Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Stadium Comparison


Although one of these stadiums is not in N.O. I'm just using it for an example.to make my case.because they've all been through Hurricanes

Tulane Stadium  & Miami Orange Bowl were both built in 1937. Tulane's Original Stadium was torn down in 1980 due to neglect of its upkeep.  The Orange Bowl was torn down in 2008 after the university decided not to use it anymore.  The Superdome was build in 1975 and has had more renovations than every other Stadium before its time.. Yet it still  has a lesser seating capacity  than both Tulane Stadium and the Orange Bowl have had in their time of demolition. Prior to handing  the Superdome over to Mercedes-Benz, Tom Benson was looking for a Bigger home for the saints Especially during Katrina, they were either planing to leave Louisiana or to tear down a N.O. neighborhood to build a Bigger stadium for yet.. Yet  in time, the dome received more renovations... and More and More

Now, Although I'm comparing 2 Collegiate stadiums to a professional stadium. please understand  all 3 stadiums have held Major events. such as Pro and Major conference Collegiate Bowl games.  and as for the dome seating I'm referring to the number of seats which face the main floor. because obviously The Dome is the biggest of them all and  tends to make up its general seat capacity issues with  Seating sales for private suites, and Halls within the building that helps with "seating" in a sense.

But the on going question is this; Why is Tad Gormely Stadium still here? It was built in 1926  and can only hold about 26,000 people.. it was only fully Renovated twice in my lifetime and of course seating capacity has never changed. other than that it was and is still being Neglected if you really pay attention to the fact that the only thing which was Fixed up was the stadiums Interior  itself, There's still no parking. as well as the fact that those Old gates & Booths are still crumbling.  Maybe because it's mainly used as a High School stadium.

Even  Pan-Am Stadium (which is a smaller High School stadium) was rebuilt.  Now it probably holds more people than it did before,(never as much as Gormely)  I believe they should have made it a Larger stadium though.  but obviously not many people  thought about That prior to rebuilding it.

With That said, Tulane Univ wants to build a new stadium and I believe they deserve one. But due to the folks uptown being somewhat against it,  I believe that Tad Gormely should be Torn down  to house a collegiate capacity   That project even if the stadium "Appears" Smaller, It could possibly seat more people than  the Superdome's main floor. No doubt I Love Tad Gormely, but I had to question its existence being that It's probably the oldest stadium in the City at this point.

To End it all  though Seems like Funding and  upkeep will always be the issues for any Public Stadium.. I take it that the Privately Funded University stadiums had the right to do what they wanted to do with their stadiums no matter how historic they were. its the public stadiums like Pan Am &Tad Gormely (and the Dome) that are neglected until some person or Private Organization with lots of money comes in to Gut it..

That's just the way it is.


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