Not yet. Been circling the drain for 10-15 years. At least.
A new look to downtown New Brunswick
- Thread starter 160louis
- Start date
A downtown state of the art arena near NJ Transit station would elevate the men's hoops program to perennial Top-25
I know the OC Mall Sears closes next month.. and get this.. they raised prices.. they are not having any blow-out sales.. there is some accounting shenanigans going on here.
That and while were at it, lets make it a multiuse facility, Hoops, ice hockey and concert/show venue. Right on the tracks it would be a boon to New Brunswick and Rutgers. RU hoops can have a new venue closer to campus and train, ice hockey for RU and either bring the Devils or a minor league team and concert venue because who likes to trek into NYC or Newark to see your favorite acts. If done right this will be a money maker right from the get go. Knowing NJ they will F it up royally so don't let my pipe dream get you too excited. LOL!
Yes, multi-use for other RU sports, minor league hockey, but it's not going to really compete much with The Rock or MSG which will get larger shows.
The developer is DEVCO and had been for a year now like I said previously
And he demonstrated that by taking credit for a redevelopment site that was in process before he was elected, and has absolutely nothing to do with Rutgers other than being in the same city?
Interesting take.
A lot of people here are not clued in to why the downtown arena has never gained the full steam. Years ago DEVCO did a study to evaluate its feasibility and the results seemingly were far from financially break even. Other than RU sports and the very few events RU runs in the RAC today - there are not many other ways to book the arena up to pick up more revenue for what would be a VERRRY expensive build within an already dense urban area.
1) A NB arena would not be able to book any concerts (competitively or even contractually). The ticket vendors who book these shows have deals with the other arenas (Rock, PNC, MSG, Meadowlands, AC). Therefore you basically have to assume 0 concerts/performances of that kind .
2) Minor league hockey is a far stretch
3) Not much else after that - going to have to now get pretty creative. Maybe use it as a part time wedding hall in the offseason. Those are money makers.
1) A NB arena would not be able to book any concerts (competitively or even contractually). The ticket vendors who book these shows have deals with the other arenas (Rock, PNC, MSG, Meadowlands, AC). Therefore you basically have to assume 0 concerts/performances of that kind .
2) Minor league hockey is a far stretch
3) Not much else after that - going to have to now get pretty creative. Maybe use it as a part time wedding hall in the offseason. Those are money makers.
absolutely terrific announcement---amazing how many good things have happened with Rutgers since they've joined the BigTen--absorption of the medical school and now this announcement. If Albany and George street can begin to attract some nice downtown shops , cafe's , and other establishments this truly will be transformational. My other dream is the building of a new basketball arena in the downtown area--wouldn't that be fantastic?
Couldn't the concerts that are usually held at Rutgers get booked for this NB arena? Or do they not do shows on campus anymore?
Of course he did, he is a politician. I don't like politician's at all, but he's been visible at games, getting behind this project, etc. Better than the nothing i see from Barchi. RU does a terrible job of promoting the school itself.(i think the athletic program has improved dramatically in this dept).
Maybe if the governor gets behind it that will change.
I also hate politicians. I just disagree that Barchi has done a poor job as President. I think he has done a very good job. Part of that has been getting Hobbs in place and letting the athletic side manage itself. He gets maligned here, and I am not sure why. Most of it is certainly not well deserved.
Well if he is doing a good job, it sounds like a lot of people don't know it! I don't follow that closely so you are probably better informed. But I am more informed than most NJ residents so I stand by my point that they need to promote the school better and smarter than they do.
Barchi has done a great job first and foremost transitioning the medical school under the Rutgers flag. Everyone loves Hobbs well guess who hired him??
Where are you hearing this?!? Ask the medical school employees and you’ll hear that he is doing a passable job at best. It’s a massive undertaking, yes, but as is typical for Rutgers, he has no prior experience. He served as President of a private university (TJU) specializing in health sciences. But he has zero experience running a flagship state university with the myriad diverse responsibilities that entails. His educational background is all from smaller private colleges (Gtown and Penn), rather than large public universities. Just not the right fit.
I read that release and not sure at all what it means other than land for sale.
Multi-purpose arenas are soul-less life suckers. Not much confidence in new arenas given Trenton arena, new Giants Stadium, new Yankee Stadium, etc. Sterile, mall-like, anti-septic, not in a good way, atmosphere with no sense of intimacy.
While a downtown arena might be a blast, next to courthouse, campus and hospital, it would be a logistical and traffic nightmare. Imagine trying to get to a 7:00 game at rush hour. Think getting to the RAC is tough?
If you insist on a New Brunswick arena, Sears site attached to Douglas and Cook could be ideal and a sparkling new entrance to both campuses! Close access to 1, 18, TPK, George Street and Ryder's Lane. If the idea of light rail from New Brunswick to East Brunswick is legit with a Sears stop....
All in all, with all the money being poured into Livingston, just make The RAC a little better with a spanking new concourse, some more bathrooms and maybe a little expansion to 10,000 seats. So easy!! Makes one wonder why this is so difficult. So silly. Nova is doing it to their on campus arena. So has Cincy. Didn't Cal or Stanford do the same a little while back too?
Multi-purpose arenas are soul-less life suckers. Not much confidence in new arenas given Trenton arena, new Giants Stadium, new Yankee Stadium, etc. Sterile, mall-like, anti-septic, not in a good way, atmosphere with no sense of intimacy.
While a downtown arena might be a blast, next to courthouse, campus and hospital, it would be a logistical and traffic nightmare. Imagine trying to get to a 7:00 game at rush hour. Think getting to the RAC is tough?
If you insist on a New Brunswick arena, Sears site attached to Douglas and Cook could be ideal and a sparkling new entrance to both campuses! Close access to 1, 18, TPK, George Street and Ryder's Lane. If the idea of light rail from New Brunswick to East Brunswick is legit with a Sears stop....
All in all, with all the money being poured into Livingston, just make The RAC a little better with a spanking new concourse, some more bathrooms and maybe a little expansion to 10,000 seats. So easy!! Makes one wonder why this is so difficult. So silly. Nova is doing it to their on campus arena. So has Cincy. Didn't Cal or Stanford do the same a little while back too?
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With the other development around the RAC.. they may be missing this opportunity. That is, I have always promoted the idea of RAC expansion centered on removing the roof and columns and making them external to the building. That would allow for wrap-around seating with no column obstructions and possible higher levels of seating. By building things inside that extended footprint, they limit the possibilities of outer wall expansion.
I always loved the idea of a stadium downtown but I just don't know how it could ever work with traffic. I am a long time season ticket holder and live in downtown NB. The traffic & parking here is already brutal. You have one lane roads with a million lights. I can't imagine 10,000 people trying to get there on a saturday night with stuff going on at the theaters, hotel, restaurant etc.
Regardless of what gets built in that location, the logistics of traffic patterns is going to have to be really creative.
Also--with the building of the practice facility you can probably kiss that idea goodbye forever.
Do we have any date on when this will be up and running? The Hub concept looks cool but I see this taking years and dealing with many setbacks.
I’d kill for a downtown arena. I’d probably make it to more than 1-2 b-ball games a year. And if we had hockey downtown I’d be a season ticket holder for life.
Coming to NB by train is easy. The most annoying part of going to the RAC comes after getting off the train in NB. There should at least be a shuttle. Instead we get an Uber and end up as yet another car trying to get through NB and over to Livingston.
Coming to NB by train is easy. The most annoying part of going to the RAC comes after getting off the train in NB. There should at least be a shuttle. Instead we get an Uber and end up as yet another car trying to get through NB and over to Livingston.
Getting the heroin addicts off the benches and out of the facility would be a start for me. They did that for one day, the day Murphy was in town.
Like you , I believe a downtown arena would be great for Rutgers and even better for NB....It would revitalize the downtown area.
That would be kind of ironic to put an arena where sears is.The football stadium was originally projected to go where the movie theatre is (just north of Sears).
If you haven't listened to scarlet slant podcast check it out. Connor fox was on former bball and devco employee talking about why the downtown arena was brought up and couldn't work in NB.
Any of you who remember the pre John Heldrich / J and J New Brunswick would be amazed at anything more than a Johnny on the Spot.
Probably yes, but if you're coming up the NEC from the south, you probably don't wait to go an extra stop if it's one of those where the destination is somewhat equidistant to both stops. You almost always look to get off the first of the two stops (hence Edison, when coming down from the north), or the one that affords more connections to another convenient mode of transport to help reach the final destination.
A big issue with a downtown arena is the state made a huge mistake building the Sun Bank Center in Trenton.
It's on the State and Federal register of historic places, so I'm sure it is a lot more involved & more expensive than just clearing out the old stuff and installing modern fixtures.
