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Post by hc87 on Jul 13, 2016 16:26:30 GMT -5
Not sure what the final price-tag for the renovation in 85-86 was....I don't think it was that much as essentially it was cosmetic: replacing wood with aluminum for the most pahht. There were a few additions/subtactions here and there as has been discussed i.e.President/ visitor's press box, completing the horseshoe etc but on the whole it was more of a "sprucing up" than anything.
I don't think the home press box was changed at all if memory serves. Called a few games in 1985 in the old Fitton and then did the 1986 and 1987 seasons in the new...can't recall any changes now....might be wrong. Think it was the same one that Roy Mumpton, Dave Anderson, Clark Booth, Peter Gammons et al had toiled in ovah the years.
It has to be sub-standard (compared to other FBS/FCS schools anyway) but in this day and age do you really need a huge pressbox given that you can basically report on the game from anywhere today given the tech advances etc? Different topic maybe for another day.
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Post by timholycross on Jul 13, 2016 16:53:18 GMT -5
The Lehigh stadium picture used would've been for Taylor. I believe Lehigh moved into Goodman Stadium for football in the neighborhood of '88 or '89. Correct. Watched HC beat LU at Taylor in 1987, by a whopping 63-6. Next time I went to LU was 2 yrs later and it was to Goodman. Here's a shot of the vistors' side. Stands ended on the 40!. A "J" so to speak. Used to be a baseball field in the right corner and that's why the stands ended like they did. When I saw it, the baseball field was gone but there was a small parking lot that was prime tailgating territory- I think the parking pass was the game ticket- no need to go to the stands
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Post by timholycross on Jul 13, 2016 16:58:12 GMT -5
Not sure what the final price-tag for the renovation in 85-86 was....I don't think it was that much as essentially it was cosmetic: replacing wood with aluminum for the most pahht. There were a few additions/subtactions here and there as has been discussed i.e.President/ visitor's press box, completing the horseshoe etc but on the whole it was more of a "sprucing up" than anything. I don't think the home press box was changed at all if memory serves. Called a few games in 1985 in the old Fitton and then did the 1986 and 1987 seasons in the new...can't recall any changes now....might be wrong. Think it was the same one that Roy Mumpton, Dave Anderson, Clark Booth, Peter Gammons et al had toiled in ovah the years. It has to be sub-standard (compared to other FBS/FCS schools anyway) but in this day and age do you really need a huge pressbox given that you can basically report on the game from anywhere today given the tech advances etc? Different topic maybe for another day. The many iterations of the poster Rick has commented on the press box being the same one as in the Eddie Anderson era...in fact, most likely the same one as in the FIRST Eddie Anderson era, which would have been in the 1930s. He's also said that Brooks turned down an offer from BC to transplant a press box that they were replacing, didn't want any hand-me-downs....incredible given the reports how decrepit the still-existing one is.
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Post by hc87 on Jul 13, 2016 17:29:40 GMT -5
Nevah saw a game at the old Taylor stadium....we didn't go down for some reason in 1987 (schoolwork maybe? nah...lol) Watched on TV...actually felt bad for the Engineers that day. We did do the game at Lafayette in 1986....met Matt Goukas at the frat his son was in post-game. I remembah the frat party (sorta) more than the game itself. It seemed like a quaint old stadium but I forget its exact configuration. I haven't been to either of the new stadia in the Lehigh Valley since.....might do the Lafayette game this year as paht of a golf, guy's weekend in the Poconos.
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Post by rickii on Jul 14, 2016 10:39:24 GMT -5
hc87 -
I would respectfully disagree. Basically one-third of the stadium was demolished....that is the old permanent wood visitor grandstand ( 60-yards long and 14 rows ) and press box plus dismantling/removal of the portable wood plank bleachers on the remaining sideline and open endzone ( each 20 rows ). Only the steel skeleton of the home and closed endzone grandstands survived for the reconstruction....and yes, the home press box hut . A larger 26-row permanent visitor grandstand + corner addition and Brooks Box with elevator was erected with a total capacity of 5,860.
As to the cost of both demolition and reconstruction, my admittedly vague recall is about $2,000,000+...peanuts by today's standards but serious bucks in 1985-86.
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Post by hc87 on Jul 14, 2016 12:45:26 GMT -5
I wasn't implying it was done "on the cheap" etc. just that, in the grand scheme of things, it was much the same stadium that it was in 1985...just shinier now.
And aside from a few little bells and whistles here and there done lately, it's basically the same stadium it was in 1986 today.
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Post by JRGNYR on Jul 15, 2016 7:26:58 GMT -5
hc87 -
I would respectfully disagree. Basically one-third of the stadium was demolished....that is the old permanent wood visitor grandstand ( 60-yards long and 14 rows ) and press box plus dismantling/removal of the portable wood plank bleachers on the remaining sideline and open endzone ( each 20 rows ). Only the steel skeleton of the home and closed endzone grandstands survived for the reconstruction....and yes, the home press box hut . A larger 26-row permanent visitor grandstand + corner addition and Brooks Box with elevator was erected with a total capacity of 5,860.
As to the cost of both demolition and reconstruction, my admittedly vague recall is about $2,000,000+...peanuts by today's standards but serious bucks in 1985-86.
In "Thy Honored Name" authored by someone we all know pretty well, the '85 and '86 renovations to Fitton cost about $3.6 million.
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Post by DiMarz on Jul 25, 2016 17:41:28 GMT -5
I went by Fitton on I-290 the other evening. The closed end of he field now has about 1/2 of its seating area covered in a purple tarp with the HC logo prominently in the center...
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Post by sarasota on Jul 25, 2016 18:50:52 GMT -5
It's been there for many months. What is its purpose? I don't like it.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jul 25, 2016 19:04:37 GMT -5
I went by Fitton on I-290 the other evening. The closed end of he field now has about 1/2 of its seating area covered in a purple tarp with the HC logo prominently in the center... It was done all last FB season. Nothing new.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jul 25, 2016 19:07:58 GMT -5
It's been there for many months. What is its purpose? I don't like it. Purpose is to make Fitton look less cavernous given the recent attendance. A sponsors logo may also be adorning it this coming season.
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Post by sarasota on Jul 25, 2016 23:05:10 GMT -5
cavernous is part of its allure. please take the sheet off.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jul 25, 2016 23:31:47 GMT -5
Empty seats don't look good--better a HC logo or some advertising.....
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Post by sarasota on Jul 26, 2016 3:28:17 GMT -5
it looks like a band-aid on the stadium. looks awful.
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Post by rgs318 on Jul 26, 2016 8:07:06 GMT -5
cavernous is part of its allure. please take the sheet off. Empty seats have no allure. IMO they speak of a program long past its prime and still in decline. Keep the tarp until the seats can be filled (or boxes installed?). Since that tarp has been there for a year, it is surprising that some did not notice it all last season.
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Post by matunuck on Jul 26, 2016 8:09:51 GMT -5
100 percent agree with you, RGS.
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Post by joe on Jul 26, 2016 8:23:54 GMT -5
I think the entire closed end and half of the visitor's sides should be tarped off until attendance goes back up, then sections removed commensurate with out success as needed. Anyone see Major League?
The tarps ARE a bandaid for now, and there's nothing wrong with that. Empty seats are the enemy. No allure to it whatsoever.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Jul 26, 2016 8:24:30 GMT -5
The seat tarp was removed at the end last season, and was recently reinstalled for this upcoming season.
I like the cover, as it visually identifies H C, to travellers passing thru using 290.
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Post by rickii on Jul 26, 2016 9:43:16 GMT -5
It's been there for many months. What is its purpose? I don't like it. It's keeping the aluminum clean until Princeton next comes to Fitton and 23,000 fans show up
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jul 26, 2016 10:10:44 GMT -5
it looks like a band-aid on the stadium. looks awful. And a half-empty stadium looks better???
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Post by sarasota on Jul 26, 2016 12:17:30 GMT -5
Harvard Stadium is mostly empty for most games, yet it remains an impressive edifice. I'm sorry. That stadium is our crowning facility compared to many stadia around the country--certainly in the PL. The tarp is an insult to it. No number of tarps will disguise the fact that attendance is meager. It's an embarrassing attempt to disguise that fact.
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Post by joe on Jul 26, 2016 13:23:56 GMT -5
Harvard Stadium is mostly empty for most games, yet it remains an impressive edifice. I'm sorry. That stadium is our crowning facility compared to many stadia around the country--certainly in the PL. The tarp is an insult to it. No number of tarps will disguise the fact that attendance is meager. It's an embarrassing attempt to disguise that fact. Without getting into the specific aesthetics, a half empty Harvard Stadium has enough other visual cues and architectual details that it presents much better than a half empty aluminum Fitton, especially at night. Really two totally different venues, both awesome in their glory.
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Post by JRGNYR on Jul 26, 2016 13:34:40 GMT -5
Harvard Stadium and Fitton Field are apples and oranges. Not a good comparison, and one that will rarely, if ever, favor HC.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Jul 26, 2016 15:41:50 GMT -5
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Post by sarasota on Jul 26, 2016 18:45:04 GMT -5
What a sparsely attended Fitton says to me is "potential," "what could be." Of course Harvard Stadium and Fitton are entirely different architectures, but Fitton has a pure uniform beauty. I don't believe TPTB have shown it respect since the EBW rebuilding--and I'm including press boxes, latrines, locker rooms, etc.
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