Rice Stadium

Starting with recent renovations, July 2006...

A very large Zen garden. 12" off the top center and 6" added to the edges. The step up and down from the field will be a lot easier. A water main under the R-Room leaked again. This is part of the repair. The broken water main washed away this corner of the stands, next to the tunnel R-Room, seat removal, turf change and water main repair. The old endzone turf. Tough to find someone else that wants that shade of blue. Rolls of the new turf waiting to unfurl in the sun. The men's rooms on the concourse are being renovated as well. NW gate roof off to allow big drill truck entrance - for scoreboard footings. That's where the MOB sits (or sat - we'll see). Possible new MOB flydown path from the corner of the second deck over no seats. New aluminum benches ready for installation. The north endzone Slinky track. The view south, from the big flagpole to the R-Room Stadium panorama from the southeast corner of the concourse. SE corner panorama with partial turf SE corner 360 panorama during practice on 8.11.06 Double click to open If this was Kyle Field, someone would be shouting "Green side up!" stretching stretching the latest piece stretching... flattening with the "steam" roller stretch and flatten this one is pau starting the next five yards IMG_7925 - IMG_7926 IMG_7927 IMG_7928 IMG_7929 IMG_7930 IMG_7931 IMG_7932 IMG_7933 IMG_7934 IMG_7935 IMG_7936 The crew is using a pneumatic stitching machine to sew the pieces together Sewing detail - maintaining alignment and sewing. Here's the rebar for the columns that will hold up the new scoreboard Ready to go into a six foot diameter hole. Panorama looking north from under the R-Room Panorama looking north from under the R-Room during practice Here's the panoramic view from the top corner of the west upper deck. Four footings for columns are poured in the north end. The jig used to align the anchor bolts Anchor bolts - approximately 2.25" in diameter in a 6' hole The old turf versus the new. The goalposts get a touch-up Gold border on the lettering Men's room stall plumbing Men's room sink plumbing Men's room central plumbing. (blurry - sorry) Men's room elevation Men's room plan Duke Sparks checks out the work Logo sewing Logo sewing detail Closeup of sewing in the owl logo The view south. Wide-angle view south Detail of the yellow border on the "I". Unsewn south end. Wide-angle view from the SE corner. West Wide-angle view west Stadium drain Trying out the old tarps. SE gate, lay-down area with stacks of Al bleachers View of downtown from the top with a 20mm lens View of downtown from the top with a 500mm lens Rice Owls Football We Will Win grahamfootball.com FieldTurf with the rubber and sand added. Line practice on the new field Meet the Owls crowd 1 Meet the Owls crowd 2 Stadium Panorama South Stadium Panorama West with Turf Found on the NE corner, top row. Anyone know this person? JD Morrison 6-15-50 New helmet design - sorry about the blur, I moved the camera. MeetTheOwls.023 MeetTheOwls.024 MeetTheOwls.026 MeetTheOwls.027 MeetTheOwls.029 MeetTheOwls.030 MeetTheOwls.031 MeetTheOwls.033 Old north scoreboard is gone. New turf has an interesting pattern after a heavy rain. New stripes on the stadium wall. Closeup of new stripes on stadium wall. Scoreboard pillars go up Three pillars in place Field view of the new striped wall Stripers caught in the act IMG_8599 IMG_8602 IMG_8613 Lining it up IMG_8616 Over the bolts IMG_8622 Baseplate IMG_8623 Something for scale IMG_8624 The bolt to pick it up has to go through somewhere... IMG_8687 One of my souvenirs IMG_8626 The crated scoreboard IMG_8629 See if you can read the weights IMG_8631 A Daktronics display IMG_8633 How big? IMG_8634 Something for scale IMG_8638 IMG_8642 IMG_8647 IMG_8651 IMG_8652 IMG_8653 IMG_8654 IMG_8655 IMG_8656 IMG_8657 IMG_8658 IMG_8659 IMG_8660 IMG_8661 IMG_8662 IMG_8663 IMG_8664 IMG_8665 IMG_8666 IMG_8667 IMG_8671 IMG_8674 That's a 3.125" wrench. Bolts are 84" long and weigh 75 pounds each IMG_8677 The view of the north end of the stadium from the parking lot outside. IMG_8691 First coat of paint on the second deck. Scoreboard pillars in the foreground, new bleachers going in in the background Tying the pillars together. Top-left-center puzzle piece of the new scoreboard The MOB is very happy to see these. And will be even happier to hear them - part of the new sound system. NW concourse women's room renovations. NW concourse men's room renovations moving along An "Allstate" ad on the tarp over the tunnel. You're in good hands. Unloading the next truckload of scoreboard crates. The south endzone. display segments going in tighter view of scoreboard installation One section to go of the video screen. Family visit Video section size - this IS the full-motion video screen resolution. The owl logo stuffed inside the center-top-right segment that says "OWLS" Lifting another segment of the display The view south - what's that blue stuff in the tunnel? More later... Owl logo P.A. speaker detail Second deck drain replacement Metal drain pipes were replaced with PVC. Ahhh - this is why there drips after the recent rain - it's not finished. After packing the area with foam, some quick-setting stuff seals the gaps. The old-style drain, into the steel pipe in the column and the new drains. Old endzone turf is now in the tunnel for cleat traction. View from south goalpost. The top is on. Work continues on the sides of the scoreboard. The endzone tarps are stretched out. The NE gate gets a touch-up. Bleacher installation continues. The NW corner bleachers are complete. Party tents are ready. The bolts are now cut short and the nuts welded in place after torqueing. New south scoreboard lights are in. New lettering over the tunnel. New lettering on the face of the press box. West side: lots of work going on. Long view north Medium view north Close view north Progress, and some safety gear, if not hardhats. Some of the conduit for the control and power lines. The owl logo awaits installation. The last segment of "score" to be installed Progress at 6:30pm on Thursday. Duke Sparks talks to The MOB Show Assistants Through the windows you can see that the back wall of the PB is lettered. ...and featuring Eugene Levy in the roll of Sammy the Owl... They might try this expression for the new Sammy. Pep rally! TG fires up the students. The t-shirt all good War Owls will wear to the game. Lots of new stuff in the endzone. The tunnel-bone's connected to the helmet-bone. Straight out of the helmet... ...and face mask, into the spirit lines... Firing it up. It's supposed to stay "on" from now until game time. Progress at 8:38am game day. 8:40am - tightening up the bleachers in the SE corner. It's going to be a five camera setup. 10:12am 10:18am - lifting the owl logo 10:19am 10:21am The POV changes as MOB rehearsal moves me 10:23am The sign on the right is installed. 10:29am 10:29am 10:30am 10:48am Owl logo in place. 11:08am compare with 8:38 above. Look thru the windows - the double-helix is on the back wall above "RICE". The final hour before the game. What the scoreboard looked like. The east stands, about three minutes before the half. The rest of the east stands, showing those seated on concrete (by choice!) An oblique POV on the west stands just before the half. Closeup of the student section just before the half. Q. Smith crosses the plane of the goal. Tiny Canon Elph not made for this... The view south from The MOB's seats. The crowd on the concrete. The west stands at the end of the third quarter. Libra and the Little Squiggle constellation on the old board. Asphalt around the pillar to keep people from falling in the hole. The back, showing the ladders and catwalks. The frames are on the big ads and a detail unnoticed on "Bud Light" I'm sure that everyone will read these words. Another odd improvement, seen in the next closeup. The ticket staff wants to see the game too The big sand-box 24 January, 2008 Rice Stadium - home of Rice Foot East concourse water main work SE concourse water main work More water main work - looking at the East stands Water main work under the R-Room. The new logo (blurry - sorry - it was pretty dark) North endzone tarps - note the spacing on the shield on the right. Larger view of the North endzone tarps. South endzone tarps - note shield spacing and narrow tarp-free area. Detail of the tarp attachment on the Sound end. Crude, not-quite-aligned pair of maps showing Harris Gully under modern Rice 8/28 - This just caught my eye 8/28 - Tunnel entrance 8/28 - the view from the south end zone 8/28 - touching up the big scoreboard 8/28 - adding a banner to the R-Room 8/28 - a major donor helps deal with the old video board 8/29 - west side crowd during the first quarter 8/29 - east side crowd just before halftime 8/29 - post-game 8/29 - the Mayor's Cup planned growth Strengthening connections between Rice and TMC Main Campus Growth Main Campus open space