Pegula Center Speculation: TD Bank Sports Center

Fifth and final post in a series taking a look at rinks visited by Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and Tim Curley during their whirlwind tour over the summer and fall of 2010. The others: Boston University's Agganis Arena, Miami University's Steve Cady Arena, Notre Dame's Lefty Smith Rink and Minnesota-Duluth's AMSOIL Arena.

Opened: January 27, 2007
Cost: $52 million
Capacity: 3,386
Ice Surface: 200' x 85'
Official Site

Before we go any further, I want to sneak in an exterior shot of the home of the Quinnipiac Bobcats, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with Penn State.

Basketball on the left, hockey on the right, fans of the two sports forced to co-exist in the middle. Sorry, I just thought that was cool. I'm sure many heated exchanges about the relative merits of "bouncyball" (as many hockey fans derisively call it - last post) have taken place in that lobby. Or maybe both sides just let the other be when both teams are playing at the same time in there, which probably doesn't happen that often anyway. Yeah, that one's more likely.

First thing to point out: go back to the interior shot at the top. You'll notice that you may need spiked shoes and a rope to get from the bottom to the top of the seating. That steep slope in the seating bowl is something that appealed to Battista:

We want a steep rise and run so that it’s a great venue for spectators. We saw that at Boston U. and Minnesota and Quinnipiac. All of those places remind you of Hersheypark Arena. Not a bad seat in the house because it’s built for hockey.

If the infamous sketch is any indication, the Pegula Center will share this feature.

Wall o'fans.

Beyond the seating bowl (which is set up in the way I prefer as well, although AMSOIL started to get me to come around on that, as I said yesterday), it's tough to see what Battista got out of the visit, because TD Bank Sports Center doesn't really offer many of the things Penn State would seek to include in the Pegula Center. It's a nice facility, but it looks to be pretty spartan. A great place to watch a game, no doubt, but not towards the top of the facility rankings. But hey, don't take my word for it, go back to Quinnipiac's page about the place:

The TD Bank Sports Center is a 185,000-square-foot facility with basketball and hockey arenas joined by a common lobby area and university club. The new athletic center also includes: offices, locker rooms, club and premium seating, conference and meeting rooms, storage and weight-training facilities.

I'm certainly guilty of overanalysis from time to time, but that doesn't sound to me like much beyond the essentials. If you had a hydrotherapy room like Minnesota-Duluth or a puck-shooting range like Notre Dame, you'd probably toss it in that sentence.

But you know what? If the seating bowl slope was indeed our main takeaway from Quinnipiac, it was worth the trip in my opinion.

Pegula Center Speculation: AMSOIL Arena

Fourth post in a series taking a look at rinks visited by Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and Tim Curley during their whirlwind tour over the summer and fall of 2010. The first three covered Boston University's Agganis Arena, Miami University's Steve Cady Arena and Notre Dame's Lefty Smith Rink.

Like I said about a week ago, I'm going to bring this series to a close today and tomorrow since things are moving along quite nicely with the Pegula Center. The architects have been named, the construction team is coming shortly, and we even have a preliminary sketch to obsess over. In other words, it's quickly becoming pointless to jump around to different NCAA hockey venues, nitpick about suite locations and "feel" (both of which I do in this post as well, you won't be disappointed), and take uninformed guesses about what we should borrow from each. It's time to focus on our own rink, which I'm sure will be the best of all. With that out of the way...

Opening: December 30, 2010
Cost: $80 million
Capacity: 6,732
Ice Surface: 200' x 85'
Official Site

What makes AMSOIL Arena unique? Well, for starters, how about the fact that Battista has said more about the new home of the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the media than any other venue on the tour? Yeah, okay, he was asked about it by a Duluth newspaper, so that doesn't really mean anything. Still:

“I liked everything I saw here – all of the amenities, the suites, the press box, the site lines. It’s the perfect size for us. I’m going to make it a point to get our (hockey) donor here to look at the building.”

It sounds like a return trip involving the guy who writes large checks was in order. While lip service to the Duluth newspaper about the Duluth rink is one thing, that's pretty telling.

Honestly, I came into writing this post with the idea of ripping AMSOIL to shreds, based on what I knew about it. Which, in fairness to myself, was mostly just the hideous seat-coloring pattern and the name. However, once I managed to get past those two things (it took a while), AMSOIL really started to grow on me. I highly recommend spending some quality time with the photo galleries on the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (which includes AMSOIL Arena) site. The word "Galleries" just off the top right corner of the default picture is actually a menu, just to spare you my frustration.

What I like about AMSOIL Arena: A lot. My favorite part of all is the open concourse. Seriously. Get up, be able to watch the game while you walk, get your nachos, get back to your seat quickly because you no longer have to make your concession runs during intermission with everyone else. Brilliant. Hey, I like nachos, and sometimes these things can't wait until the scoreboard clock says it's time.

Actually, according to Battista, there are two concourses. But he does agree with me on the awesomeness of it all:

At Minnesota-Duluth, they have two concourses inside the building, one in the bowl itself about halfway up that goes all the way around. And then an outer concourse that goes all the way around, too, where you have restrooms and concessions and stores. You can get everywhere you want very quickly. It’s very user-friendly.

I also like the arrangement of the suites - I've been in the camp (assuming there are "camps" on this issue, I'm pretty sure there aren't, at least outside of the decision makers) that favors a ring of suites around the top of a single-tier seating bowl, but AMSOIL pulls off a different idea quite nicely. Looking specifically at Gallery 9 at the link above, it appears that they're all on one side above a press box, with possibly a few more in the corners.

The amenities are plentiful and top-notch. And while I don't see much there that wouldn't be in any other state-of-the-art hockey facility, AMSOIL is one of the few offering an in-depth look at things like the hydrotherapy room (seriously, go to the photo galleries). Plus, this look is accomplished without actually having to go to Duluth, as Battista did. Bonus points.

What I don't: Not a whole lot. My biggest issue is the presence of a true upper level which, as I've said before, seems unnecessary in a venue of this size. Maybe you need the upper level to have an open concourse, which I suppose makes sense. If necessary, I'm more than willing to make that trade - I'll have nice seats either way, not my problem. Also, AMSOIL just doesn't throw off a "classic, intimate hockey barn" vibe to me like some (well, two) of the other venues we've examined - it actually says "small version of a multi-purpose arena." Why? Well, for starters, it's because that's what it is. So says the official site:

We have greatly expanded opportunities to enjoy our UMD men’s and women’s hockey teams, as well as major entertainers, more conventions, larger trade shows, and other events.

"Major entertainers, more conventions, larger trade shows" is not likely to be much of a consideration for the Pegula Center, not with the Bryce Jordan Center right across the street. Hopefully this means some design differences that give the place more of a Steve Cady feel.

Pegula Center Speculation: Lefty Smith Rink

Third post in a series taking a look at rinks visited by Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and Tim Curley during their whirlwind tour over the summer and fall of 2010. The first two covered Boston University's Agganis Arena and Miami University's Steve Cady Arena.

Lefty Smith Rink at Notre Dame, part of the Compton Family Center is notable as the only facility in this series that doesn't exist yet - incidentally, the full name of the arena's main rink will be Charles W. "Lefty" Smith Jr. Rink, after the Irish's first coach. I'm guessing that name is not how it will read in newspaper headlines.

Notre Dame currently plays at the Joyce Center Rink, under the same roof as their basketball arena. With a paltry capacity of 2,763 seats consisting mostly of sets of temporary bleachers set up around the outside of the surface, I have no idea why they're so eager to build a new facility. Actually, I do have SOME idea, as rumors had been going around for quite a while that highly-regarded coach Jeff Jackson gave administration an ultimatum concerning his ability to continue in their employ without a new rink.

Opening: October, 2011 (groundbreaking ceremony was September 11, 2010, although construction actually started in March)
Cost: ?
Capacity: 5,000 (estimated)
Ice Surfaces: 200' x 90' main rink, 200' x 100' auxiliary rink

I came across an article discussing how the two sheets at the Compton Family Center combined with a community rink in South Bend will allow the area to bid on larger tournaments:

And perhaps just as importantly, Notre Dame will be able to bring additional entertainment options to the region such as ice shows and team up with the Ice Box Skating Rink in South Bend to bid on amateur hockey tournaments.
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Besides offering additional practice and game ice for youth hockey, the new facility also will allow more opportunities for figure skating and open skating, and Notre Dame and the Ice Box already have placed a bid for USA Hockey’s under-14 tournament, which has included 48 teams from across the country. 

I have no idea what the poobahs have in mind for the Ice Pavilion after 2014, but preserving it with something like, say, the USA Hockey under-14 tournament in mind might not be the worst idea ever. Then again, Notre Dame gets an assist from the city of South Bend in running that second facility, which is not part of the university. No such luck on the Penn State side.

As of now, the only renderings I've seen of Lefty Smith Rink are on a blog called Stars & Slights, which surely originates from hell, as it's devoted to Notre Dame AND Virginia Tech. Oh, and there's this absolutely tiny and pretty much useless picture from UND.com. Good luck with that.

My impressions based on the renderings:

• I absolutely love the atmosphere of the place created by the heavy use of brick and exposed steel, particularly in the concourse. It has that classic hockey barn look, except it's new. More than any hockey facility, it actually reminds me a lot of Ford Field in Detroit, site of that Frozen Four everyone irrationally hated last year.
• As much as I love the atmosphere, I feel the exact opposite about the seating bowl. Three tiers in a 5,000 seat rink should never happen. Way too much effort towards being unique, not enough towards maximizing the fan experience.
• The huge, open concourse looks amazing, although that might be hard to pull off without the three levels.
• Where are the suites? Maybe the "picture" was taken from one and they're all on that end. Maybe they're supposed to be on the second and third levels and the artist didn't do a great job depicting them.
• I'll go ahead and assume that the enclosed benches are just due to the artist being unfamiliar with this crazy niche sport of hockey. Just watch your head on that line change.
• The outside looks suspiciously like an already existing college hockey facility. Sincerest form of flattery, I guess.

Your one-line takeaway: hopefully the people with input love the architectural style but hate how the seating for the main rink is laid out.

Pegula Center Speculation: Steve Cady Arena/Goggin Ice Center

Photo: Wikipedia user Nomader

Second post in a series taking a look at rinks visited by Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and Tim Curley during their whirlwind tour over the summer and fall of 2010. The first covered Boston University's Agganis Arena.

Opened: 2006

Cost: $36 million (good bang for the buck there)
Capacity: 3,200
Ice Surfaces: Two 200' x 85' rinks

The Miami University RedHawks' page for Goggin on their official website has a ton of great pictures, both of the seating bowl, and elsewhere in the facility (scroll down). We already know that a feature of this rink impressed Joe Battista - a board system that can be lowered from the ceiling, dividing the rink in two for youth hockey or broomball.

One thing I really like about this facility is that it screams "college hockey" to me, where Agganis Arena screams "multi-purpose." I do like Agganis for the simple fact that it maximizes closeness for the largest number of people possible, but at the same time, Penn State already has a major athletic venue that feels new but is completely devoid of character.

Reading up on Goggin, it's clear that Miami had more in mind than simply an NCAA hockey facility, and I'm sure several aspects of the design appealed to the Penn State decision-makers for that reason. Back at the Miami/Goggin page:

Located adjacent to the school's Recreational Sports Center (RSC), the Goggin Ice Center was strategically located to be centered within a major hub of student activity, with the goal of creating an area of synergy on campus.

Two NHL-size (200'x 85') sheets are the focal point of the Ice Center, including a 3,200-seat arena, which is to be called Steve Cady Arena, and includes 2,800 reserved lower-bowl seats, 102 club seats, four opera boxes and six private suites. When standing room is included in the capacity, Cady Arena will have a capacity of nearly 4,000.
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The second sheet of ice, with seating for 250, will mainly be used for practice but will see extensive use through youth hockey, intramural activities and other community-related events.
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The facility also includes state-of-the-art locker room facilities for both the hockey and synchronized skating programs, in addition to 13 other locker areas.

Where have I heard that before? Was it here?

The facility will be built on the corner of Curtin Road and University Drive, directly west of the Bryce Jordan Center. It will include two ice sheets and other features that will allow it to be used for a broad range of campus and community activities, from commencement ceremonies to kinesiology classes to public skating sessions and camps for youth.

The facility will provide new training and performance opportunities for Penn State's popular and successful figure skating club and for the University's women's ice hockey team. It also will offer ice time to recreational and high school hockey programs, as well as intramural and local speed skating and broomball clubs.

My only quibble with the arena as a whole (and it is a minor one) is the lack of seating on either end. I like the effect of a bowl of fans surrounding the entire ice surface, and that handful of rows isn't doing it for me. I'm sure many in the goalie-heckling crowd agree with me too.

The only other thing I ask: please, please, please do not make the center ice logo face one of the ends of the rink. I would like to have words with the man responsible for that down in Oxford.

Pegula Center Speculation: Agganis Arena

This is the first edition of a feature in which I take a quick look at rinks known to have been visited by some combination of Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and Tim Curley, in order to possibly get some sort of insight into Penn State's future facility. Okay, we probably won't get any insight, because who knows for sure what the power brokers are thinking, what input the to-be-determined architect might have, etc. Basically, I'm an arena geek who is having trouble waiting 3.5 years for our building. This was originally to be a monthly-ish feature, but given the news that we're going to have an architect selected next month, I'll probably pound these out more frequently. No point in the feature after we already know what the Pegula Center's going to look like, after all. Random Wednesday work for you? Great, glad to hear it.

Stop #1 is Boston University's Agganis Arena, now famous as the location visited by Battista when he received the text confirming Pegula's donation. First, the essential facts:

Opened: January 3, 2005
Cost: $225 million (includes entire John Hancock Student Village, which also contains housing and a rec center)
Capacity: 6,221 for hockey (in PSU's neighborhood)
Official Site

In news that won't apply to us, BU's women still have to play at the older facility, Walter Brown Arena. Ouch. In news that might, BU does an outstanding job booking the facility for events other than BU men's hockey games, both with ice (2009 Women's Frozen Four) and without (numerous concerts and basketball games) despite being in a large city with lots of venue competition.

Here's a look at the interior:

My legal department tells me that this is public domain. However, my legal department is Wikipedia.

I'll go ahead and say it: even though this is the first in the series, this is probably my favorite seating bowl. In my opinion, there's no need to over-complicate things in an arena this size with multiple tiers, unusual luxury box locations and things like that. A single level around the ice surface with a ring of suites around the top is the way to go. You can almost picture the seats in blue, a chipmunk at center ice and some ACHA banners on the far end. It might be worth pointing out that the (very) preliminary sketch of the interior of the Pegula Center looked to have a very similar layout for the main rink (bottom of the page). Then again, it probably isn't worth pointing out, as things can obviously change.

Even the exterior of the arena doesn't look like something that would be out of place among PSU's new-ish venues, including Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, the Bryce Jordan Center and the Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility.

Obviously, I want the Pegula Center to be uniquely Penn State, but if it borrowed heavily from Agganis Arena, I would not be at all upset. If I have a complaint about it, it's that it seems kind of sterile. Some brickwork or some other form of manufactured new-old ambience wouldn't kill the place.