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i really think the underlying issue is the status of the program. No arena looks good half empty. If we had that placed packed, it would be loud, you wouldnt see all the warts. It might be a house of horrors for A10 teams. But after 30 years, it hasnt been, so lets move on, get up to date accommodations, heck, it wont hurt recruiting. Last edited by townsonkid (3/26/2018 10:39 am) Year 3 looks to be a break out year for Duquesne where the team will have some upper classmen leadership 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. No way we are playing in Moon Twp! Nobody goes there unless they live there. I don't see Pitt happening either. It will be PPG and/or the Convention Center. You can use the bottom bowl at PPG and seat about 8,000-9,000 and have a first class facility. Plus, we would never have a home game the same night as a Penguin game! It makes parking and pre-game eating and drinking much easier! If the Convention Center can put up a 5,000 seat venue for us, for pre-season games and less attractive games, I would take that offer in a minute. It is at least downtown and easy to access. I suppose we will find out when the announcement is made. I actually have concerns about the seating capacity of the proposed renovated Palumbo.Center. Initially, it appeared that there would be a loss of seating with the work to be done. Now we hear otherwise. Truthfully, I can't imagine putting 50 million or more into Palumbo without finding a way to increase the seating capacity by at least 1000-1500. I realize this might prove next to impossible to accomplish but I still can't get past the idea that this new facility will only hold less that 5000 fans. We will outgrow this just as sure as I'm writing this. Further, we may never be able to fill PPG for more than 1 or 2 games a year or even make it worthwhile to play there more than a handful of times a year at best. This is why we need a facility that holds 6000 or so IMO. Any thoughts? I actually have concerns about the seating capacity of the proposed renovated Palumbo.Center. Initially, it appeared that there would be a loss of seating with the work to be done. Now we hear otherwise. Truthfully, I can't imagine putting 50 million or more into Palumbo without finding a way to increase the seating capacity by at least 1000-1500. I realize this might prove next to impossible to accomplish but I still can't get past the idea that this new facility will only hold less that 5000 fans. We will outgrow this just as sure as I'm writing this. Further, we may never be able to fill PPG for more than 1 or 2 games a year or even make it worthwhile to play there more than a handful of times a year at best. This is why we need a facility that holds 6000 or so IMO. Any thoughts? dukes haven't sold out a game since 2012. i'm not too concerned about raising capacity at the moment. I actually have concerns about the seating capacity of the proposed renovated Palumbo.Center. Initially, it appeared that there would be a loss of seating with the work to be done. Now we hear otherwise. Truthfully, I can't imagine putting 50 million or more into Palumbo without finding a way to increase the seating capacity by at least 1000-1500. I realize this might prove next to impossible to accomplish but I still can't get past the idea that this new facility will only hold less that 5000 fans. We will outgrow this just as sure as I'm writing this. Further, we may never be able to fill PPG for more than 1 or 2 games a year or even make it worthwhile to play there more than a handful of times a year at best. This is why we need a facility that holds 6000 or so IMO. Any thoughts? dukes haven't sold out a game since 2012. i'm not too concerned about raising capacity at the moment. Right, but when you are investing the type of money it is going to take to complete this, you need to think about your future needs. If we start winning at the level we all think possible under KD, 4,000 seats ain't gonna cut it. We've had this debate on this board before. The article says not all grants are awarded and if awarded, not all get the full amount. So it's worth a try to get $7.5 million but not a sure thing. But any dollar we get from the government is a dollar we don't have to raise. Move Trinity Hall and its 14 beloved priests to a different, wonderful location on campus. It was military barracks for airmen during WW2. Build there, plenty of room. And the locale! Glass side opened to the city skyline. All weather escalators to the many parking lots below. Part of it above the old gym with its many ghosts. Get I.M. Pei to design it (he's only 100). And add a small underground bar for us old-timers called the Van Brham Convocational Center. Amen. 1974,8th ranked Providence with Marvin Barnes and Kevin Stacom invade the Civic Arena to play a 1974,8th ranked Providence with Marvin Barnes and Kevin Stacom invade the Civic Arena to play a Duquesne was a .500 team in 1974, a year when Pitt went 25-4, and went to the Elite Eight. Interest in the Dukes dropped off among the bandwagon types. Better to look at the attendance for some of those games against Villanova and such when Jarrett and the Nelsons were here, when the Dukes actually had a good team. the neighborhood of 5000 seats is fine for us. If it is really nice and state of the art, and the team is winning 20 games a year or more, it will be close to full most of the time. And, if Dayton or URI is the top team in the A10 then, move over to PPG and close the upper level, and have a nice 8-10K arena. Last edited by townsonkid (3/27/2018 10:03 am) Interesting post, Stew. Your vision makes sense to me. Not to sound all salty or anything, because I don't want to demean any of the posters, but I also have opinions, as do all of you. I am not sure what the concern is in even starting this thread, other than some spirited discussion. Which is fine, I suppose. But I'm imagining that if the current AD (and perhaps the prez and anyone else of that stature) is reading this, there is some serious eye-rolling going on. I'm quite sure with this new regime that things have already been planned out or everything is in place as much as possible with the hope of some outside aid, and that the project will move forward with a swift eye on efficiency. After all, we've got the coach we need as the first step in a grand plan (not to mention ridding ourselves o the former incompetent coach, AD and prez). I'm thinking the facilities will be magnificent when all said and done. Again, this is all just my opinion. I have absolutely no connection to anyone with any knowledge. I'm just putting myself in the shoes of those who are in charge and if I was reading this board, I might even be laughing out loud. 1974,8th ranked Providence with Marvin Barnes and Kevin Stacom invade the Civic Arena to play a Duquesne was a .500 team in 1974, a year when Pitt went 25-4, and went to the Elite Eight. Interest in the Dukes dropped off among the bandwagon types. Better to look at the attendance for some of those games against Villanova and such when Jarrett and the Nelsons were here, when the Dukes actually had a good team. I was at the Providence game with the unlikely upset and remember Train and Marvin battling each other in the post and Bernie’s winning shot. The earlier games on the Mikey Davis teams with Villanova and Maryland games drew better crowds in general, loaded with business men and alums on the band wagon. Both eras were good but not as good as some remember. 1974,8th ranked Providence with Marvin Barnes and Kevin Stacom invade the Civic Arena to play a Duquesne was a .500 team in 1974, a year when Pitt went 25-4, and went to the Elite Eight. Interest in the Dukes dropped off among the bandwagon types. Better to look at the attendance for some of those games against Villanova and such when Jarrett and the Nelsons were here, when the Dukes actually had a good team. I was at the Providence game with the unlikely upset and remember Train and Marvin battling each other in the post and Bernie’s winning shot. The earlier games on the Mikey Davis teams with Villanova and Maryland games drew better crowds in general, loaded with business men and alums on the band wagon. Both eras were good but not as good as some remember. The Davis-Nelson-Durham era had ranked teams, so the casual fan was more interested. That said, that era wasn't really close to the Davies-Moore era, when Duquesne was an elite program. I still say fill in the corners and add a second deck over the other side. 5,500+ and play even bigger games at PPG. I'm no architect or city planner, but would it be possible to build it our further over Forbes Avenue on that side? I'm no architect or city planner, but would it be possible to build it our further over Forbes Avenue on that side? The short answer is "no" and the longer answer costs so much it might as well be "no" Looks very much as though we are locked into a 4400 seat arena costing in excess of 50 million. I'm a fan and booster no matter what, but it is just a bit disappointing. Hoping potential recruits will be impressed when the new Palumbo is unveiled. It will make the difference as to whether or not some of them choose Duquesne or go elsewhere. GO DUKES!! Looks very much as though we are locked into a 4400 seat arena costing in excess of 50 million. I'm a fan and booster no matter what, but it is just a bit disappointing. Hoping potential recruits will be impressed when the new Palumbo is unveiled. It will make the difference as to whether or not some of them choose Duquesne or go elsewhere. GO DUKES!! A lot will depend on high good we become. If we become a good, but not great program, one that makes the NCAAs about 1/3 of the time, Palumbo will be fine, because we'll be competing with LaSalle, Bona, and St. Joe's for players. If we become dominant in the league, Palumbo will begin to hold us back, because we'll then be competing with Dayton, VCU, URI, and maybe some BE schools for players, and Palumbo will seem very much lacking compared to what those schools have. Certainly hoping for more than an occasional NCAA appearance every now and then. Remember Loyola-Chicago? I have dreams, wishes and visions in my head of what I'd like to see of a renovated Palumbo but am certainly no engineer nor architect to tell them to do this or that. I'm willing to wait it out until we have the funding to make it as best it possibly can be without doing half measures of renovations. $50 would go a long way when you are using the same structure for the most part. I am excited for any improvements to Palumbo-its going to take a while before the seating capacity becomes
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Remember, in the mid 80s, college bball was just about to become the huge money monster it it now a days. Back in the 80s you still had powerful teams playing in small gyms.
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duq81 wrote:Tejas_Duke wrote:stew wrote:
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.
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president wrote:
I hate myself for loving you. Quoting me without the expressed written consent of the National Hockey League is prohibited.
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yak-rbc wrote:president wrote:
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I notice that Villanova is just renovating their place (capacity 6,000+) without increasing capacity on the grounds that it is 31 years old and needs freshening. That seems to be our strategy.
I doubt we could get into five-figure capacity like Dayton, Xavier, or St. Louis, but Gonzaga (capacity 6,000), St. Mary's (capacity 3,500), and others show it isn't arena size that translates into success. I say fix up Palumbo, play big games at PPG.
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Duquesne team with Lionel Billingy and a promising frosh in Norm Nixon.Providence was a final four
team the year before with Ernie D.Duquesne and Providence have had great basketball traditions.
At the time Duquesne is number 4 among all Division 1 schools in all time winning percentage,the Dukes
and Providence had some pretty good battles leading up to this 1974 game.
Duquesne is playing Providence tough and the Dukes take the Friars into overtime and with the Friars
ahead by 1 with 5 or 6 seconds Nixon intercepts the inbound pass and throw it to Bernie Okeefe who makes a 20 foot shot at the buzzer and the Dukes pull the big upset that night.Great moment.
The attendance for that Duquesne home game was 4,500 which is the seating capacity at Palumbo today.
I believe the renovated Palumbo is going to improve the quality of the fan experience rather than add seats.Its going to allow big time donors to sit in comfort in a lounge like atmosphere and the average fan will benefit with easier access into and out of the arena,better concessions maybe a restaurant,bar available and a better seat comfort.
We would all love to see Duquesne play in a 10,000 seat state of the art facility but Duquesne throughout
its basketball history has had difficulty attracting 4,000 people even during the glory days of the early70s. Our fanbase has been almost destroyed by 40 years of neglect and MR.Harper is bringing
winning basketball and trying to increase our fanbase by improving the building so it is more fan friendly.
Thats my thoughts on what is happening and when Duquesne fan interest exceeds Palumbo,there is a
world class 18,000 seat basketball arena 1 block from campus. I think its a good plan thought out by
Duquesne .
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Re: Palumbo
stew wrote:
Duquesne team with Lionel Billingy and a promising frosh in Norm Nixon.Providence was a final four
team the year before with Ernie D.Duquesne and Providence have had great basketball traditions.
At the time Duquesne is number 4 among all Division 1 schools in all time winning percentage,the Dukes
and Providence had some pretty good battles leading up to this 1974 game.
Duquesne is playing Providence tough and the Dukes take the Friars into overtime and with the Friars
ahead by 1 with 5 or 6 seconds Nixon intercepts the inbound pass and throw it to Bernie Okeefe who makes a 20 foot shot at the buzzer and the Dukes pull the big upset that night.Great moment.
The attendance for that Duquesne home game was 4,500 which is the seating capacity at Palumbo today.
I believe the renovated Palumbo is going to improve the quality of the fan experience rather than add seats.Its going to allow big time donors to sit in comfort in a lounge like atmosphere and the average fan will benefit with easier access into and out of the arena,better concessions maybe a restaurant,bar available and a better seat comfort.
We would all love to see Duquesne play in a 10,000 seat state of the art facility but Duquesne throughout
its basketball history has had difficulty attracting 4,000 people even during the glory days of the early70s. Our fanbase has been almost destroyed by 40 years of neglect and MR.Harper is bringing
winning basketball and trying to increase our fanbase by improving the building so it is more fan friendly.
Thats my thoughts on what is happening and when Duquesne fan interest exceeds Palumbo,there is a
world class 18,000 seat basketball arena 1 block from campus. I think its a good plan thought out by
Duquesne .
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I'd love to see 5000 filled, than 5000 with 1000 empties.
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duq81 wrote:stew wrote:
Duquesne team with Lionel Billingy and a promising frosh in Norm Nixon.Providence was a final four
team the year before with Ernie D.Duquesne and Providence have had great basketball traditions.
At the time Duquesne is number 4 among all Division 1 schools in all time winning percentage,the Dukes
and Providence had some pretty good battles leading up to this 1974 game.
Duquesne is playing Providence tough and the Dukes take the Friars into overtime and with the Friars
ahead by 1 with 5 or 6 seconds Nixon intercepts the inbound pass and throw it to Bernie Okeefe who makes a 20 foot shot at the buzzer and the Dukes pull the big upset that night.Great moment.
The attendance for that Duquesne home game was 4,500 which is the seating capacity at Palumbo today.
I believe the renovated Palumbo is going to improve the quality of the fan experience rather than add seats.Its going to allow big time donors to sit in comfort in a lounge like atmosphere and the average fan will benefit with easier access into and out of the arena,better concessions maybe a restaurant,bar available and a better seat comfort.
We would all love to see Duquesne play in a 10,000 seat state of the art facility but Duquesne throughout
its basketball history has had difficulty attracting 4,000 people even during the glory days of the early70s. Our fanbase has been almost destroyed by 40 years of neglect and MR.Harper is bringing
winning basketball and trying to increase our fanbase by improving the building so it is more fan friendly.
Thats my thoughts on what is happening and when Duquesne fan interest exceeds Palumbo,there is a
world class 18,000 seat basketball arena 1 block from campus. I think its a good plan thought out by
Duquesne .
A diehard fan since 1961
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Phildog wrote:duq81 wrote:stew wrote:
Duquesne team with Lionel Billingy and a promising frosh in Norm Nixon.Providence was a final four
team the year before with Ernie D.Duquesne and Providence have had great basketball traditions.
At the time Duquesne is number 4 among all Division 1 schools in all time winning percentage,the Dukes
and Providence had some pretty good battles leading up to this 1974 game.
Duquesne is playing Providence tough and the Dukes take the Friars into overtime and with the Friars
ahead by 1 with 5 or 6 seconds Nixon intercepts the inbound pass and throw it to Bernie Okeefe who makes a 20 foot shot at the buzzer and the Dukes pull the big upset that night.Great moment.
The attendance for that Duquesne home game was 4,500 which is the seating capacity at Palumbo today.
I believe the renovated Palumbo is going to improve the quality of the fan experience rather than add seats.Its going to allow big time donors to sit in comfort in a lounge like atmosphere and the average fan will benefit with easier access into and out of the arena,better concessions maybe a restaurant,bar available and a better seat comfort.
We would all love to see Duquesne play in a 10,000 seat state of the art facility but Duquesne throughout
its basketball history has had difficulty attracting 4,000 people even during the glory days of the early70s. Our fanbase has been almost destroyed by 40 years of neglect and MR.Harper is bringing
winning basketball and trying to increase our fanbase by improving the building so it is more fan friendly.
Thats my thoughts on what is happening and when Duquesne fan interest exceeds Palumbo,there is a
world class 18,000 seat basketball arena 1 block from campus. I think its a good plan thought out by
Duquesne .
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COFFEE
Attitude is everything
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Vicimus Atlanticum decem
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Tejas_Duke wrote:
The Riverhounds soccer team have a similar problem. Their stadium in Station Square is very tightly compact between a train track next to the Mon river and West Carson Street. Originally, if they ever grew out of the stadium size, they could try to build over top W. Carson St.
But that would cost so much in legal fees, red tape cutting, construction costs etc, that that is no longer a viable option. And that's over a part of the road that's after all the hubbub of Station Square and not nearly as heavily trafficked.
Trying to build over top Forbes? Good luck with that one.
I hate myself for loving you. Quoting me without the expressed written consent of the National Hockey League is prohibited.
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president wrote:
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Who on this board wants to call me crazy?!?
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If money wasnt a concern, from Forbes up to St Ann's Hall should be cleared, from the new dorm to the parking garage, all flattened out, then build a center that includes walkways to those dorms and garage. A center with not only a 6000 seat arena, but one with the best of the best, score/video boards, sounds system, locker rooms, weight room, indoor track, some classrooms, training tables, a dining area, student lounge/hangout, wifi, the whole show. Make it a place students want to go to all the time, and sooner or later more will start going to games. Make the outside stand out from Forbes Ave, nice colors, lights and signage. Make it pop!
But $50M wont get that done.
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a issue.I cant wait to see the plans revealed-and more information.The possiblities of sustained success
with Duquesne making multiple trips to the NCAA tournament will build a very anemic fanbase and hopefully
we will outgrow the Palumbo and play at PPG.We shall see.
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