Bobby Dodd Expansion

[SolJacket]

Except for a 6 year period from 1956 to 1961, Tech has NEVER been either a high draw in terms of % of seats filled or consistency in achieving that.

In those 6 years Tech averaged draws of 99% capacity and during that time Grant Field was expanded from 40,000 seats to 44,000 seats. After the 1961 season the Upper East Stands were added making the capacity 53,000, but in 1962 the crowds averaged only 93% capacity.

In fact, there are some interesting numbers when you break down attendence (as a % of capacity) by decade.

50's - 79%

60's - 91%

70's - 75%

80's - 70%

90's - 93%

00's - 92%

Although Grant Field had its highest capacity from 1967 to 1985 (58,121) over that time period Tech averaged 74% of capacity. There were several games in that era that went over 60,000 in attendance but they were for teams that always bring big visiting crowds (UGA, Auburn and Notre Dame).

Sellouts at GT are very very rare. Even in the "good ol' days" they really only came when there was a big-draw opponent.

 

[griswold6571]

2003 we had Auburn, UGA, and Clemson at home.

2006 we took Notre Dame to the wire in the home opener and only lost once (on the road to Clemson)more before the last away game at UGA.

That would make more sense.

 

[mack]

Folks that are upset about attendance must rememaber that at one time we had one of the largest seating in the South.I can remember when the hollowed Sanfred Stadium seated less than Grant Field.Of course they got rolling and winning and the stadium got bigger.Winning has a way of filling the stands.

 

[Wreck Em]

Folks that are upset about attendance must rememaber that at one time we had one of the largest seating in the South.

The good ol' days

 

[JWE37]

very surprised at the 2003 figures. wasn't this flunkgate year when some were saying we would only win 3 or 4 games?

-Newly renovated stadium
-No FCS opponent
-And as previos poster stated we played Auburn, Clemson, and Ugay at home (3 automatic sellouts).

 

[ramblinwise1]

This year won't be to good with 2 Thursday night games. The announced gate will look OK but the upper deck will be half filled.

 

[gespacho_the_slender]

seriously

That is excellent. The way they sell it, they NEVER have less than 79,000...

Granted, I personally believe we are overbuilt by about 10k. I'll reevaluate that opinion in a couple years...

 

[The Champ]

2003 we had Auburn, UGA, and Clemson at home.

2006 we took Notre Dame to the wire in the home opener and only lost once (on the road to Clemson)more before the last away game at UGA.

The rest of the 06 schedule really sucked. Troy, Samford, Duke, UVA on a Thursday, Maryland at noon, and then Miami. ALso odd that we opened up with 4 straight at home.

 

[CorpusJacket]

Largest capacity was 58,121 largest crowd ever 60,316 for UGA in 1973

Info per GTAA? Thought I saw a list of top BDS attendance games in a football program 10+ years ago, and a UGa game along with the Auburn game(Pat Sullivan Heisman year) were at the top of the list with >60,000. They got my attention because I was there for both games.

 

[georgia_tech_swagger]

Ohhhhh my pet peeve topic. And yes, expansion was clearly rushed, poorly thought out, and even more poorly executed. It's almost offensive that when you have a school that produced the architects that shaped the Atlanta skyline ... and then you drop a huge, awkward, ungainly, monstrous, non-symmetric endzone in.

I sat in the upper north ONCE ... for the immaculate fumble FSU game. I was atop the Edge. I've never felt so disconnected from the fans, the energy, and the game as when I sat up there. The band sounds like it's playing into the French end of the Channel Tunnel and you're in the UK listening.

If they wanted to do it right, they would do the following:
1) Make it beautiful and symmetric ... a place worthy of the tradition and history it is has seen.
2) Increase sideline seating on both sides
3) Completely close in all sound to maximize home field advantage. I have no interest in being another Sanford Stadium. I have TONS of interest in being the Autzen Stadium of the east coast.

Gentleman ..... my humble proposal ..... a return of the 'shoe:

Imagine the stands rising up vertically quickly. This leaves nowhere for sound to escape. The band goes back to the corner pointing towards the home stands to juice the players and hopefully get even our ... "well aged" fans noisy. This would move the field away from Techwood 15-30 yds. You could even add a brick facade around the building turning it into something more like the outside of Wrigley. This would also create more space for offices or equipment type rooms to give the whole thing a higher utility value. And lastly but not least ... actual human sized arse shelfs to sit on ... not those anorexic sized seats they have in the upper east now. Stanford's new stadium actual has seats built into the bleachers, and I encourage that behavior:

 

[beej67]

HAhahaha.

You do realize that your proposal would probably cost more than tearing the whole thing down and rebuilding it from scratch, right?

In fact, your proposal would probably require that it was torn down and replaced from scratch.

Now, moving the band to a corner instead of a straight edge is smart, because corners funnel sound.

 

[Bobkat]

The average for odd numbered years 93.1%, even years 89.1%. Clearly the home games against Georgia and Clemson affect this number. Probably could include VT as a factor now too.

 

[georgia_tech_swagger]

In fact, your proposal would probably require that it was torn down and replaced from scratch.

Yea, I would have hoped you would have figured that out when I said move the field several dozen yards back from Techwood.

Besides, tear down WILL HAPPEN eventually. The east stands don't meet code. So if you touch them in a meaningful way, suddenly you have to meet code ... and that means a tear down.

 

[GTSaxophone]

Ohhhhh my pet peeve topic. And yes, expansion was clearly rushed, poorly thought out, and even more poorly executed. It's almost offensive that when you have a school that produced the architects that shaped the Atlanta skyline ... and then you drop a huge, awkward, ungainly, monstrous, non-symmetric endzone in.

I sat in the upper north ONCE ... for the immaculate fumble FSU game. I was atop the Edge. I've never felt so disconnected from the fans, the energy, and the game as when I sat up there. The band sounds like it's playing into the French end of the Channel Tunnel and you're in the UK listening.

If they wanted to do it right, they would do the following:
1) Make it beautiful and symmetric ... a place worthy of the tradition and history it is has seen.
2) Increase sideline seating on both sides
3) Completely close in all sound to maximize home field advantage. I have no interest in being another Sanford Stadium. I have TONS of interest in being the Autzen Stadium of the east coast.

Gentleman ..... my humble proposal ..... a return of the 'shoe:

Imagine the stands rising up vertically quickly. This leaves nowhere for sound to escape. The band goes back to the corner pointing towards the home stands to juice the players and hopefully get even our ... "well aged" fans noisy. This would move the field away from Techwood 15-30 yds. You could even add a brick facade around the building turning it into something more like the outside of Wrigley. This would also create more space for offices or equipment type rooms to give the whole thing a higher utility value. And lastly but not least ... actual human sized arse shelfs to sit on ... not those anorexic sized seats they have in the upper east now. Stanford's new stadium actual has seats built into the bleachers, and I encourage that behavior:

Someone (it may have been you, I just don't remember) mentioned going back to a horseshoe shape about a year or so ago in another thread. I said then what I say now: I hate the idea of a horseshoe stadium. Mostly because I like having student sections in both endzones of the stadium.

Now, I completely agree with you that the architecture of the stadium would be much better if it trapped sound, and the upper north does feel disconnected (I've been there three times). Unfortunately, beej makes a great point that any of those changes will, in all likelihood, require a tear down and rebuild.

As far as the band is concerned, I'll be admittedly biased here, and say that sitting in the north endzone makes for a fantastic experience for us, and we feel like our sound can project out to the entire field that way. Especially when the opposing team is backed up on our end.

 

[Wreck Em]

Ohhhhh my pet peeve topic. And yes, expansion was clearly rushed, poorly thought out, and even more poorly executed. It's almost offensive that when you have a school that produced the architects that shaped the Atlanta skyline ... and then you drop a huge, awkward, ungainly, monstrous, non-symmetric endzone in.

I sat in the upper north ONCE ... for the immaculate fumble FSU game. I was atop the Edge. I've never felt so disconnected from the fans, the energy, and the game as when I sat up there. The band sounds like it's playing into the French end of the Channel Tunnel and you're in the UK listening.

If they wanted to do it right, they would do the following:
1) Make it beautiful and symmetric ... a place worthy of the tradition and history it is has seen.
2) Increase sideline seating on both sides
3) Completely close in all sound to maximize home field advantage. I have no interest in being another Sanford Stadium. I have TONS of interest in being the Autzen Stadium of the east coast.

Gentleman ..... my humble proposal ..... a return of the 'shoe:

Imagine the stands rising up vertically quickly. This leaves nowhere for sound to escape. The band goes back to the corner pointing towards the home stands to juice the players and hopefully get even our ... "well aged" fans noisy. This would move the field away from Techwood 15-30 yds. You could even add a brick facade around the building turning it into something more like the outside of Wrigley. This would also create more space for offices or equipment type rooms to give the whole thing a higher utility value. And lastly but not least ... actual human sized arse shelfs to sit on ... not those anorexic sized seats they have in the upper east now. Stanford's new stadium actual has seats built into the bleachers, and I encourage that behavior:

You mean something like this?

 

[33jacket]

a little known fact is bobby dodd didn't seat 45k. It was actually 42k!!!!

So we increased attendance more like 10k

 

[gt_thwg]

Nice mock up! I do agree that we need to try to maximize the sound within the stadium. Relatively speaking, we're a small stadium with a pretty tame fan base. I'm sure that playing more night games will help the noise some, but closing in the corners will definately make a big difference! The real issue is what will it cost?

 

[samsgt02]

I think our stadium is what inner city stadiums should be. You deal with the space your given. This is what gives so many baseball stadiums character. Now, we have a lot to improve. The Edge Center and Wardlaw need to go. You should be able to have full circulation without having to enter the seating area. My God those tunnels into the student section are a death trap. I don't think we need more seats, we need more boxes. I really think we could make more money this way.

 

[05GTCorndog]

What a stupid f*cking thread. Talking about 'fixing' a stadium that requires no fixing.

Choke yourself.

 

[vapspwi]

Besides, tear down WILL HAPPEN eventually. The east stands don't meet code. So if you touch them in a meaningful way, suddenly you have to meet code ... and that means a tear down.

Are you talking about the West stands and the ADA? Lower east is ADA compliant - it was just totally rebuilt a few years ago. Upper east was revamped quite a bit within the last 20 years, too.

JRjr