Anyone that wants a bigger arena wasn’t in attendance during Guy V. Lewis’ last year. When you are one year removed from going to three straight Final Fours and the only way you can fill the arena more than halfway is playing top 25 teams or big name conference rivals, it’s hard to ignore the lack of atmosphere that makes the experience so enjoyable that you come back even during losing seasons.
It’s better for long term attendance that the arena feels nearly packed when 7k show up for games against unranked opponents rather than having 3k empty seats for 90% of home games in good years and then doubling those empty seats in bad years.
It looks like the camera is just inside the Holman Street side, looking across the court; notice the old entrance for the team - in the middle of the picture on the far left side!
It is my understanding that there will be 2 entrance tunnels with the UH tunnel connecting the locker rooms in the GVL training facility to the new arena.
Is that correct?
And if so, might the UH Home bench be swapped to the South end of the arena ?
Are they making any effort to secure this new entrance against future flooding? If not, it is only a matter of time until the building needs another MAJOR renovation!
Since nobody here seems to know the answer to my question, I sent an email to the Athletic Department about this perceived problem. I am very pleased that they answered promptly and with a completely satisfactory solution. So - for the information of any of you who share my concern, here is the reply I received from T. J. Meagher, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Capital Projects:
"Thank you for your insight into the design of the Fertitta Center especially given the notorious storms of south Texas and in light of the historic flooding of a month ago. The new premium entrance being constructed off of Holman is being equipped with a flood gate which is a proven device installed in facilities with access points in negative grade across campus. The gate lifts and seals during extraordinary rain events to supplement the drainage so that water penetration is greatly limited. Blaffer Gallery on the other side of Cullen has two of these devices installed which have provided flawless protection during storms.
Curiously, Hofheinz has always had a rear service entry ramp that proceeds off street level from the parking lot behind the building, opposite Holman. In all the storms we have seen from Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 forward, the only time we saw water near the hardwood floor was when the slotted drain at the roll door had not been serviced and became clogged. We are equipping that entry with a flood gate as well to protect the building from water penetration.
I’ve attached an image of a concept of the treatment we will be applying to the negative grade entries at the Fertitta Center. Our device will integrate responsibly with the architecture of the entryway so that it minimizes it’s industrial appearance at the premium entrance.
It was my understanding that our game locker rooms will be the ones in the practice facility. That is why I think there will be 2 tunnels. If that is true, then I would think UH switched bench locations.
