Thoughts on the Neyland Entertainment District

#4
#4
Boca Vol said:
IMO, it’s all relative to where people park. For me, I’m already on the South side of the stadium tailgating in either G10 or G5/30. On it, the G10 option is gone.

Will people that park on the Strip or in the Ft. walk that far? I don’t know.
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We lose space where families could meet up and their kids could play for a place that will be too crowded to take your eyes off your kids. It’s just another step in eliminating family friendly for corporate friendly.

Circle Park has already turned from a place where old friends could bring some corn hole boards and toss a football to something that looks like a Civil War encampment, with all the giant generic tents.

G10 people aren’t going to like getting bumped and the people who get bumped because G10 donors are higher priority aren’t going to like it either.

Whatever.. I have no interest in driving 3 hours to Knoxville to stand in a crowded bar for hours before going to sit for 5 hours on crowded steel benches. This entertainment district is for locals only.. Let Knoxville buy the university from the state and change the name to Knoxville State.
 
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#6
#6
adam.vol said:
We lose space where families could meet up and their kids could play for a place that will be too crowded to take your eyes off your kids. It’s just another step in eliminating family friendly for corporate friendly.

Circle Park has already turned from a place where old friends could bring some corn hole boards and toss a football to something that looks like a Civil War encampment, with all the giant generic tents.

G10 people aren’t going to like getting bumped and the people who get bumped because G10 donors are higher priority aren’t going to like it either.

Whatever.. I have no interest in driving 3 hours to Knoxville to stand in a crowded bar for hours before going to sit for 5 hours on crowded steel benches. This entertainment district is for locals only.. Let Knoxville buy the university from the state and change the name to Knoxville State.
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oh noooooo what will we do.

It's no big deal, The loss of the businesses and the remodel of the Strip was a MUCH MUCH bigger loss for the UT campus.

This will be just fine and people will love it when they see it in final form
 
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#7
#7
Rickyvol77 said:
oh noooooo what will we do.

It's no big deal, The loss of the businesses and the remodel of the Strip was a MUCH MUCH bigger loss for the UT campus.

This will be just fine and people will love it when they see it in final form
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What you said. I used to own a bar on the strip back in the early 2000's, and we sold our business and went to Charlotte when the Cumberland Ave Merchants Association showed us the plans for what the strip is now. That marked the beginning of the end of for the strip. That being said, the same thing will happen in the Danny District. Local and independent places will struggle because you only make money during the school year and as high as rent is going to be, alot won't make it through the summer, which is the slowest time of the year in the restaurant industry here. That will leave only the national chains and PE backed concepts because they have deep enough pockets to survive the offseason.

I think it will be Knoxville's version of the generic bars in Nashville
 
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#8
#8
The district is commercial glitz, lacking in any character or substance. No different from any other pro sport venue. Just more opportunities to uproot anything unique or local and replace it with commercial point-of-sale stations.

The hotel however is a complete travesty, and I cannot believe the powers that be are allowing it. Actually, no, strike that, I can believe it, because there must be money changing hands to get that approved. I despise it.

Have you noticed they NEVER show any views of what the building will look like from inside the stadium? They always show "low" or distant views from the ground, at angles that make look the hotel look as unobtrusive as possible. But if you look closely, the hotel is almost TRIPLE the height of the Neyland press boxes, and wide enough to stretch from section GG to the letters or even the jumbotron (it's tough to tell with the renders; the idea they'd build a hotel that only stretches the distance between GG and IIis hard to swallow - and every new render it gets a little bigger).

Just look at how damn tall the thing is in this picture.

big.jpgneyland_hotel_2.jpg
Look at that. It's even bigger than original renders - and it's RIGHT NEXT to the stadium. In the old renders, the building was at least lower and somewhat in line with the press boxes (and that one sucked too, just less than this new rendering). The building will make the view feel cramped, claustrophobic, but worst of all, it will permanently break up the brilliant blue skylines of Neyland. Just imagine seeing this next time you're in your seats-

thatthing.jpg
Or this -

ohgoodie.jpg
Now those are just dirty photoshops, but it's not like the real thing will be any better. No more unbroken view of Tennessee, no more full blue sky, all for a giant private commercial condo building built for specific folks to preside over everything. And THAT'S why they don't EVER show renderings of the building from inside the stadium, because they know how awful it's going to look. And the less people pay attention, the easier it'll be to build it without complaint.

I know for some it doesn't matter. "I just want to watch football," etc., etc. That's all whatever. I'm sure plenty wouldn't care if they built six condo-hotels around the entire exterior and blocked the view of everything. I've given up on thinking otherwise. But aesthetically the design is garish and will detract from the visual experience inside the stadium.
 
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#9
#9
volsack said:
What you said. I used to own a bar on the strip back in the early 2000's, and we sold our business and went to Charlotte when the Cumberland Ave Merchants Association showed us the plans for what the strip is now. That marked the beginning of the end of for the strip. That being said, the same thing will happen in the Danny District. Local and independent places will struggle because you only make money during the school year and as high as rent is going to be, alot won't make it through the summer, which is the slowest time of the year in the restaurant industry here. That will leave only the national chains and PE backed concepts because they have deep enough pockets to survive the offseason.

I think it will be Knoxville's version of the generic bars in Nashville
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$hitty country singer bar and grill
 
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#11
#11
Brave Volunteer said:
Irrelevant to me. They priced me out 3 years ago anyway. Now I enjoy all the games on the comfort of my couch, in front of my 65" OLED.
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Pretty much what I will be doing. Priced out the average fan and of course Dan doesn't care about them just look at what happened with baseball renovation and building more suites to knock out average Joe's. I feel this Neyland entertainment district is not the way to go but what do I know. Just reserve a $400 a night room on top level of hotel and watch the game there.
 
#14
#14
I don't really care one way or the other. I don't live in Knoxville and haven't gone to a game up there in several years and this seems like it's mainly about a revenue stream for the AD. They can't use any of the money for NIL I don't believe so I don't see it having much of an impact on recruiting etc.
 
#16
#16
Let’s see. So the State develops and funds universities to educate and elevate its citizenry then uses that apparatus to generate revenue and provide spectacles that distract the masses from the fact that they are spending all of their money at the State store.

Meanwhile, the State competes directly with the small business owners in the vicinity who struggle to make ends meet.

It’s really a screwed up system when you think about it.
 
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#19
#19
volsack said:
What you said. I used to own a bar on the strip back in the early 2000's, and we sold our business and went to Charlotte when the Cumberland Ave Merchants Association showed us the plans for what the strip is now. That marked the beginning of the end of for the strip. That being said, the same thing will happen in the Danny District. Local and independent places will struggle because you only make money during the school year and as high as rent is going to be, alot won't make it through the summer, which is the slowest time of the year in the restaurant industry here. That will leave only the national chains and PE backed concepts because they have deep enough pockets to survive the offseason.

I think it will be Knoxville's version of the generic bars in Nashville
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Are you saying the strip is gone? I haven't been back in years, so that's shocking to me
 
#23
#23
I'm not an Engineer, but I did once stay at a Holiday Inn Express, so here is my solution. The District Developers obviously have deep pockets, so why don't they build a 10 story parking garage OVER the Tennessee River? I mean, all you are doing is taking up wasted space, right??? Seriously, it would alleviate all the parking woes surrounding Neyland and if they place an outdoor park on the top deck, there will be much added space for families to share picnics 52 weeks a year plus, tailgaters would have a wonderful new venue. "DondeWood" is real and it is coming everyone. All in favor say "Aye"!

1777990797390.png​
 
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#24
#24
Rickyvol77 said:
oh noooooo what will we do.

It's no big deal, The loss of the businesses and the remodel of the Strip was a MUCH MUCH bigger loss for the UT campus.

This will be just fine and people will love it when they see it in final form
Click to expand...
I agree that the loss of the locally owned businesses on the strip to corporate chains and apartments has been a travesty.
 
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