.  And what I'm proposing certainly may not be feasible or logistically make any sense.  But if we don't strike while the iron is hot...in 5 years when Cignetti retires, and we still have a high school level practice facility, and sub standard stadium concourses, and don't have other things buoying the program... the odds of falling back to pre Cig IU are much higher than if we use this gift, to bring IU football up to modern day elite college football... levels...

Having said all this... none of this can be at the expense of direct spending on coaching staff and/or the players.  I'm making a big assumption that winning a natty will open many doors for quite a lot of money that can be used on facility related projects.  If that's not true, then ride the coaches and hope the fall off isn't too bad when Cig retires.  

@iugradman Not just Kansas, lot of schools are doing it. Wake Forest did it as well 

I hope they get more hotel capacity, the cost to come in for games is ridiculous

IU has all of its facilities built into the stadium. The north end zone complex opened in 2009 and the south end zone complex was finished in 2018. It would be redundant to build a completely new facility.

What IU needs is to build a revenue generating development by the stadium to keep the athletics department competitive financially. The student housing complexes across Dunn Street make no money for the university.

@drjb 

And ironically, parking is far and away better at Memorial Stadium than most venues.  There are some pretty iconic stadiums that have absolutely no parking around the stadium whatsoever.  

Read through the thread. There’s good discussion. Here’s my two cents. Again, I’m not a civil engineer nor an expert in zoning laws in Bloomington.

1. IU’s stadium needs major renovations, not only in luxury items but the bare bones of the structure as well. IU needs to make sure that place can host a playoff game in December.

2. The rejuvenation of Mellancamp looks great on the inside, like a brand new place. New lights, new turf, paint job and decals. Outside of replacing the roof (I’d raise it and put glass in) the place doesn’t need much more work. 

3. The parking around MS is already a nightmare (largely bc the company who runs it sucks at parking cars) so eliminating spots to build multipurpose buildings may not be a great idea. IU already lost prime spots with building Wilkenson and Cook Halls. (A discussion for another day). In theory it’s good, but in my mind I just don’t see IU having enough room to pull it off well.

4. A “Stadium District” would be a lot of fun. Connecting Woodlawn to Kirkwood with some more shops, bars/restaurants, maybe a hotel would be really cool. Yes, garages are ugly, but can be useful when you have to build up and not out. I don’t see IU taking the Villas away unless they replace with more modern student housing. I have talked with fans for years about sprucing up lots and those RV lots at Auburn sound awesome. IU could do that as well (luxury not a necessity). I have been to 16/18 Big Ten schools now and IU can 100% keep the tailgate atmosphere and do some of the stuff mentioned here.

HOWEVER,

This needs to be planned well and properly vetted. It can’t just be IU people saying I think this could work.

@thehoosierhuddle 

“3. The parking around MS is already a nightmare (largely bc the company who runs it sucks at parking cars)”

LOL…Truer words have never been spoken. At the MSU game (I think), IU brought back a retired facilities manager to observe.  So I think IU recognizes the problem.  I thought the new crew this year was a step back.

“I have talked with fans for years about sprucing up lots and those RV lots at Auburn sound awesome.”

I’d have some trepidation plugging my RV into something IU put out to the lowest bidder. 😀 As an RVer, I’d be happy with moving those of us in Gate 11 to Gate 10 were it’s somewhat level.

Regardless, the stadium is Priority One.  I wouldn’t be surprised that some of these ideas aren’t incorporated into it in some fashion.

Keep in mind hotels and restaurants don’t make much money.  We aren’t missing out on some grand revenue stream here.

@tammany no, but they add to the atmosphere and give people options.