Avery Johnson Wants to Improve Coleman Coliseum

RTR91

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"I had an opportunity to tour Coleman," Johnson said. "Umm, we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do in terms of seating. There's a vision I have in mind how I want to get the students involved in the games."
 

BamaMoon

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It'll be interesting what his vision is.

We have a very wide area across Coleman where the seats, unlike in most modern arenas, do not come close to the court. I've wondered about seating of students on the floor level behind the benches. This may encroach sight lines for the lowest rows in the donor seats.

CAJ will have to spend some time selling this idea to donors that those seats should be students.
 

Hoot30

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I could be wrong, but I think the SEC has a rule against seating students behind the benches. They could put students back in Section S where it used to be beforel they reconfigured the arena and moved faculty/staff to that section.
 

Rama Jama

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I could be wrong, but I think the SEC has a rule against seating students behind the benches. They could put students back in Section S where it used to be before they reconfigured the arena and moved faculty/staff to that section.
I am actually in that section and it really is no closer than they are now. The sight line from those seats pretty much look into the crimson chaos seats and pep band behind the basket. They could move the faculty section across the from where they are now. I'd say give them the entire end line beside where crimson chaos is now. These are the closest seats to the court other than the tide pride donor seats, and if they had the whole section the students would fill up those 4 sections. I think that would be about 3000 seats or so, plenty enough for the students. Grant had completely lost the support of the students. There were only about 250 students there at the end of the year.

There is only one real solution in the long run which is to build a new arena with 2 or 3 levels like the BJCC. Spending any money on Coleman is a waste of time and money IMHO. I just don't see how the current structure can ever be made into a fan friendly arena unless they basically start over.
 

BamaMoon

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I am actually in that section and it really is no closer than they are now. The sight line from those seats pretty much look into the crimson chaos seats and pep band behind the basket. They could move the faculty section across the from where they are now. I'd say give them the entire end line beside where crimson chaos is now. These are the closest seats to the court other than the tide pride donor seats, and if they had the whole section the students would fill up those 4 sections. I think that would be about 3000 seats or so, plenty enough for the students. Grant had completely lost the support of the students. There were only about 250 students there at the end of the year.

There is only one real solution in the long run which is to build a new arena with 2 or 3 levels like the BJCC. Spending any money on Coleman is a waste of time and money IMHO. I just don't see how the current structure can ever be made into a fan friendly arena unless they basically start over.
I agree with this! In the long run it'll take a completely new arena. I do think we'll need to see the program have a string of a few good years before this happens though.
 

Rama Jama

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Also, BTW, the cost to tear down or remodel Coleman will be ridiculous. The ceiling is lined with asbestos which has since been covered with a sealant to keep it from falling on fans. This is why there hasn't been a concert there in 30 years.

I still think it should be made into a hockey arena for the hockey team. It would be almost perfect for that sport.
 

JustNeedMe81

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I think so too. Convert it to hockey Arena and build a new gym. let me tweet that to CAJ!

Also, BTW, the cost to tear down or remodel Coleman will be ridiculous. The ceiling is lined with asbestos which has since been covered with a sealant to keep it from falling on fans. This is why there hasn't been a concert there in 30 years.

I still think it should be made into a hockey arena for the hockey team. It would be almost perfect for that sport.
 

JDCrimson

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The 4 exterior walls, the front entrance, and the concourse are not really the problem. Its the seat layout and the lighting. To me if you can go in and demo the seat layout, remove the asbestos from the ceiling and drop it down to hold the noise closer to floor level, and come back in with some luxury boxes in the area where the nosebleeds are, I think you will have a really good venue then. Personally, I think they should look at Coleman the same way they are doing the baseball stadium, it there is too much that is still good with the building as a whole to blow it up and start over. Instead of a 15k arena we are probably looking at a 12k arena. After all the success that CAJ is going to have we will likely be wishing that we had the 15k back.
 

rgw

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He's only saying what people here have been suggesting for years. Coleman isn't a derelict but it is not really configured correctly to maximize the noise and general atmosphere. It would be like having a 100 yard margin around the football field before the seating starts.
 

Rama Jama

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The 4 exterior walls, the front entrance, and the concourse are not really the problem. Its the seat layout and the lighting. To me if you can go in and demo the seat layout, remove the asbestos from the ceiling and drop it down to hold the noise closer to floor level, and come back in with some luxury boxes in the area where the nosebleeds are, I think you will have a really good venue then. Personally, I think they should look at Coleman the same way they are doing the baseball stadium, it there is too much that is still good with the building as a whole to blow it up and start over. Instead of a 15k arena we are probably looking at a 12k arena. After all the success that CAJ is going to have we will likely be wishing that we had the 15k back.
It would be about as cheap to build a new one with the massive abatement of the asbestos. Since you'd have to destroy parts of the building and then build it back up, that would be a minimum of a 2 year job. Where would the team play in the mean time. You can't put another deck or luxury boxes in there, because the ceiling too low (and who would pay for boxes when you would be so far from the action). You could go down with the gym floor, but you'd lose the lower gym where the team practices. The seating configuration is the main problem you can't get the crazy atmosphere they have in other gyms. It is frankly a very poor design for basketball and when they remodeled during CMG tenure, it made it worse.
 

BamaMoon

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Also, BTW, the cost to tear down or remodel Coleman will be ridiculous. The ceiling is lined with asbestos which has since been covered with a sealant to keep it from falling on fans. This is why there hasn't been a concert there in 30 years.

I still think it should be made into a hockey arena for the hockey team. It would be almost perfect for that sport.
Hockey and gymnastics. I've been to a gymnastics meet there and the place was full. The women can fill it up and they use almost all of the floor space as they have the various stations set up for competition.

Build a basketball arena with seats right up to the floor!
 

TiderJack

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It would be about as cheap to build a new one with the massive abatement of the asbestos. Since you'd have to destroy parts of the building and then build it back up, that would be a minimum of a 2 year job. Where would the team play in the mean time. You can't put another deck or luxury boxes in there, because the ceiling too low (and who would pay for boxes when you would be so far from the action). You could go down with the gym floor, but you'd lose the lower gym where the team practices. The seating configuration is the main problem you can't get the crazy atmosphere they have in other gyms. It is frankly a very poor design for basketball and when they remodeled during CMG tenure, it made it worse.
I think the Barn spent $90 million on their new arena. I would think we could invest about 1/2 that amount and make the changes being discussed, including the asbestos removal, and have a really nice areana.
 

CoolBreeze

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Coach Saban's goal of a National Championship materialized in 3 years. If Coach Avery's does - final four - in three years or even gets us to the dance three years in a row finishing in the sweet 16 by his fifth year I think construction will be well underway for a new top notch facility second to none.
 

Rama Jama

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I think the Barn spent $90 million on their new arena. I would think we could invest about 1/2 that amount and make the changes being discussed, including the asbestos removal, and have a really nice arena.
I don't know how familiar you are with the University's mentality when it comes to construction. They will over pay to make sure the zero percent of the asbestos escapes and the contractor will double their charge more because they will have to take the risk of a deadline that from the time they start would be difficult. It would take longer since you would have to tear down slowly because of the asbestos in the ceiling. You'd have to essentially destroy everything(which will cost more than just building from scratch), but the entry and back to rebuild it. On top top of that, where would the team play in the meantime? It generally cost significantly more to renovate than to build new since there are things the contractor may or may no know going into the project.

My suggestion would be to build on the back of Bryce property near Warner Pkwy( River Road to us older types)overlooking the river. It would be a unique setting in college basketball.
 

KrAzY3

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I kind of expect to see a two-fold approach. First, let's keep in mind that the athletic department is running a 30 million dollar surplus annually, there's plenty of money there for something major, without setting the athletic department back at all, and without even needing a penny of additional revenue.

So, I don't think there is really any obstacle at all to doing what ever needs to be done. This is their second greatest revenue generator, they can invest heavily and in some ways they need to. The money that is not being re-invested in the athletic department is to an extent being "lost".

I imagine we'll see two things, I would expect at least some modest upgrades to Coleman. I think there's some affordable things that can be done in the short term that should help the experience. From there I think they need to figure out what the demand is, and what the least disruptive approach would be. I can't claim to know the answer to that myself. Alabama can afford to do something that might not make the most business sense, but that is less disruptive. One thing they'd hate to do I'm sure, is just as the program is building steam, force them to play in some sub-par venue while they are improving/building something new.
 

Al A Bama

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oldest SEC basketball venues still in use:
Vandy Mem Gym opened 1952
Georgia Stegeman Coliseum 1964
Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum 1966
Alabama Memorial Colisuem/Coleman 1968
How OLD is Duke's Cameron Col. or whatever it's called?

I think it's much older than Coleman.
 
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