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ORU’s ‘Grand Slam’ – Mike Carter Athletic Center and Mabee Center Renovation (TW)


ORUTerry

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I just wonder what the cost would be to replace cushioned seats...maybe you could bring down the blue seats in the upper sections that have not used as much. 

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Considering the variety of events that we host in the Mabee Center, I don't think we should lean toward an "athletics-event-appropriate" type of seat. And as ORUTerry pointed out, we need to take into consideration the cost of replacing seats. Not take the cheap route, but not necessarily go for the most expensive option, either. 

Comfortable, durable, easy to clean/maintain. Just a thought.

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11 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

I just wonder what the cost would be to replace cushioned seats...maybe you could bring down the blue seats in the upper sections that have not used as much. 

We discussed this idea years ago at a long-range planning meeting.  Turns out the seats in the Mabee Center are all connected within the individual rows.

It's impossible to remove them as intact rows in the upper section and transport them down to the lower bowl, and the rows wouldn't be at the proper arc even if you did. 

Regardless of what they replace the seats with, I'm fascinated by the prospect of removing the old seats from the building.  The West Vom is the only option, since the opposite end funnels down into the southeast security entrance and GLC/Baby Mabee, and the tunnel out of the arena is not a particularly wide opening.

Here's hoping the playing floor survives the dozens (hundreds?) of dumpster trips involved in hauling the old gold seats out the west door...

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21.5 million project w/ 15 million going to the new building....that leaves 6.5 for the Mabee retrofit --- i'm just guessing they won't as comfortable as the current seats

the arena will look a whole lot better sans the gold seats and gotta agree w/the suggestion of having fewer seats.

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The hardest thing is figuring out what we will need for years to come. I don't think we'll be redoing the seating again for a very long time. What we do now will have to work for all of the MC's possible uses for more than a decade or two. I hope whatever we go with is Made In America. 🙂 

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9 minutes ago, ORUalum said:

21.5 million project w/ 15 million going to the new building....that leaves 6.5 for the Mabee retrofit --- i'm just guessing they won't as comfortable as the current seats

the arena will look a whole lot better and gotta agree w/the suggestion of having fewer seats.

See, I heard it was $22 million.  That means there's an extra 500 grand left over that I would be happy to accept in exchange for providing extra-thick, personalized seat cushions for everyone in attendance. 

You can just drop by to pick them up each game at my booth, right between the Campus Store kiosk and the Dippin' Dots stand ("The Ice Cream Of The Future Since 1977").

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Who do I have to talk to to buy my old row of seats before they hit the dumpster? 🤔

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here is the press conference....Wilson states the price tag a few minutes in

 

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One thing's for sure. We'll make architects, construction workers, and materials suppliers very happy with all of this work.

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44 minutes ago, titansforever said:

Considering the variety of events that we host in the Mabee Center, I don't think we should lean toward an "athletics-event-appropriate" type of seat. And as ORUTerry pointed out, we need to take into consideration the cost of replacing seats. Not take the cheap route, but not necessarily go for the most expensive option, either. 

Comfortable, durable, easy to clean/maintain. Just a thought.

Does Mabee even host large events anymore? Like @vcboy2000 mentioned above the graduations and concerts that used to frequent usually head downtown to the BOK now...

59 minutes ago, SpaceManSpiff said:

👍 Hard to beat the comfort level of the current seats. Especially for a sports venue.

I kind of hope they aren't  quite as comfortable. A lot of the home atmosphere is lost because people just sit down the entire game.

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Overhauling the building could make it more attractive to large-event planners, and you can't beat free parking. But if we're only interested in holding ORU events in the Mabee, then we only have one audience to please. I don't think that's the goal.

Once the new Media Arts Center is built, we'll be driving guests to that building for concerts and plays. 

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4 hours ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

I kind of hope they aren't  quite as comfortable. A lot of the home atmosphere is lost because people just sit down the entire game.

Bleachers in the student section for sure. 

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Tuesday morning's Tulsa World recap of the Monday press conference, by Kelly Hines, who frankly has been a somewhat subdued (even reluctant?) voice when it comes to her coverage of ORU basketball since the postseason run (she normally covers TU Athletics which, let''s face it, hasn't exactly been a hotbed for breaking news the past few weeks...) 😉

 

 

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she tweeted out a few weeks ago that the TW added the ORU basketball beat to her TU duties

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6 hours ago, ORUalum said:

she tweeted out a few weeks ago that the TW added the ORU basketball beat to her TU duties

I can’t get her tweets:  she blocked me years ago after I teased her re: how much she tweets about her shoes.

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