One current issue on the Virginia Tech campus is where the new football practice facility should be built. The Collegiate Times, the paper of Virginia Tech, has an article explaining the current problem. The article Opponents are determined to keep the ecosystem intact, raises up two different options of the location of the facility. The two possible locations are taken away the tennis courts and the roller rink on Washington Street or take down the trees behind Lane Stadium in order to build the facility. There have been several petitions formed for both sides. Either the woods or the tennis courts will be the location of the new facility. The football practice facility will definitely be built. Currently, the football team has trouble finding a place to practice when the weather is bad. They have to split time in the Rector Fieldhouse with the indoor track team. The new facility would allow the football team to be able to practice in the team’s personal facility during bad weather. Other benefits of the facility are the ability for other sports teams, like soccer, to use the facility as well. The facility is going to be built, but where?
Where do you think that the facility should be built? Should they tear down the trees behind Lane Stadium? Or should they build over the tennis courts and the roller rink on Washington Street? What location would you rather see be used for the facility? Do you even think it is necessary for the football team to get a new facility?
I understand the need for an indoor practice facility for Virginia Tech, but it seems like a lot of money just to have a facility just for practice. I guess if many sports use the facility it will end up being worth it. But if I was to choose a location to put it. I would say, tear down the tennis courts and roller rink on Washington street. There are more tennis courts across campus and other places to play tennis around campus. Tearing down trees would ruin the atmosphere in Blacksburg. I personally choose Virginia Tech because of its beautiful outdoors, and for the school to tear down the trees would be horrible. Also, Virginia Tech needs to monitor the tennis courts to see how much they are actually used. So if it is torn down, no one will get mad.
ReplyDeleteThis year I am in a class called plants and green spaces in urban communities; and we addressed the issue of the practice facility for the football team. I personally do not think that it is necessary for the football team to have a practice facility. I think that Virginia tech should spend the money on something more useful, even new elevators in dorms or another gym open to everyone; both of which I believe to be more important than a practice facility. Especially for for one sports team, and as they state soccer too but I think that they are just using that to justify building this practice field. Since I must choose though, I do believe that they should build where the tennis courts are on Washington street because the trees behind the stadium are some of the oldest standing trees on campus. To tear these trees down would destroy the history there, some of those trees have been there for 100's of years. It may just seem like a small plot of trees but it is more than that. Those trees represent the atmosphere at Tech; I cam to Virginia Tech to not be surrounded by concrete like Katie was saying. The tennis courts are sort of just there, those trees on the other hand have life to them.
ReplyDeleteI will admit, I am slightly biased in this argument because I will be living behind the stadium next year and personally I would rather look at the trees than a new practice facility. I too do not think it is a necessity for the football team to get a new facility. They are only allotted a certain number of hours of off season practice anyways so incases of inclement weather go hit the weight room or watch old film if they can’t find space in the indoor track facility.
DeleteHowever if the football program wants a new facility, it’s there money go for it. Even if they didn’t build it, that money would not be spent on the dorms or other campus buildings because it isn’t tuition money being spent on the facility. The money that funds the sports program is raised by the sports programs. With that being said, if they do choose to build the facility, I am strongly against them tearing down the trees. Some of those trees are the oldest trees in Blacksburg. In addition, their are signs along the path that indicate special bird species present in the woods. So if they have to tear something down, I would recommend the tennis courts. Although those to are used by many students on campus. I suggest finding land a bit further from campus maybe even in Christiansburg. If the facility was just to serve for inclement weather than the team could travel out to the facility when they need to.
I must warn the reader that I am completely biased on this particular issue. If the practice fields are going to be built 100% I say chop those trees. I have had too many great tennis matches on those courts, and to think about a sophomore year without anymore of these is not an option. Virginia Tech do your worst, let those trees hear your chainsaws. Oh, but do make sure you compensate for the loss and plant a few trees elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteIf many sports teams could use the facility then it would definitely be worth it to have built. Blacksburg weather is constantly changing and the number of sunny days vs. rainy days seems like its one to one. Since, everyone loves to watch the hokies win in lane stadium on Saturdays we want our team to always be able to practice. I think it would be a much better idea to put it behind lane in the trees, because the tennis courts and roller rink are very popular with very tech students. The tennis courts are very close to most of student housing so if they were removed the nearest tennis courts would be past lane and much further away from all the dorms. So, the only reasonable choice would be behind lane in the trees. The football team makes so much money every year that paying for the facility would not be that big of a deal. So, the only reason not to build it would be that they would have to cut down a lot of trees in order to make space for the facility.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the Football team need a new practice facility is my question. First off we have one of the top football teams in the country not, because we have a nice, shiny, new facility to show off, but because we are a historic football program. People, who play football, come from all over the country to play for the VT football squad. So in my mind they should keep the beauty of Blacksburg and the Tennis courts and spend the money on something that needs it more. In my opinion the money should be spent on Cassell if anyone has ever been to Cassell they know that the chairs are tight and can barely fit people of my size.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a very great decision to build a practice facility for our football team. Our football team is very popular, and if we continue to improve the talent behind the football team, we will attract even more fans and attention to our program. I think the practice facility should be built behind lane stadium. This is because many students enjoy and use the tennis courts on a daily basis, and it is not fair to them to take it down. The tennis courts are conveniently located close to the dorms, and many students enjoy using them on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteI think the new facility should be built where the trees are currently located. I feel that the tennis court and rink are well used. I live in Lee and I always see some students over there practicing so getting rid of this facility would be a great disservice to some. While some might argue that the fact the trees are being used by animals, I feel as though there is plenty of surrounding nature for these animals to migrate too. If a rare or endangered species was found t o live in these trees it would make more sense to preserve this space but as it is now I think building the new facility there would be more beneficial for our student population. I don’t really know about the actual practicing conditions of our football team so I can’t really deem if its necessary or not for them to get a new facility. However, they do generate a lot of revenue for our school and as such if they are suffering because they don’t have adequate accommodations I think its justified to create them a new training facility.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that the facility should be built behind Lane Stadium because it would be an expansion to the campus rather than destroying one part to build another. I have heard that the University plans to expand the campus in the future and this would make a great starting project. Also the traffic situation must also be taken into consideration. Washington Street is already very congested as it is and if another major athletic facility was placed there it would only create another problem for the University to resolve. I believe that the practice facility should be placed behind Lane because it is closer to the actual football stadium and would seem to fit better in that general area.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm understanding this correctly, another facility is being built for the football team to practice. I don't know if it's just me, but I think having a football field to practice on is good enough, despite adverse weather conditions. Maybe if they wanted to build a weight room just for the football team to use, but even that I dont think it's a complete necessity.
ReplyDeleteBut if it is going to be built, I do agree that it should be built behind lane stadium so it's easier for football players to go from the stadium to this new facility. I'm not a big tree lover and trees are being cut down to make way for new buildings all the time so I don't see the big deal in that to be honest.
Honestly, I don't think the football team needs another place to practice. I think they should just practice in the "bad" weather and put up with it. They're going to have bad weather in some games so shouldn't they be used to it? The football team already gets a lot of things from this school. Another facility dedicated for them isn't needed. But if they're getting a new place I would say it should be built behind lane stadium. That way the tennis courts can stay and trees will be the only thing that suffer.
ReplyDeleteI think that they will put it behind Lane. If they tear down the tennis courts and rink then they will have to replace them somewhere else especially the rink since that is the VT Roller hockey’s rink. It would be more economical to tear down the trees and levelt the ground than to demolish and then rebuild. Personally I understand why they are putting in the facility but I don’t think it is 100% to accommodate for inclement weather. I think it is to help with recruiting. As a D1 program competing with schools like Texas and USC we have to have something that puts us over the top in the recruits mind. Now we can say we are building a new indoor facility for football.
ReplyDeleteWe're already amazing at football, so it's obviously not hindering us very much. I don't really like either of the locations for the practice facility. I don't want them to tear down trees, and I don't want them to replace the tennis courts and roller rink. The football team should just tough it out and keep doing what they've been doing.
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ReplyDeleteI think they should build this practice facility behind Lane Stadium, because the tennis courts and the roller rink are used all the time by students. I play tennis a lot, so I have used those courts multiple times and they are just conveniently close on campus. I read a petition a few days ago about this issue and it talked about how the roller rink was just built in 2011 for a second time. The school had promised the roller hockey club, a new rink would be built when it was torn down the first time, but it never happened. The rink was built with money the club raised, so I wouldn’t trust the school saying they would build another rink somewhere else for the third time. Yes, it would be nice for the football team to have a practice facility for rainy or cold days, but it isn’t a necessity at all. I feel the money being used could be used for something else, like re-furnishing dorms or classrooms. Our football team has been doing just fine with sharing the space, and we have a strong team anyway so why create all these new issues when it is completely unnecessary
ReplyDeleteI also agree that they should practice behind lane stadium, but the fact of having an indoor stadium just for one team to practice seems like misuse of limited resources that the department has. There will be times when the official games wont be moved into an indoor stadium because the conditions get a little rough. In the case that this was to be a multi-purpose facility, then perhaps it would be a feasible investment
ReplyDeleteI think that the football practice arena should be built, because the team has valid reasoning for its creation. Football at Tech is the heart and soul of the Hokies spirit and pride. Without football this school just simply would not be the same. By creating better facilities we would not only be helping the football team, but we would also be helping the community on a whole. With better facilities and programs comes better recruits, and in return the school gets a football team that wins national titles. As for where the facility should be built, I believe that it should be placed behind lane stadium where the little bit of trees are. By placing the facility behind the stadium, it would allow the football program to remain in one collected area for them to practice. This would benefit the team because all of their facilities would be in one general location which allows for ease of movement between the areas. Also if they build the new arena over the tennis courts and the roller hockey rink, the select few at the University that use those facilities will either have to relocate to other areas on campus, or they will potentially cease to exist. Therefore to provide fair opportunity to all Hokies, the indoor football practice facility should be built behind lane stadium.
ReplyDeleteI do think they should build a new facility. Not only would it benefit the football team, but it would also benefit other teams that could use it and there wouldn't be scheduling conflicts. I think they should build it in the woods. If they take away the tennis courts, they won't just take a few of them. It would be all of them. The courts are open to the general public and I see them busy with people every day.
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