duqkurt wrote:

So another season has passed and still no word on Palumbo renovations. Harper said in a football game interview there was supposed to be a big announcement this winter. And winter has come and according to the calendar it is gone.

That is sort of telling me they don’t have the funds. I hope they don’t do some half assed thing like they did with the seats which made Palumbo worse.

I really hoped beyond hope that there would be a legitimate gutting of Palumbo but as time passes I’m becoming more and more skeptical of this occurring.

When KD first got here, he gave off a sort of vibe that led me to believe that he doesn't think redoing Palumbo is all that important. Maybe he thinks it's a waste of money, and that he thinks that he's going to get this thing rolling at such a high level that they will be playing big games at PPG, and thus, really don't need to do a major upgrade of Palumbo.
 

Then I’m confused as to what the major announcement he was teasing

I don't know why "radio silence" on Palumbo, but I do believe it will happen.  The last I heard the fund raising and naming rights have way exceeded original expectations and the renovations will even eclipse the original plans we saw on this board.  Maybe the challenge is scheduling and setting up a place for the Dukes to play during construction.  Does anyone know how the RMU construction is going?.

CLK wrote:

I don't know why "radio silence" on Palumbo, but I do believe it will happen.  The last I heard the fund raising and naming rights have way exceeded original expectations and the renovations will even eclipse the original plans we saw on this board.  Maybe the challenge is scheduling and setting up a place for the Dukes to play during construction.  Does anyone know how the RMU construction is going?.

RMU construction started late because their new practice gym wasn’t ready on time.   I saw a tweet from them with a shell of a roof up in March.   It looks highly doubtful that they will play their next season.

How much would a new basketball arena seating 6,000 cost?  If you are going to throw 40 million to renovate
and if fundraising is going so well why not build a brand new building .
 

duqkurt wrote:

stew wrote:

How much would a new basketball arena seating 6,000 cost?  If you are going to throw 40 million to renovate
and if fundraising is going so well why not build a brand new building .
 

Agreed but is there room in the current foot print? That fire station kills us with expansion.

I'm sure the city would relocate it, but we'd have to pay for land, and a new building, likely adding several million to the cost.
 

Id say 70 million could get you a 6,000 seat building that Dukes fans could be proud of.SLU spent 80 million
to build their 10,000 seat arena,which is the nicest facility in the A10.
 

No one has to convince me that a new 6,000 seat arena would be worth waiting a few years for.   It would just be nice if DU would let us know what is going on.

I suggested a while back that we just build another facility and repurpose Palumbo; but the problem with that would be finding available property to build.  I doubt the parking lot across Forbes is wide enough.  Any ideas? 

I really believe that with a creative redesign of Palumbo, it can be suitable moving forward.

Dukes2012 wrote:

I think the only way you build a new facility is by tearing down palumbo. No other space. Personally, I'd prefer to just wait a few seasons before making a decision on whether to renovate or build a new arena. If we have the kind of success that we all believe we are going to under dambrot, there will be tons of new fan interest and lots of dollars coming in.

There is no other space.

Tejas_Duke wrote:

stew wrote:

Year 3 looks to be a break out year for Duquesne where the team will have some upper classmen leadership
and the incoming freshman will be more seasoned and start to make their mark on this team.
If Palumbo gets renovated in year 3 then Dukes are playing all home games at PPG arena.Attendance at
these games played at PPG wont improve a lot ,so Dukes are playing in a sterile environment before
16,000 empty seats.
 The renovation is far less important now than it was and Id rather see the Dukes play at Palumbo in which
we get that home court advantage with a college environment . Palumbo is a flawed facility.
 To me the ideal  story would be for Duquesne to build  a new arena and that would allow the Dukes to play at Palumbo.The idea of Duquesne playing most of their games at PPG  wont work because we dont have
enough fan support and even if we had 7,000 people show up for games its still not enough fans to create
a great atmosphere. Duquesne needs to win now ,get to to the Big Dance now,to really get things going.
I too noticed Dambrot wasnt  all in when the talk of renovating Palumbo was mentioned at his press conference.
 

​Yeah, I could just see the Dukes playing the Flying Dutchman during Mike Lewis's junior or senior year, when the team is playing well, and hoping to get on the NCAA bubble, playing in places like the Convention Center, an empty PPC or (*God forbid) Pitt, when they don't need the hassle
 

Well, you know the Dukes played at Pitt for the better part of a decade when the Duquesne Gardens was torn down without much notice. Thankfully, the people at Pitt didn't say "screw Duquesne", and opened the doors to their then nearly new facility to us. If Pitt or RMU lets us play at their place, we'll accept the offer. Hell, I'd rather play at the Field House before the convention center.

Palumbo Cntr is dog piss for bball now, IMO.  I remember when my HS team played there in the early 90s, and everyone thought that place was soooo nice, and it was, esp compared to what pitt had then.  But that was 28 years ago.  And it really hasnt gotten any better since.  
No decent team/school should have to play in there in 2018 or beyond.   Lipstick on a pig is perfect.

Last edited by townsonkid (3/26/2018 9:03 am)