mike radigan
New member
Exactly! There are very few windows of opportunity for such projects. The Civic Center window passed with its expansion and the BU window passed with its expansion. The windows are closed.
-
Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.
New Facilities
- Thread starter Rusty 54
- Start date
Exactly! There are very few windows of opportunity for such projects. The Civic Center window passed with its expansion and the BU window passed with its expansion. The windows are closed.
That is something that scares me. Our practice facilities have been outdated for a long time, and we are just catching up to other schools in that area. Looking at the other arenas around the MVC Carver, are we in danger of facing the same sort of situation? Creighton, Drake, and Missouri St all have new arenas, and Wichita St and Evansville remodeled. Is Bradley going to be perpetually behind the other MVC schools in terms of Basketball facilities?
I actually agree with squirrel on this. It is not only possible that a new arena will be built downtown, it is inevitable. What's important now is that people start to discuss it seriously so that it is done right. It is important that Bradley get involved to make sure it is a first class basketball first arena. Many arguments against it are similar to the arguments made against the Civic Center years ago. Fortunately civic leaders with vision and courage stood up to the opposition and doubters and got it done. Think about it - the Fieldhouse was 33 years old when the Civic Center opened and had been considered outdated long before that. The Civic Center is 26 years old now. Not terribly outdated yet but the conversation for a new arena needs to start.
2bradleyfans
New member
Drake does not have a new arena.
Opened in 1992, I guess your right but its still 10 years after Carver was built.
Drake has had a great year but I don't think anyone is ready to put them in the top half of MVC programs yet. Their arena is about 14 years old I think. If there program outgrows it they have the new Wells Fargo arena as an option.
No. But they do have Wells-Fargo across town which they have access to, and with sustained success they can use regularly if they so choose.
2bradleyfans
New member
Guess what, poll the average joe on the street and ask them what is the team they have heard of the most or who is the most sucessfull team in the valley, show them the list of the ten options and I would be confident to think most would choose Southern Illinois.
SIU Arena seats about 9,600. SIU is embarking on a refurbishing and upgrade in the arena, when done the area will still not seat more than 10,000.
Do people think if BU had a 18,000 seat arena we would win the MVC tourney regularly? Get invited to the NCAA as an at large in the rare year we didn't win MVC. Have Dick Vitale proclaiming the MVC is a major power conference 'cause Bradley has a big 18,000 seat arena (mind you his baby [Duke] plays in a facility smaller than Carver).
SIU Arena seats about 9,600. SIU is embarking on a refurbishing and upgrade in the arena, when done the area will still not seat more than 10,000.
Do people think if BU had a 18,000 seat arena we would win the MVC tourney regularly? Get invited to the NCAA as an at large in the rare year we didn't win MVC. Have Dick Vitale proclaiming the MVC is a major power conference 'cause Bradley has a big 18,000 seat arena (mind you his baby [Duke] plays in a facility smaller than Carver).
You are right on your first point. I think SIU would be recognized at least on par with Creighton as being the most successful programs in the Valley.
But Bradley (along with Creighton, Drake, and Evansville) absolutely relies on men's basketball as its 3rd bread-winner behind tuition and endowments.
And a large portion of endowments are directly related to success on the basketball court.
Bradley has been blessed to have had the success throughout the years despite being painfully behind facilities-wise, and financially-wise.
However, moving into the 21st Century, it will be imperative that BU capitalize on its most visible and marketable asset to ensure continued excellence both academically and athletically.
That will ultimately mean they need to make the moves to affirm and maintain its status among the nation's elite programs historically. That will take money. And money eventually will need to come in the form of a larger arena.
BU doesn't have the luxury of resources that many of its MVC brethren have. And Creighton is leaving the privates in the dust, which should alarm the average Bradley fan.
And I would be willing to bet SIU gets a new facility at least announced or underway within 10-15 years from now. And if they are still going to NCAA tournaments 6 out of every 7 years, you can bet it would likely be in the 11K-15K range.
2bradleyfans
New member
OK Squirrel, you feel the ship is going down and there is at least some relationship to the size of the Arena?
Bradley was 3rd out of ten in conference this year for average attendance, Bradley was 3rd out of ten in conference last year for average attendance.
Bradley has the third biggest arena in the MVC. Bradley has a bigger arena than at least one member of Big East, BigTen, SEC, ACC, Pac-10, Big 12.
Also every other conference in D-1 or the world.
Bradley was 3rd out of ten in conference this year for average attendance, Bradley was 3rd out of ten in conference last year for average attendance.
Bradley has the third biggest arena in the MVC. Bradley has a bigger arena than at least one member of Big East, BigTen, SEC, ACC, Pac-10, Big 12.
Also every other conference in D-1 or the world.
2bradleyfans
New member
yeah, I'm pretty sure it is the arena that is the problem. Not the players not the coach, not our competition.
If only Gonzaga could get out of there new 6,000 seat arena maybe they could be good, or win games, or people would have heard of them.
Alas, poor Gonzaga will be relagated to the area of obscurity because their arena is not big enough.
Headline: 2023 Bradley drops fifth in a row infront of 10,800 in the new PeoriaInferiorityComplexArena (cap.18,000). Quote from coach " I don't know why we have been losing, those extra empty 6,000 seats should have willed us on to victory".
If only Gonzaga could get out of there new 6,000 seat arena maybe they could be good, or win games, or people would have heard of them.
Alas, poor Gonzaga will be relagated to the area of obscurity because their arena is not big enough.
Headline: 2023 Bradley drops fifth in a row infront of 10,800 in the new PeoriaInferiorityComplexArena (cap.18,000). Quote from coach " I don't know why we have been losing, those extra empty 6,000 seats should have willed us on to victory".
Hey guys Carver is fine for except the ice skating done during the game. That is the first thing that needs to be considered and fixed. The new sports facility that is being built will be good enough for recruiting. What they need to do with Carver though is find a way to move the big donors from the front of the court (cushy seats 1/2 way up with hosting service) and bring the college kids down and around to create a wild environment. Duke's arena is considered one of the greatest places to play and it is much smaller. Carver was recieving cudos on national TV so remove the ice for now but at the same time create a long-term plan to either update Carver or build a larger arena in 10 years. I doubt that Peoria can really afford a new arena anytime soon without bringing in another sports team besides hockey and arena football. So what would that team be? It will not be the NBA lol or any other indoor pro-sports team. In short order, Peoria's tax base cannot support the debt and Bradley will not remove it's focus from education to big time athletics. Let's see how things play out with our new facility. I heard that it will cost a pretty penny!
A snag in the plans for the Bradley development--
http://pjstar.com/stories/031408/TRI_BG22V97H.061.php
http://pjstar.com/stories/031408/TRI_BG22V97H.061.php
Where exactly is it stated by me that facilities are the problem? Numerous times I myself have referred to Carver as adequate in this very thread.
And inferiority complex? Give me a break! I believe Bradley CAN do better over the long term. Better in every sense of the word.
If you are OK with mediocrity and increasing insignificance, that to me is the definition of inferiority.
tornado
New member
No, but I have an artist's redition of what the brand new
facilities will look like when complete.
I just got my Hilltopics and this old picture of the game in the Fieldhouse is on the cover, sketched.
The story is online but not the magazine cover...
"Fieldhouse Memories"
http://www.bradley.edu/hilltopics/feature2/
Bradleyguy10
New member
sometime i wish we'd just renovate the field house and still play in it...find a way to put around 1k more seats in there..it's got history..but i guess history doesn't recruit players now days. It would definitely make a heck of a place to play for other teams...
