CA renovations: first hand thoughts

In my first visit to the newly renovated Carnesecca Arena I do have to admit that I was slightly impressed. I think in all honesty that they did get their money’s worth for the six million they spent.

I had the pleasure of sitting in one of the 600 new chair back seats this evening for the women’s exhibition game. First and foremost, those seats are darn comfortable. For those who don’t know me, I am also a season ticket holder at Hofstra and I can say with complete  confidence that the brand new SJU chair back seats are superior! They really are comfortable.

My first impression was the parking lot which is still partly dug up and full of dirt and tractors, but that’s beside the point. Nothing happens quickly at SJU. Parking is still free, so be grateful for the little things they do for us!

My second impression was the new lobby, which is bright and clean. Not exactly sure what purpose this serves, but it does look good. Big wide open space, wish you could see the photos I took.

A side note here that I don’t remember the school mentioning that we were getting new bathrooms, but at my age and after two bottles of water I had reason to visit both men’s rooms and can report that they have been gutted and rebuilt nicely. Yes the automatic turn-on sinks don’t work perfect, but do they work right in your office???

As several people have noted before, the new floor looks great. Louie still has his name there in 6 foot high script. Personally I hate the extra three point line (for the women) and the lines from Volleyball, but I think the latter will be removed shortly.

The renovated concession area is truly a breath of fresh air. It’s wide open appearing, despite the narrow corridor afforded it. And if the food service people use their heads, they have room to have four cashiers taking our money while four servers gather our hotdogs, popcorn, and water. No, unfortunately they had not decided to serve beer, despite several letter from me suggesting it.

Speaking of letters, Chris Monasch was in attendance for maybe a third of the game and I am happy to report that he seems to have finally lost his orange skin tone. When I approached him and asked about it, he quickly and automatically replied “no comment!”

Norm and the men’s team also made an appearance and I will agree with whoever said Phil Wait was really tall. I shook his hand and I felt like I was his 13 year old brother, and I’m 6’2.” All the guys looked good and primed to start the season.

I tried to post the photos I took on a free hosting website, but having never done this before, I take no responsibility for the results! Here goes….

PS: the women won tonight 85-80 in what became a tight game late. Kelly was on fire in the first half with 4 threes (18 points at the break if memory serves me), Monique, Sky, CoCo and Joy were always right in the mix.

Mo finished with 23 points and 13 boards, Kelly with 23 points, going 5-9 from long distance. BooYa!

Keep an eye on freshmen Da’Shena Stevens and Britney Murphy as these two girls got game!
Stevens finished with 18 and 13!!!

Wow, the arena looks really good.  For what was really described as a "face lift," it looks really good and add that to the fact that there's more to be done next summer.

PS: the women won tonight 85-80 in what became a tight game late. Kelly was on fire in the first half with 4 threes (18 points at the break if memory serves me), Monique, Sky, CoCo and Joy were always right in the mix.

Mo finished with 23 points and 13 boards, Kelly with 23 points, going 5-9 from long distance. BooYa!

Keep an eye on freshmen Da’Shena Stevens and Britney Murphy as these two girls got game!
Stevens finished with 18 and 13!!!

Kelly is an awesome 3 point shooter.

CA does look pretty awesome I was impressed too.

Also lobby isn't done yet and does look very blah right now but really nice and clean none the less.

I'm a little disappointed in the behind the basket seating.

what would you have done differently...re behind the basket?

this looks first class.

thanks for the photos redstormhoopsfan. im sure the place would look better with more in attendance. love the "st.johns redZONE" section, unfortunately, not enough seats for the student section.

Much thanks fo the report and the pics, yo. Lobby look pretty fly. Gotta get myselves and some of my boys down there maybe in December.

thanks for the photos redstormhoopsfan. im sure the place would look better with more in attendance. love the "st.johns redZONE" section, unfortunately, not enough seats for the student section.

If we can pack those areas with students tightly, they can impact free throws. The shooter is going to be looking right into their faces.

And for what it's worth, come on out and support the women too. These ladies are working their butts off and get very little support from the "community."

Thanks for the detailed report redstormhoopsfan!  Place is looking pretty good.

Great job out of redstormhoopsfan!

Thanks for the report and pics.  Place looks good.

Quote from: NYCbuckeye on November 07, 2008, 09:07:15 AM

thanks for the photos redstormhoopsfan. im sure the place would look better with more in attendance. love the "st.johns redZONE" section, unfortunately, not enough seats for the student section.

If we can pack those areas with students tightly, they can impact free throws. The shooter is going to be looking right into their faces.

And for what it's worth, come on out and support the women too. These ladies are working their butts off and get very little support from the "community."

they should have a standing section as well, reduce the ridiculous prices...single game tix are 33/OOC and $38/conference play (for sec 9, the worst). that doesnt even include the $5 processing fee. your better off getting 20 guys together and buying a group tickets $15/pp.

what would you have done differently...re behind the basket?

this looks first class.

This is the student section and the space is completely limited. There is maybe 6 rows on each side. Also the front fence parts looks a bit high I don't know if that will impact visibility of the court

Quote from: newsman13 on November 07, 2008, 04:15:58 AM

what would you have done differently...re behind the basket?

this looks first class.

This is the student section and the space is completely limited. There is maybe 6 rows on each side. Also the front fence parts looks a bit high I don't know if that will impact visibility of the court

I was also wondering about the fence, I should have gone and sat there for a bit. As far as space, I count 135 seats at each end. While I never sat and counted, I don't remember seeing 270 students at CA recently. JMHO

Quote from: JJ on November 07, 2008, 11:22:56 AM

Quote from: newsman13 on November 07, 2008, 04:15:58 AM

what would you have done differently...re behind the basket?

this looks first class.

This is the student section and the space is completely limited. There is maybe 6 rows on each side. Also the front fence parts looks a bit high I don't know if that will impact visibility of the court

I was also wondering about the fence, I should have gone and sat there for a bit. As far as space, I count 135 seats at each end. While I never sat and counted, I don't remember seeing 270 students at CA recently. JMHO

You're absolutely right but thats something I want to change and when it does it would be a shame if they didn't have the capacity.