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Spring Game Question

RightSaidFred said:
Then why am I the only one who knew that the mayor of Coral Gables is an ex UM trustee?

Why am I the only one who knew the population of the Gables, as well as the employee and student count of UM?

Why am I the only one who knew how many acres a typical college football stadium sits on, or the acreage of UM’s lake Osceola?

All I do is bring facts, evidence, and reasoned, independent thinking to the discussion.

Some of you saw a 30-for-30 made by a film student a few years ago and now you think you’re experts.
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In addition, "Lake" Osceola is not a lake, we originally just had a canal running through the campus, and UM dug out the dirt and sold it to one of the causeways over Biscayne Bay to pay for the Merrick and Memorial Buildings.

The ON-CAMPUS FOOTBALL STADIUM was originally planned for the center of campus.

Fill in "Lake" Osceola (probably never going to happen) and you have the space for a stadium.
 
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Mahoney-Pearson said:
Where on the Gables campus would you put a stadium and where would people park?
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Again...HIGHLY unlikely.

But, if you want an answer to the question:

Where:
1. Fill in Lake Osceola, per the original plan
2. Intramural fields. Move IM fields to Granada
3. Serpentine lot. May not be possible any longer, without relocating a couple of buildings

Parking/traffic:
1. More garages
2. Mass transit options - Metrorail, Coral Gables trolley, shuttles to Shops at Sunset, Shops at Merrick Park, etc.
3. Uber/Lyft
4. Widening/streamlining Miller, maybe having one-way traffic on Miller and Blue on game days
 
JD08 said:
Culturally, yes. Logistically, HRS is located perfectly to maximize accessibility to Broward and Palm Beach. It might not have revitalized Miami Hardens, but Joe Robbie did pick an accessible location.
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I would be happier at Joe Robbie IF:

Metrorail and/or TriRail had stations there

AND

Dade/Broward widen roads, interchanges, etc. and streamline the traffic flow. It has gotten better (and lower stadium capacity helps too), but I've seen better traffic at Daytona International with double the crowd and only one main surface road.
 
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TheOriginalCane said:
I would be happier at Joe Robbie IF:

Metrorail and/or TriRail had stations there

AND

Dade/Broward widen roads, interchanges, etc. and streamline the traffic flow. It has gotten better (and lower stadium capacity helps too), but I've seen better traffic at Daytona International with double the crowd and only one main surface road.
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This is one of the biggest criticisms I've heard from the 3 or 4 people I know who do a lot of driving in Miami. They do a better job going north-south than east-west. With all of the new high rises, they're going to have to get ahead of the traffic situation.

A station at the stadium from both directions would be a brilliant move.
 
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MISTER OWL said:
Hey buddy, you looked up the wrong Lake Osceola. The one that is 156 acres is in Winter Park, FL.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Lake Osceola - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

The Lake Osceola on campus is closer to 4 or 5 acres
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Actually, Lake Osceola is 8.5 acres. So double your estimate, but much smaller than 156 acres.



Chartered a year before the 1926 hurricane that ushered the collapse of the Florida land boom, this campus began as a 160-acre donation of land by George Merrick, developer of Coral Gables. The site was chosen for its natural vegetation, the centrally located 8.5-acre Lake Osceola, and the picturesque canal that connected the lake to Biscayne Bay. In keeping with Merrick’s vision for Coral Gables, a master plan influenced by Mediterranean architecture and landscape design that would employ abundant massings of subtropical plants was developed but never realized. Though the cornerstone of its first building was laid in 1926, campus construction was halted until after World War II.
 
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JD08 said:
Most attendees aren't students. That's what all the on campus proponents fail to understand. They wax nostalgic about the student section at the Orange Bowl, but they don't realize that times have changed. The area has grown and bad traffic has turned into impossible traffic. Having easy access from the turnpike is a best case scenario and they have it. Yes, it's a little more inconvenient for anyone south of downtown, but the access to a larger fanbase is worth it.
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It's a Catch-22.

If you only cater to the "current season ticket-holders", then it is hard to ever energize the students. And if the students don't get interested in UM football/basketball/baseball while in school, then they will probably not be big fans as alums.

I was a student, undergrad, grad, and law. You get busy, but if you can just take 5 minutes to walk over for basketball or baseball, it's not as much of a time commitment. Football was tougher, though it was only 6 games and on the weekends.

I am still a fan because of what I experienced as a student. If we "write off" the students as "oh, they don't care, they don't show up", then you will never have an alum fan base 20 years down the road.

Tough all-around situation. It would be hard to get an on-campus stadium, I'd be fine with a nearer-campus stadium.

North of Magic City Casino. Trust me.

On a separate (but related) note, UM needs to start buying up some of the houses around campus.
 
Mahoney-Pearson said:
Downtown would be the best of both worlds. A few more students would attend, and with tri-rail you'd still have long-distance access options for Broward and North Dade people beyond driving. It's 2020 and we need to think outside the box as a city and tri-county region. Increase tri-rail and metro-rail to run every 5 minutes for 2 hours before and after sporting events (Marlin/Hurricane games), and 15 minutes during. I'm sick of the I95 clawback toll on publicly owned roads and the turnpike is a rip-off as well. Miami's public transport infrastructure needs a massive upgrade out to the beach and a Mayor to champion it.
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100% truth.

I'd also like to see a merger of City of Miami and Metro-Dade (or at least a chunk of Metro-Dade). Roll up some of the crappy little municipalities like "West Miami" as well.

Dade needs to do what Broward did, everyone needs to join a city. No more county (from a services standpoint).
 
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caneinorlando said:
ROTFLMFAO that this Ridiculous On-Campus Stadium discussion is still going on....
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Settle down, my friend. It's better than NEVER talking about it.

Highly unlikely to ever be on campus BUT never say never. I never thought we would tear down the Towers, but we are.

I think that traffic/parking could be solved, but we would definitely have an issue with square footage. Over time, on-campus building has chipped away at all the best spots where we COULD HAVE built, once-upon-a-time.

I encourage everyone to Google-map the shopping center just north of Magic City Casino. Would be ideal, it is near several big roads, and not far from the old OB.

You might be tired of the subject, but I am also tired of 3 decades of everyone talking about how it can "never" be done. On campus or near campus, I don't care. I just don't like renting Hard Rock, though it is a nice (not perfect) venue.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
It's a Catch-22.

If you only cater to the "current season ticket-holders", then it is hard to ever energize the students. And if the students don't get interested in UM football/basketball/baseball while in school, then they will probably not be big fans as alums.

I was a student, undergrad, grad, and law. You get busy, but if you can just take 5 minutes to walk over for basketball or baseball, it's not as much of a time commitment. Football was tougher, though it was only 6 games and on the weekends.

I am still a fan because of what I experienced as a student. If we "write off" the students as "oh, they don't care, they don't show up", then you will never have an alum fan base 20 years down the road.

Tough all-around situation. It would be hard to get an on-campus stadium, I'd be fine with a nearer-campus stadium.

North of Magic City Casino. Trust me.

On a separate (but related) note, UM needs to start buying up some of the houses around campus.
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You're not wrong, but better mass transit is the key to all of these problems, no matter how you slice it.

Let's say they build a stadium at Magic City. Let's assume it doesn't have bleachers which will turn off fans and does have amenities plus tailgating comparable to HRS. You'll need a viable mass transit option from the north or you've lost more attendees than you'd gain.

Even then, the administration has to make a concerted effort to get students more interested in sports. I remember the staff wearing "Pummel Pitt" ribbons when we joined the Big East and they were our next game. I hate to use the word "culture", but school pride seems a lot more passe than it used to be.

Personally, I was a commuter with a full time job and small children. I never had the chance to enjoy a single game. But I **** sure had bragging rights.

The simple truth is it's a matter of accessibility. Make it easy to get to and people really won't care where it is.
 
rokulika said:
The former site of Miami Arena sits completely empty as of today.

Could easily build a 40-50k stadium on those grounds.
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I used to take the Metro to nearly every UM basketball game...

The land is there. The Metro stop is there. The roads are there.

Buy some extra land and build a downtown satellite campus.
 
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TheOriginalCane said:
Actually, Lake Osceola is 8.5 acres. So double your estimate, but much smaller than 156 acres.



Chartered a year before the 1926 hurricane that ushered the collapse of the Florida land boom, this campus began as a 160-acre donation of land by George Merrick, developer of Coral Gables. The site was chosen for its natural vegetation, the centrally located 8.5-acre Lake Osceola, and the picturesque canal that connected the lake to Biscayne Bay. In keeping with Merrick’s vision for Coral Gables, a master plan influenced by Mediterranean architecture and landscape design that would employ abundant massings of subtropical plants was developed but never realized. Though the cornerstone of its first building was laid in 1926, campus construction was halted until after World War II.
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That's cool. I would really like to know more of the vision to "employ abundant massings of subtropical plants" that was never realized. As it is, I think UM (along with Stanford) is by far the most scenic college campus in terms of wildlife I have ever set foot on. Obviously schools like UVA and Cornell have the architecture, but the trees, tropical vibe, manatess, and chillin iguanas always gave me the best vibes.
 
JD08 said:
You're not wrong, but better mass transit is the key to all of these problems, no matter how you slice it.

Let's say they build a stadium at Magic City. Let's assume it doesn't have bleachers which will turn off fans and does have amenities plus tailgating comparable to HRS. You'll need a viable mass transit option from the north or you've lost more attendees than you'd gain.

Even then, the administration has to make a concerted effort to get students more interested in sports. I remember the staff wearing "Pummel Pitt" ribbons when we joined the Big East and they were our next game. I hate to use the word "culture", but school pride seems a lot more passe than it used to be.

Personally, I was a commuter with a full time job and small children. I never had the chance to enjoy a single game. But I **** sure had bragging rights.

The simple truth is it's a matter of accessibility. Make it easy to get to and people really won't care where it is.
Click to expand...



Tri-Rail has a new "inter-modal" station at Miami International. People from Palm Beach/Broward could ride Tri-Rail and be within a mile or two of the stadium (the station is just to the north of Melreese).

Or...think big...Miami and local investors arrange money and permits to buy Magic City Casino, the shopping center to the north, and the houses between there and the 836, then Miami does the infrastructure and landscaping work to connect it up to Melreese. Make it a long, linear park with trails and/or bridges over and under the 836. Connect the Mas brothers soccer facility to the UM stadium, and put a lot of park land around it for the community to enjoy during the non-game times.

Create a kind of "west of downtown" Central Park in the heart of metro Miami.
 
We’re at peak off season when the never, ever, ever going to happen stadium talk is going full steam.
 
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MISTER OWL said:
That's cool. I would really like to know more of the vision to "employ abundant massings of subtropical plants" that was never realized. As it is, I think UM (along with Stanford) is by far the most scenic college campus in terms of wildlife I have ever set foot on. Obviously schools like UVA and Cornell have the architecture, but the trees, tropical vibe, manatess, and chillin iguanas always gave me the best vibes.
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Pepperdine has the most Beautiful campus I've seen....with UM and Colorado close...
 
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