https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/2021/10/18/drake-athletics-schickler-challenge-jumpstarts-knapp-center-renovation-project-fundraising.aspx

A filled in lower bowl sounds great TBH.

This is great news, and long overdue.  I've never been a fan of the Knapp Center, but this will definitely improve it.

Just curious how much this will affect the Knapp Center’s “multi purpose” ability. (Although I think that’s the source of some of the issues in the first place)

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Very happy to see that they intend to fill in the corners. I've always like the Knapp but that'll shut down a bunch of the annoying criticism. Here's hoping that there's people to sit in those seats once in a while.

So long as DeVries is the coach there will be!

Surprised nobody has posted the renderings of the updates here yet!

https://www.draketix.com/knappcenterrenovation

Thank you!! Looks pretty sweet!


--- Forever True Blue

HAND RAILS!

Not sure I feel about the hand rails….will they obstruct fans’ view like the rails on the upper deck?

I wouldn’t think so. I haven’t heard of that being an issue anywhere else. I assume they’ll angle the new seating accordingly.

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Hand rails are needed for us old folks.

Moving forward.....

If I was your advanced age, I would definitely use the hand rails.  Did you ever receive the motorized scooter you ordered? 

BAN THE BALL SCREEN!!! BAN THE BALL SCREEN!! BAN THE BALL SCREEN!!

The pictures towards the bottom make me wonder... Will the multipurpose track still exist? It looks like that bar and the corner loungey seats would cut into that and not make it a useable track. Or do my eyes deceive me?

Second question: Do folks want a jumbotron in the middle some day? I do. They make skinnier ones like Loyola's if the Knapp Center ceiling isn't high enough.

If you mean a Jumbotron with a scoreboard, then definitely, I'd like it.  Always find myself looking there for score/time, since most arenas have that info there.

I think the track will probably be gone, and I think the Knapp might lose some of it's "multi-purpose" features in favor of making it better for basketball and volleyball.

I was going to say that we wouldn't have the room for a middle scoreboard but I looked up the one at Gentile Arena that you mentioned and I think that would be pretty cool to have and would also work well. 

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The seating will still be able to retract for multipurpose use. 

And the beer area is expanding into dead space used for electrical today.

Anyone know for sure if this is all still happening this offseason?

During the broadcast of the womens game on ESPN+ the halftime show was a production from Admire talking about this. Not sure if it was a new video production from Admire but the fact that they were still playing makes me think it is. Said they’ll start summer of 2022.

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Great news!