Patriots to Begin Construction on a New Football Training Facility
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You're not wrong
At the same time, that shape is the cheapest way to build a big building. Creative drives up $$$
To @Beomoose's point, it's easier to find meaningful money for nice fixtures and interior elements if you didn't blow tens of millions of dollars making functional some unusual structural configuration
Edit: they could definitely have done more/different with the exterior surface to make it something interesting. Stuff like the below doesn't actually cost all that much...
I just watched Ep1 of AFC North Hard Knocks last night on HBO. All 4 of the practice facilities shown on that looked very similar to these sketches, maybe Baltimore excepted, which had a little bit more of a "country manor" feel to it.
They'll probably have to do something with parking access/control for the player vehicles - guardhouse/gatehouse type of structure.
They'll probably have to do something with parking access/control for the player vehicles - guardhouse/gatehouse type of structure.
Looks like all of that parking is already there today.
New building looks like it will land where the blue Putnam parking spots are new. So "less" parking in the end
New building looks like it will land where the blue Putnam parking spots are new. So "less" parking in the end
When Gillette was built, the team's practice facilities earned rave reviews. Part of that may have been the comparison point: the facilities at Schaefer Stadium were an absolute joke.
What's happened in the ensuing 22 years is that 12 teams have since moved to newer facilities, while the facilities at many of the older stadiums were upgrade. I believe the recent Gillette renovation also happened after a lot of those surveys were published, so they may come out a little better today. Anyway, this looks long overdue just the same.
What's happened in the ensuing 22 years is that 12 teams have since moved to newer facilities, while the facilities at many of the older stadiums were upgrade. I believe the recent Gillette renovation also happened after a lot of those surveys were published, so they may come out a little better today. Anyway, this looks long overdue just the same.
Kraft might be getting old, and he might have f'ed up firing BB/Hiring Mayo (Ymmv) But damn if that dude doesnt plow money back into the team. I guess we have to give Jon some credit too. He could soft peddle this for a few years save the cash wait for dad to die and sell for the same 5 Billion.
No lines, gonna mean folks parked every which wayLook at all that glorious parking.
I’m curious if they utilize some of the space in the stadium that this frees up (current weight room(s), offices, etc.) to address the family friendliness issues that were also major failures in the player surveys
Plus, major colleges and universities have spent the last two decades in a huge competition over who can build the most impressive facilities and buildings, as part of their competition over top athletes, coaches, etc.
Lots of guys are coming into the NFL from programs with nicer facilities than the Patriots. And not just the Pats but a bunch of other teams as well.
Does he? Or did he neglect it for so long that it become an impediment to attracting or retaining talent that he had to finally fix it?
Does he? He hasn't been much of a spender in many years, the facilities are if not the worst in the league among them (Bengals). If anything I'd say Kraft is one of the cheaper owners in terms of investment into the team.
My response as well. No tom Brady, gonna have to find other ways to attract talent.
Yes, let's hope so. Patriots organization was bottom third in many categories. Really need to address these issues that they've put off.
Bravo lol
So basically all of the China Olympics and Qatar WC stadia?? Not being snarky, just confirming that I understand you correctly.You're not wrong
At the same time, that shape is the cheapest way to build a big building. Creative drives up $$$
To @Beomoose's point, it's easier to find meaningful money for nice fixtures and interior elements if you didn't blow tens of millions of dollars making functional some unusual structural configuration
Edit: they could definitely have done more/different with the exterior surface to make it something interesting. Stuff like the below doesn't actually cost all that much...
On the same subject, what do you think of the Tottenham Hotspur soccer stadium in North London (both aesthetically and in terms of cost relative to other modern stadia)? It gets very positive reviews but I'm curious if you have insight on this.
Makes the complete and utter neglect (at least up until a few years ago) of the Revolution.
The thing about college stadia and facilities is that investment therein was a byproduct of not paying players (above board anyhow) and athletic departments raking in cash. Those departments and their parent universities plowed money into facilities and coaches' salaries as a result of not paying labor.
I live about 3 miles from the Raiders' facility, which was only built a couple of years ago, and that building fits right in with all of the Amazon warehouses surrounding it except for the eternally lit torch in the front in honor of Al Davis
Can't wait for the Steve Burton tours, local news puff pieces of the first class facility, and uncalled for mentions during CBS broadcasts kissing up to Kraft - and then about five years later, hearing how it's the KMart of training facilities.
Yeah, those are good examples. They all look somewhat different and distinctive, but the features that make them visually distinctive don't cost all that much in the grand scheme of things
FWIW, I haven't been in person, and don't know anything about the cost that isn't in the public domain. My impression is that a big driver of cost was the whole three-section retractable grass pitch. I mean: it's super-cool to pull off something that's never been done before-- like a natural grass football pitch that divides into three sections, each of which retracts to reveal an artificial field underneath-- especially if you have a blank check to create it. So, fun project. And worth the price if price is no object.
Big public projects like this have a lot of stakeholders who tend to want and appreciate different things. So, I'm guessing that the main stakeholders (the team owners) are happy with the design and execution, because that's going to be super important to the design/build teams. Which is to say, it kinda doesn't matter what I think. Or rather: what I think isn't evidence of whether the design/build teams did their jobs well, or not.
That said-- since you asked an honest question-- my answer would be: the new stadium is.... fine?
My impression is that it's comfortable, clean, snazzy/modern in all the ways a stadium can be snazzy and modern. I've heard people say "there isn't a bad seat in the house" which is the kind of thing that with modern computer imaging/design software should be true of every stadium built everywhere, unless someone really messed up. But that doesn't lessen that people appreciate it, and the design/build team should get credit for getting that right. So high level, there's nothing about the place to criticize, as far as I can tell. It's a fine stadium
That said-- and this is my own thing & I wasn't the client-- I really appreciate it when a big public project like that tries to really clearly make itself "of" the place where it's going to be. I like it when there's something that makes you say "this could only be here" or maybe "this is the kind of thing that should really really be in this place". This example is a bit dated and a bit of a cliché, but think of when they built Camden Yards in the early 90s and very intentionally minimized the right field seating so that the old B&O warehouse would loom over right field, and everyone who came to home plate would try to hit it with a home run. When you're in that ballpark there's no ambiguity that you're anywhere in the world but the old part of Baltimore's inner harbor.
Again, I haven't been... but when people are in the new Spurs stadium do they have a feeling like that? Or could they be in any modern stadium anywhere in the world? Put another way: does the stadium feel like a natural part of the neighborhood, or like it was dropped down from outer space? (Aside: I don't know 'cause I don't know much about the situation, but to some world-travelling, sports-team-owner billionaires being big and expensive and not 'of' a run-down, blue-collar neighborhood in north London might be a feature, not a bug. Mileage, variance, and all that.)
One image to look at in the context of the last few paragraphs. Here's another photo that gets at this. (Aside: in the first photograph I like what they did with the scale/color/texture of the 2-3 story buildings on the street in the bottom right of that photo. They're modern and different, but feel much more like they make sense next to the other stuff on the block. I'd have liked to see the rest of the stadium try more of something similar).
I've heard some Spurs fans say that it's been several years since the place opened and it doesn't feel like "home" the way the former place did. Now different people are going to react to new stuff differently, and some of this will change with time. But I don't remember Orioles fans going to Camden in the early days and being nostalgic for the old Orioles stadium. Their experience was more like the reverse.
That's closer to what I would have tried to achieve for Spurs fans. Although, and I know I'm repeating myself, but I wasn't the client. Billionaires gonna build what billionaires want to build.
Fake edit/coming back to add: My impression is that big part of the new stadium is that it comfortably seats (all with great views of the pitch) something like ~25-30K more people, and also has 4x the amount of indoor square footage for restaurants, bars, and other amenities. And those things are big deals and add a lot to the fan experience. So both should be counted on the side of the ledger for 'design/build team came up with something good'
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I think so. I mean the stadium has been constantly updated in stages. Small often, but consistently. And I have a bit of skepticism about multi million dollar athletes complaining that the Caf or the day care isnt as nice as others. I mean the Jones after all. I *think some of our frustration at the team sucking the last few years and some questionable decisions (BB, Mayo) are bleeding into Kraft "Not doing anything right".
Overall Yea I would say he invests a fare bit into the team an its accommodations (First to have their own plane for instance). All this and RK is not as MEGA rich as some other owners. (If I am not mistaken...)