My pleasure. I’d be very interested in continuing this conversation as the project moves forward. It’s really interesting stuff…

Thanks for the response. Really, really interesting stuff. It saddens me more than there was input into the original expansion that was more respectful of the original stadium, but was ignored. I really, really don’t understand it.

In response to your comments, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on the upper bowl. I think it needs to reflect the masonry base, but be as light and airy as it can be, which is what I tried to accomplish. It also, to some extent, reflects the detailing of the only part of the expansion that I like, the pressbox. This reflects the history of that expansion, which did happen, whether I like it or not.

I think the box seating and club area views will be on par with other college and pro stadia. It’s very similar to the setup at Lambeau field. If you go towards the end of the flickr gallery, there’s a view from the first row of the club seating.

I’ve read Bess’ book, though I didn’t have the privilege of meeting him, as he came to Notre Dame a year or two after I graduated.

Thanks again for the response.

Tim’s renovation adds just as much square footage (if not more) than the planned version. It includes just as much classroom space.

Skeptic…please stay away. ND is a far better place without you.

Way back then, one of the concepts that we were directed to explore the idea of adding ‘buildings’ to the stadium using the back sides of the roofs as an extension of the bowl. The idea was to add seats, limit the perceived height of the structure and to add essential facilities for the football program. The facilities were meant to be football offices and many other things currently found in the Gug. Ultimately we moved away from this concept for several reasons; we were not going to get enough additional seating to make it worthwhile, the structure was still going to be on the other side of the Joyce Center from the practice fields and there was some rumors of this thing called a Debartalo thing that might take some of the necessary space.

Our final designs were not used / copied as we had a horseshoe design with the north end open for TD Jesus, however, I was informed that our information was used by Beauchamp and Rosenthal at the Trustee level to help push the decisions for the ’97 expansion. I believe our estimate at the time was $34M. Our designs were very similar to Tim’s design. You had to be respectful of the House that Rock built. Arches, red brick, repetitive colonnades, etc. We felt that these were vital to the design and are missing from the ’97 addition. Tim’s drawings bring that concept back into play.

Things I would comment on:
□ While the upper levels need to appear ‘lighter’ on the exterior, I would minimize the amounts of glass portrayed in these renderings. I would add multiple narrower, arches between the pilasters, replicating the bays of the old stadium.
□ I am concerned, with all concepts seen to date, that the box seating is too far from the field. How is the view now from the top row? I know ND doesn’t want to sacrifice revenue but I would almost lose the top level of box seats and partially cantilever the box seats over the top of the current bowl by about 10 rows.
□ For stadium design, everyone should read the work published by current ND professor Phillip Bess. His book City Baseball Magic from 1989 will blow your mind if you are interested in stadiums. Even though it is for baseball, many of his thoughts and references would really apply to this project.

Respectfully, I think your estimate is unrealistic. There’s no way that shifting some space from the upper levels of the 3 building to the corners and the north end could double the cost of the project. At this stage of a project, it is probably being estimated by square footage, and $400MM / 750k SF yields $533/SF. That’s a hell of an expensive building for South Bend, IN. Take into account the fact that my facade is far simpler, with less terracing and far more repetitive elements (which, of course, bring cost down) and I’d be shocked if it couldn’t be built for the Crossroads’ $400MM price tag.

Go ask one of those profs what they think.