As someone who lived on north campus I can tell you that the Dean Dome didn't feel convenient at all. It was a long walk and hopping on a shuttle would have been just fine with me. Of course it's a first world problem to be living in Old West and have to walk to the Dean Dome for a UNC game!
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doctor_octopus
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Old West? We flicked boogers at you from the library in Old East.
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I take information and opinion with a grain of salt when it comes from people who's job to to generate hits on social media platforms.
Ddseddse
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Yup, regardless of where the site is, any new stadium need tons of plush mezzanine luxury boxes to lure the boosters from their court-side seating and into boxes. leaving the court side seats for loud and rowdy students.
Those first few rows should be built out at a nice high pitch to create a claustrophobic atmosphere too (for the away team at least).
Do I have confidence that the current UNC Admin is competent to pull that off? No, not really.
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I largely agree with you, but don’t you dare denigrate the piss troughs.
They are a pillar of Carolina Basketball and I hope they move them to the new Carolina North arena!
Yes. I was there just before and just after it opened.
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I'm not trying to stir the pot or anything. I just think it would be a shame if you guys build a new arena and it's not on campus.
UNCRx85
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Well, technically, there are plans to "expand" campus to the Carolina North site - dormitories, research/class bldgs, etc. A new basketball facility would anchor it - think Ben or Greg on IC said as much. A new tram or dedicated busline to the site from main campus, too. If they're able to somehow get more student seating around the court, could be a net-positive for homecourt advantage. As an alum x 2, I don't hate the idea.
I don't love it, either...
I don't love it, either...
I’ve tried to get creative thinking about it and looking at Google maps but I just don’t think there’s an obvious great spot on campus for a new arena.
One of the options that was apparently considered is the Bowles Lot, which is a giant parking area right beside the Smith Center. Think that was really the only viable on-campus spot but one of the biggest complaints about the Smith Center in the first place is that area at the bottom of campus is a bit of a bottleneck and already kinda isolated, so a Bowles Lot site would still have those same problems.
In a perfect world the ideal spot would be where Carmichael and the rec athletic fields are. It’s such a busy area of campus that the demolition/heavy construction of a new arena there probably makes it a nonstarter.
It will be on campus. If anyone can understand the concept of an east and west campus, it should be a Duke person.
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I didn't read anything about an east or west campus, only that there was some consideration being given to locating the new area OFF campus... and visions of NC State danced in my head. I know that this is far from a new concept, but one I do not endorse.
Collegiate athletics just drift farther and farther from what they were intended, and even from what they were when I grew up. Big business rules the day.
Carolina North will be at the NW corner of Estes Drive and MLK Boulevard (used to be Airport Road) and directly adjacent to Estes Drive Extension. It’s where the old Horace Williams Airport was.
It’s 1.9 miles from the Old Well to Estes Drive and MLK Boulevard. It’s 1.5 miles from Franklin and Columbia.
I hope the next basketball arena is in the Skipper Bowles Lot; but, I doubt that happens.
Carolina North is not way the hell out of town.
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Thus it’s roughly the same distance from Franklin and Columbia as the Dean Smith Center.
JCTarheel82
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When the Dean Dome is inevitably demolished, I hope to buy a piece of the
I’ve wanted to put a urinal in one of the bathrooms; but, a piss trough?! I hadn’t thought about that.
The plan is to put it on the new campus, which will have classrooms and dorms to accomodate increased growth. It won’t be anything like Carter Finley or PNC arena when the north campus is finished.
Even in the best case scenario, the building won’t be open until 2030. By then, there should be significant progress on the North Campus buildout.
A lot of schools are building satellite campuses now because they are constrained by their original footprint. SDSU, which is in my neck of the woods, is building a new satellite campus two miles from the main campus (where the Chargers used to play). They at least have a light rail system that makes it easy to get between the two locations. Hopefully, UNC will build some kind of train system to connect the two campuses.