
Santa Clara University's Leavey Center used to have one, and they have a design very much like the AI generated image with larger large concrete caissons holding a static roof that was incorporated into the arena structure. Visually they added glass walls to open the building up to natural light. I love the pyramid look, it's iconic, but if it's 10's of millions cheaper to build a sloped or square roof, being able to use the arena is more important.
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Absolutely!
The problem is the total lack of vision and information from the athletics department and the school administration. It's not about blaming the past administrations, but rather how we move forward.
There are plenty of things that could be done to 'fix' or mitigate the problems with the pyramid....or to at least come up with additional options.
There were several arenas built with like a parachute material that is held up via air pressure. Something like that could work as a dome/cover over the pyramid structure (or even inside it so as to not affect the aesthetics of the building.
Or you could build a smaller, 2-3k seat gymnasium annex in front of the pyramid on Atherton, connected to the pyramid that could be used for rain games if they truly are not going to ever fix the leaks. This would give them an additional sized venue to host events (maybe would be more appropriate for some of our lesser-attended sports) and it would not cost as much as building a new 4000 seat venue from scratch. You could use many of the same facilities (locker rooms, parking, etc). From what I can find, this could be built for LESS than the 55 million estimate for fixing the roof on the pyramid.
I mocked up something similar to this using AI.
You could also build a new rectangular/square roof over the existing court (think of it as lopping off the top half of the pyramid) and supporting it with new anchored footings build outside the original footprint of the building (or perhaps even inside...I'm not an engineer).
If only someone would say what the plan is or even solicit feedback and ideas from experts...... sick of the Gold Mine as an alternative. It is unbecoming for a National Championship Volleyball team to have to play there.
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The Goldmine is flat out not acceptable. It's an embarrassment as its nothing more than a high school gym at best.
it would be nice if our interim President and/or Athletic Director would at least address the situation and what avenues they are possibly looking at.
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The CSULB recently retired President Jane failed with respect to all that is being discussed here. Also look at how she mishandled the mascot issue.
She kept deferring problems with the Pyramid to the future.
In many cases she let her favored student focus groups, chosen by her, make decisions.
She also made the decisions regarding the Student Union remodel. Another messy situation.
We currently have an interim President. Nothing will happen until we get a new President.
The bottom line is that the money is not there to fix the Pyramid anytime soon.
In addition the City of Long Beach does m not have revenue to repair or upgrade the Long Beach Arena.
We are stuck with the Goldmine.