i wonder what this could be, he said sarcastically

duq81 wrote:

The Dukes have accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference, effective July 1, 2019.

 

well, i guess that's an idea.

Your opinion is one I agree with, however. The Palumbo as it was built leaves little ability to make it great, buuuut we'll see

levon1975 wrote:

Before criticizing the plan; shouldn’t we wait and see what is presented? My suggestion is to play in the current Palumbo but raise funds for a new facility built to modern standards. Obviously, this would be ideal if money was no object. Perhaps we could give a Russian Oligarch naming rights in return for easy credit terms!

Mega Millions and Powerball are up to a combined 1.2 billion. Let's get those tickets, and if we win, donate some of that for a new arena. :D
All jokes aside, that's actually what I'd like to see. Spruce AJ up, but embark on a 5 year fundraiser to build a nice 7,000 seat arena with no bleachers. 7,000 seats would also fill a void in the city. We could book a ton of concerts that are not really big enough for PPG.
 

Last edited by duq81 (10/17/2018 3:21 pm)

I’m excited to see what the renovations look like, however I also agree we would be better off with an entirely new facility. 6-7k would be perfect. An actual enclosed bowl with all seats rather than bleachers would create a much more “big time program” feel and a better atmosphere at the games.

All that said, still happy and excited.

If I win the MegaMillions, you'll be watching future home games at the El Duque Dome. 

duqkurt wrote:

If the plans look anything like the leaked pictures on PSN I’m for it.

I hope that on the non luxury box side it can be one continuous large section of seats. Not the present two tiered setup. This could enable capacity to stay around the sans.

Those pics have been floating around for at least a year.  It does look nice, and anything like that would be sweet.  I do think the AJP could receive a face lift and look really nice.  It not only needs an interior make over, but an exterior one too.  Drove up Forbes recently, late night, and really couldnt tell the place was there.  It just looks like another office or school building, not a sports arena.  The whole intersection looked dim and kinda dangerous.

I plan on attending this meeting.

I like the idea overall.

But I agree with Duq81 on a new facility - unless they are going to completely gut the old building and really come up with something new and innovative it really isn't THE answer, just an answer.  And I really don't like the pictures that have been circulating if that's the best example someone can come up with (other than perhaps the facade along Forbes that they show).  How about buying the property across the street and putting up something new there?  Or relocate the fire station on the corner and use the whole block for something new?  All probably too expensive.  But if you are going to do something let's do it right. 

That being said, Pres. Gormley and  AD Harper have both surprised me numerous times in the past few years with the kinds of things they have done to promote Duquesne academically and otherwise and the men's and women's teams in particular.  What I often thought they were going to do was surpassed by what they actually did.  So I'm looking for that on Tuesday.  I want to be pleasantly surprised like these 2 gentlemen have done before.