[PAmedic]

Link still says “Vines center renovation – interior“ but looks like the new arena to me

https://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/in ... n-Interior

Hope it’s as nice as anticipated cause it sure looks small to me

(That’s not what she said)

[BlueBlood]

Link still says “Vines center renovation – interior“ but looks like the new arena to me

https://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/in ... n-Interior

Hope it’s as nice as anticipated cause it sure looks small to me

(That’s not what she said)

I noticed it too. It does look small. I still think it’s just a temporary step for MBB. The renderings of the new Vines roof show the athletics logo on it (not the regular school monogram). I don’t think they would do that if the building was truly no longer going to be used for athletics.

[Cider Jim]

The first picture on this slide show gives you a much better idea of what the inside of the new arena will look like.

https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cf ... 4&teamID=6

[BlueBlood]

The first picture on this slide show gives you a much better idea of what the inside of the new arena will look like.

https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cf ... 4&teamID=6

The link listed earlier is showing the actual inside of the new arena.

[tyndal23]

Link still says “Vines center renovation – interior“ but looks like the new arena to me

https://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/in ... n-Interior

Hope it’s as nice as anticipated cause it sure looks small to me

(That’s not what she said)

I noticed it too. It does look small. I still think it’s just a temporary step for MBB. The renderings of the new Vines roof show the athletics logo on it (not the regular school monogram). I don’t think they would do that if the building was truly no longer going to be used for athletics.

They stated a week or so they are rehanging the scoreboard for future sporting events in Vines. Have already referenced how much better acoustics will be etc. if LU outgrows Arena - Vines will be where they play - nonsense to think they would build a 6k arena somewhere else if 4K is too small and 8k too big.

[LUOrange]

Back in the 90's the Vines seated around 9500 or more, I believe that included the bleachers that pulled out on both sides of the tunnel. It never actually seated 10K, they also removed and put back seats several times over the years constantly changing it's capacity. Hopefully, they can renovate the Vines so that the seating and stage configuration can easily retract back and forth between a basketball arena and a concert/convocation center. That way they could actually utilize the 1K or so seats that were removed or obstructed by the screens and speakers.

[bigsmooth]

does anyone know what is going on above the tunnel in the Vines? i know all of the padded seats are covered up, but that looks like something else is going on .

[ElmersTwin]

does anyone know what is going on above the tunnel in the Vines? i know all of the padded seats are covered up, but that looks like something else is going on .

I'm pretty sure that's just a temporary roof structure. They framed everything out and built that with seats still in tact right under it.

[Class of 20Something]

https://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/in ... erior-View

Looks like the new video board frame is together. I am also very surprised that the seating is VERY similar to how JPJ is laid out. They can probably retract the lower half of the seats for things like Volleyball and WBB. The front row would be elevated and unobstructed.

[rogers3]

https://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/in ... erior-View

Looks like the new video board frame is together. I am also very surprised that the seating is VERY similar to how JPJ is laid out. They can probably retract the lower half of the seats for things like Volleyball and WBB. The front row would be elevated and unobstructed.

Perfect for Volleyball and high school/D3 ball. Boy, it looks small.

[thepostman]

Well, if we could've averaged way more in the Vines Center over the years we wouldn't of come to this but such is life.

The camera angle is really weird though making it look even smaller.

[Ill flame]

The important thing is that attendance/ excitement for the program is finally on a good trajectory. Hopefully we can average a near sell out for the next several years and force the school to find a long term solution for mbb.

[tyndal23]

This was from 2009 - seems like now they have invested in a new roof that the rest of the plan could still be implemented ( or close to it ).

http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?P ... N=13301942

[Ill flame]

This was from 2009 - seems like now they have invested in a new roof that the rest of the plan could still be implemented ( or close to it ).

http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?P ... N=13301942

That's an interesting article. I don't know what the needs for convocation are but 11,000 would obviously be way too big for basketball unless we end up in the acc or something which isn't happening anytime soon. Either way it would be difficult to renovate a building to perfectly fit the needs for mbb and convocation but I'm sure it could be done eventually.

[Jonathan Carone]

The camera angle is really weird though making it look even smaller.

I think what's making it look smaller is the final 3-4 rows of seating haven't been installed. Those are the retractable ones that would be under that wall that's currently there and would go all the way to the floor.

It's still a lot smaller than Vines and is going to take getting used to, but it won't feel as small as this currently does.

[tyndal23]

This was from 2009 - seems like now they have invested in a new roof that the rest of the plan could still be implemented ( or close to it ).

http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?P ... N=13301942

That's an interesting article. I don't know what the needs for convocation are but 11,000 would obviously be way too big for basketball unless we end up in the acc or something which isn't happening anytime soon. Either way it would be difficult to renovate a building to perfectly fit the needs for mbb and convocation but I'm sure it could be done eventually.

I prefer the exterior be upgraded with brick and entrance Pictured to tie it all in with campus. Fill in the gaps on outer wall with extra restrooms and concessions for Live Nation summer concerts JR referenced in Lawnvo. If they don’t need more seats for convo - I don’t really care about expansion of seats.

[LUOrange]

This was from 2009 - seems like now they have invested in a new roof that the rest of the plan could still be implemented ( or close to it ).

http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?P ... N=13301942

I hope that most or some of this is still in the works.

[thepostman]

The camera angle is really weird though making it look even smaller.

I think what's making it look smaller is the final 3-4 rows of seating haven't been installed. Those are the retractable ones that would be under that wall that's currently there and would go all the way to the floor.

It's still a lot smaller than Vines and is going to take getting used to, but it won't feel as small as this currently does.

Yeah, that's true too. I mean it looks smaller compared to the Vines because it is half the size. Comparing it to a D3/high school gym is a bit much for me.

[Ill flame]

I've been in high school gyms bigger than this arena but that's the exception rather than the rule

[rogers3]

I've been in high school gyms bigger than this arena but that's the exception rather than the rule

The other thing that I find interesting is the change in Jerry's perspective. It wasn't long ago that he felt he needed the tallest building in town so he built the phallic tower. Now he is trying to go small... But I guess the parking deck the opposite the arena makes up for that.

[Class of 20Something]

Assuming the seating chart is accurate, the side we are looking at has 19 rows.

It appears that we are only seeing 7-8 rows currently. Below is JPJ for basketball, and then for Monster Jam where they retract the seats and a trade show as well.

https://imgur.com/a/F7bXnHR

[A Sea of Red]

I'm not sure if you all saw Todd Patulski's tweet, but he basically gave the Athletic Department answer as to why the 4,000 arena is being built.

It makes perfect sense. If we're only selling 500 season tickets after an NCAA Tournament win, the first in school history, then a 9,000 seat arena doesn't make any sense. Hopefully we can get our season ticket sales up over 1,000, leave 2,000 seats for students, and 1,000 for single game tickets.

[Purple Haize]

It seems to me that it isn’t either 9000 seats or 4000 seats. It seems a lot of people are in agreement (not you roger3 but you make great points) that a number between those would be better. I thought it was originally supposed to be 5kish which seemed about right. However, I don’t have access to attendance numbers etc to determine the rolling averages. I feel confident the vast majority think the Vines was too big and a good number think this is too small. Sounds like a children’s story with porridge or something

[Jonathan Carone]

It seems to me that it isn’t either 9000 seats or 4000 seats. It seems a lot of people are in agreement (not you roger3 but you make great points) that a number between those would be better. I thought it was originally supposed to be 5kish which seemed about right. However, I don’t have access to attendance numbers etc to determine the rolling averages. I feel confident the vast majority think the Vines was too big and a good number think this is too small. Sounds like a children’s story with porridge or something

The thing that happened faster than anyone expected was the crowds showing back up after Ritchie started having success. When these plans were made, 4000 could've made sense. But this gives us no room to grow. I've been in the 4500-5000 camp as well. A place like Winthrop (6100) might be a little too big but Cameron Hall (5029) could've been perfect.

[thepostman]

It does seem most agree 4,000 seems too small but I like it better than staying in a consistently half empty Vines Center.

It'll be interesting to see if they become creative with seating configurations in the Vines Center in the years to come.