Brown Field 2.0

[VULB#62]

Some of you may recall that back in the spring I posted a series of conceptual plans for an athletic campus.  Well, Valpo hasn't built it yet (I am shocked), so I took that as a sign that perhaps it was too grandiose too soon.  Therefore, because I probably have too much time on my hands or enjoy wasting time on unproductive stuff, I have come up with a downsized concept for just the improvement of Brown Field and the related infrastructure.
   

This makes for more of a phased approach to dreaming.  It gets some teams out of the ARC to support ARC renovation.  Down the line, building a new field house on the hospital property and bringing Em Bauer field up to the main campus can be done, but in the meantime we address a point made in the PFL string about how in the near future the league will become much more competitive and the path out of the basement will be longer and steeper unless our facilities are enhanced to match the league level (see existing PFL stadia around the league and also Google the construction progress on the stadia at Campbell and Mercer).  MSO and WSO would also benefit which are added inducements to have two fine coaches stick around a while longer.  And without a doubt it would improve the prospects for T&F.

In this more modest concept we:
(1) Leave the existing visitors stands as is (adding a little landscaping and perhaps a brick front wall instead of yellow sheet steel). Scoreboard stays where it is.
(2) Finally, construct that darned track
(3) Replace the present home grandstand and press box with a free-standing 4,500-5,000 seat grandstand with tunnels from underneath and a reserved seat section with chairbacks and adding sufficient rest rooms and concession space underneath.
(4) Immediately adjacent to the back of the new grandstand construct a new Alumni Stadium building.  This structure would contain locker space for all VU field sports teams and office space for their respective coaching staffs along with support facilities for all teams competing on Brown Field and sufficient visitor locker space. It would contain ticket offices for stadium events.  It would also house the new press box and the supporting media facilities required to respond to some of the ideas mentioned in the string about broadcasting Valpo athletic events.  There should be sufficient space between the ARC and the field to accommodate this.
(5) Enclose Alumni Stadium/Brown Field with a brick posted, steel picket fence.
(6) I'd also recommend raising the light stanchions another 20' and adding an additional light bank to each for better night game visibility and to make broadcast transmissions better.

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[vu72]

Nice try, but probably won't work because of ARC expansion. Remember, if the ARC is redone, and that certainly looks like the plan, then the north wall, where the current chairbacks exists, will be blown out in some fashion.  The ARC was built with this in mind.

Given the fact that we just purchased a bunch of acres (30??) , why crowd things when what you are suggesting would be more easily put behind on of the end zones?

[VULB#62]

I'm impatient and want to see the Brown Field complex finalized in my lifetime. There are so many sports that depend on this one facility. The hospital property demo and development seems like it's a long way off.  An ariel photo from Google Maps shows quite a bit of space between the present ARC and present Brown Field. Don't know if ARC expansion would eat it all up.  If the space is not adequate, maybe the ARC expansion could further expand to incorporate the Alumni Stadium building "concept" and in conjunction with its expansion/renovation, incorporate the stadium redo ideas.  Looking at the same photo, after a track is installed (taking up almost all of the parking lot in the west end zone and a good portion of the grass on the east side to the property line, there doesn't look to be much in the way of space left for a building at either end zone either. 

The stadium building is actually a nice-to-have thing and would provide a great deal of value for field sports teams.  To throw out an even more of a modest proposal,  back off one step (eliminate the building) and just do the new grandstand with an expanded, but a bit less well equipped press box, improved lighting, along with, of course, the track and fencing.