Below level seating behind the plate.
Grandstand with second level similar to The Box.
Foul line seating at least to the end of the dugouts.
Concourse up at the mid-level.
Louisiana Tech University
Flagship of the University of Louisiana System
I agree with everything you are saying. I would add one thing to it, something Friscodawg has been posting for the past week.
If baseball has to be moved I want the athletic department to keep that site and move softball to it. For under $4 million we could build at Top 10 level softball facility in the country on that site. UL-Lafayette has spent roughly $3 million and created an incredible atmosphere, which includes an indoor hitting facility. Build something similar and throw in the railroad tracks and the dorms as a backdrop. You then have a facility that our coaching staff can recruit to. Homeplate would be roughly where second base is now located. You also have room to build a berm or party deck in right field between what would be the softball fence and railroad property.
Again, if baseball has to move this is the alternative I'd like to see.
I think The Love shack has one of the most picturesque locations in baseball and don't want it to be moved.
That being said the stadium has to be built to at least minimum "suggested" dimensions by the NCAA if Tech is to ever host a regional. Just working around the field:
Love Shack 315 down the left field line, minimum suggested 330. - 15 FT
Love Shack 370 in the left field power alley, minimum is 375. - 5 FT
Love Shack 385 in center, suggested minimum 400. - 15 ft
Love Shack 340 in the right field power alley, minimum suggested is 375. - 35 FT
Love Shack 325 down right field, minimum suggested 330. - 5 ft
Love Shack 25 feet between left field line and the outside wall, minimum 30 but suggested 37. - 12 ft
Love Shack 12 feet between right field line and the outside wall, minimum 30 but suggested 37. - 18 ft * to minimum
That's a lot of moving around and ground to make up. As much as I want to see it stay I also want to see baseball be in a position where we can sell the possibility of hosting a regional or super to recruits. It needs to be done right even if that means moving it do so.
That's not a lot of shifting and moving in actuality - most measurements are less than 15 ft
I'm hearing that we are in preliminary talks with several design firms and we could be released to contract with a designed service as early as next week by the state
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
I agree. If the baseball stadium has to be moved then softball needs to go to that location. Track and soccer need to have a combined facility and the tennis courts need to be moved for a IPF. I would like to see the IPF and football practice field right next to each other so we would need to move the track. Maybe move the track and soccer complex to where the current football practice field is at? I'm not sure where the tennis courts should go.
Just had an idea for the tennis courts. The gravel lot on the other side of the TAC near Hideaway Park and Alabama St. Put the tennis courts there and pave the gravel lot for parking for the tennis courts and basketball.
I'm excited to see what the professionals doing the design work come up with. Anyone who does collegiate athletics sports venues are going to have a lot of knowledge and advise we'll get to take advantage of. They aren't going to want to be associated with a new facility that isn't up to snuff because it will affect what other potential collegiate clients think of them. So while ultimately the decision of where we put the new ballpark will be up to us, IF we move I'll bet there will be some pretty compelling reasons to do so. And maybe it stays right where it is.
Personally, I've got a good feeling about how this is going to work out.
The one thing I’d add is to be mindful that the scale Tech works towards in having the best they can have going forward based on what the NCAA wants or requires for hosting big events could possibly change in 5 years. I sure hope we don’t barely big enough and then scale ourselves out of consideration. Keep in mind that the NCAA doesn’t exactly love the smaller schools.
Obviously we gotta get in position to host before we can host. As "smaller schools" USM and Lafayette are set up to host, but it is not about the seating capacity. It is about being seeded high enough and actually submitting a bid.
We met all the NCAA qualifications before the storm. I don't see them changing that much. NCAA baseball has been consistent for a long time.
I like the combine soccer and track idea. Do move the Soccer up to where the track is now. this opens up a lot of land where the soccer field was. Moving the field closer to the intersection removes parking but not a lot. They can just add more parking in the Softball/Soccer land if the Soccer and track combine.
What do you mean "Prove it"? ummm...Tech Drive. Alabama. The Dorms. The Railroad Track. Short of relocating, removing, or rerouting any of those things, we have all the property we will ever have. We're landlocked there...I'm not bitching about it, I'm saying, put the passionate feelings about our beautiful Love Shack aside and make sure we make the BEST decision. She's sat on the corner of Alabama and Tech drive for about 50 years, and I love where it's at in 2019. Will that capacity, and that location, still work for our grandchildren in 2069? I don't know what the future holds. And neither do you.