So, question, where would you build the practice facility?

Off the top of my head,I came up with 2 locations:

1.At one time O.U. floated the idea of a building new ice rink, to replace Bird Arena,next to Ping.

That project seems dead, so put the practice facility there.

2.Across the street from the Convo.
You get a new facility and get rid of "Punch Card Park".

A replacement for the Natatorium is supposed to be build attached to Ping. Current building is 35 years old but was only 10 years old when Ping was finished hence why it wasn't included as part of the Ping Center.

New ice rink isn't dead but there are some pros about having it at its current location right in the center of campus instead of adjacent to Ping.

Basketball practice facility was planned to be an extension of the Condo with a new grand entrance at street level.

Nutrition Center is a potential upgrade for Peden. The question is where to put another facility. In the corner of Peden opposite of the weight room seems logical but I do think the university likes that corner for egress. Ground level under the student stands could work as part of a project to open up the back of the student stands with modernized concessions.

That would likely require cutting into the parking lot of the field house at least 10 feet to fit it in. Then it could become support for a small deck with an awning at the top of it. Make the stadium look more modern.

The lost opportunity was to not build the Ping Center a few years earlier with a natatorium. Fieldhouse should be set Peden to attract recruits and its closer to the other sports facilities than all the way over at the Ping Center. Basketball practice facility likewise should be at the Convo for recruiting and not done in a cheap manner.

It’s fun to dream. Where is the money coming from? Let’s say we get all this new stuff. What is the end game?

Winner winner chicken dinner. Practice facilities are usually adjacent to the existing facility. We cannot do that.

I found the flood map. There is no difference between the flood zone of the parcel the Convo sits in and the entire athletic mall, which includes new buildings in the last 20 years.

See Appendix 10: City of Athens Flood Map

https://www.athensswcd.org/uploads/3/0/1/0/30105193/nhmp_...

Then see the campus master plan from 2016 with the basketball practice facility located on Richland adjacent to the Convo.

https://www.athensnews.com/news/campus/ou-plan-calls-for-...

You should look at the current FEMA FIRM Map.
Just google "am I in flood zone" and put int the Convo's address.

It shows that most of the area at/near the Convo is in a Flood Zone.

There's no question that,in the past,there have been structures built in flood zones.

But,regulations regarding this type of construction, have gotten a lot more restrictive over time.

Speaking for NJ ,where I do my designs,if you want to build in a Flood Zone there are restrictions on placing fill,not increasing runoff by providing what is known as "storm water management" and "treating" run off to remove things like Suspended Solids.
Basically,your project can't have any impact on properties "downstream".

These things can be addressed,but they increase,significantly,construction costs and long term maintenance.

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but why do we need a practice facility? We have more indoor facilities than we had 30-40 years ago. Taking into account RpBobcat's expertise on building matters, it doesn't seem like an extension of the Convo is possible.

Also, take for instance that most large suburban high schools have a freshman boys and girls team, a JV boys and girls team and a varisty boys an girls team for a total of 6 teams. Many large high schools have an auxiliary gym to accomodate these 6 teams. We only have a men's and women's team. Their shouldn't be any problems with time management and use. Also, for workout purposes we have a facility that the football team uses. Can't they work out there? We have the best facilities in the MAC, the best fans in the MAC with the largest endowment and alumni support for any state school outside of Ohio State.

We are also facing a Higher Ed financial crisis which was already in place before Covid-19 arrived. We have a somewhat hostile faculty (to put it mildly) that doesn't care about our athletic prowess. Many of them are one budget cut away from being an adjunct, and wondering how they are going to pay off their student loans when by and large many of them have unmarketable majors for real world employment.

Can't we just concentrate on retaining Coach Boals and his staff and using the money associated with these elaborate ideas to keep in place what we already have? This isn't football where you have some 120+ Division I programs, college basketball has 300+ programs and we have the best the MAC has to offer. It just seems like a bridge too far for me. Unless a Bill Gates type donor steps up, let's just successfully manage what we already have.

Infrastructure Bill? Anybody got a connection in Washington to throw this in?

Exactly, and the Convo was built in the flood zone, that is why there is essentially a levy around the flood plain and the building is on pilings. Convo also sitting on the corner really limits the direction you can build out.

Unless something has changed since I was at O.U., wrestling has a separate practice room.
They only use the Convo for matches.