Indoor Facility

[mrydel]

OK engineers. Here is my thought. What if we just put retractable roof over part of Ford. I imagine something like an automobile convertible top that would cover from the north end zone out to about the 40 or 50 yard line. That would give cover from rain, shade from heat while still allowing for adjusting to the heat. Half or more of the field (south end) would be open for the defense to work in the rain if they wanted all the room for the offense. No coach I ever played for cared about rain on the defense. The cover could just "unfold" over the north half when needed and when closed could retract backwards into a holding case atteched to the north end of the outside of the stadium. It could be as simple as a tarp, or as complex as a hardtop. Thoughts?

[RednBlue11]

OK engineers. Here is my thought. What if we just put retractable roof over part of Ford. I imagine something like an automobile convertible top that would cover from the north end zone out to about the 40 or 50 yard line. That would give cover from rain, shade from heat while still allowing for adjusting to the heat. Half or more of the field (south end) would be open for the defense to work in the rain if they wanted all the room for the offense. No coach I ever played for cared about rain on the defense. The cover could just "unfold" over the north half when needed and when closed could retract backwards into a holding case atteched to the north end of the outside of the stadium. It could be as simple as a tarp, or as complex as a hardtop. Thoughts?

ever seen a tarp that is several thousand sq. yards?

[mrydel]

OK engineers. Here is my thought. What if we just put retractable roof over part of Ford. I imagine something like an automobile convertible top that would cover from the north end zone out to about the 40 or 50 yard line. That would give cover from rain, shade from heat while still allowing for adjusting to the heat. Half or more of the field (south end) would be open for the defense to work in the rain if they wanted all the room for the offense. No coach I ever played for cared about rain on the defense. The cover could just "unfold" over the north half when needed and when closed could retract backwards into a holding case atteched to the north end of the outside of the stadium. It could be as simple as a tarp, or as complex as a hardtop. Thoughts?

ever seen a tarp that is several thousand sq. yards?

Yes

[RednBlue11]

OK engineers. Here is my thought. What if we just put retractable roof over part of Ford. I imagine something like an automobile convertible top that would cover from the north end zone out to about the 40 or 50 yard line. That would give cover from rain, shade from heat while still allowing for adjusting to the heat. Half or more of the field (south end) would be open for the defense to work in the rain if they wanted all the room for the offense. No coach I ever played for cared about rain on the defense. The cover could just "unfold" over the north half when needed and when closed could retract backwards into a holding case atteched to the north end of the outside of the stadium. It could be as simple as a tarp, or as complex as a hardtop. Thoughts?

ever seen a tarp that is several thousand sq. yards?

Yes

where!?:shock:

[mrydel]

There are tarps that cover entire fb fields in bad weather. They may be in sections, but so could a cover. And I did not say it had to be a tarp. There are retractable roofs in many stadiums. I was just trying to suggest something for less dollars that could utilize the stadium we now have. Can it be done? I do not know. That is why I posed the question to the engineers on the site. It would seem to me that if a car can have a convertible top, hard or soft that the same principal could apply to a cover over a portion of the stadium. Just a thought. No successful person got that way standing still.

[abezontar]

There are tarps that cover entire fb fields in bad weather. They may be in sections, but so could a cover. And I did not say it had to be a tarp. There are retractable roofs in many stadiums. I was just trying to suggest something for less dollars that could utilize the stadium we now have. Can it be done? I do not know. That is why I posed the question to the engineers on the site. It would seem to me that if a car can have a convertible top, hard or soft that the same principal could apply to a cover over a portion of the stadium. Just a thought. No successful person got that way standing still.

Much like turning a standard car roof into a convertible roof, turning Ford into a domed stadium with a convertible rood wouldn't be cost effective. It could be done, provided you had enough money, retrofitting and space, but I think it would likely be cheaper to build a separate facility at another location.

[SMUer]

If this

Can happen in this

Then something similar can surely be made to contain this

Put a tent over Pettus and rename it Pettus/Morrison field. It wouldn't be the first time that SMU has had an "aerial circus" and some might say it would compliment what's being put in on the opposite end of campus. And symmetry is always nice.

[mrydel]

There are tarps that cover entire fb fields in bad weather. They may be in sections, but so could a cover. And I did not say it had to be a tarp. There are retractable roofs in many stadiums. I was just trying to suggest something for less dollars that could utilize the stadium we now have. Can it be done? I do not know. That is why I posed the question to the engineers on the site. It would seem to me that if a car can have a convertible top, hard or soft that the same principal could apply to a cover over a portion of the stadium. Just a thought. No successful person got that way standing still.

Much like turning a standard car roof into a convertible roof, turning Ford into a domed stadium with a convertible rood wouldn't be cost effective. It could be done, provided you had enough money, retrofitting and space, but I think it would likely be cheaper to build a separate facility at another location.

That could be very correct but let me change the analogy somewhat. Rathe than a convertible imagine an umbrella. It need not be air tight, just keep the rain off.

[couch 'em]

You might be able to construct such a thing, but it would probably look like [deleted] when not in use.

[abezontar]

There are tarps that cover entire fb fields in bad weather. They may be in sections, but so could a cover. And I did not say it had to be a tarp. There are retractable roofs in many stadiums. I was just trying to suggest something for less dollars that could utilize the stadium we now have. Can it be done? I do not know. That is why I posed the question to the engineers on the site. It would seem to me that if a car can have a convertible top, hard or soft that the same principal could apply to a cover over a portion of the stadium. Just a thought. No successful person got that way standing still.

Much like turning a standard car roof into a convertible roof, turning Ford into a domed stadium with a convertible rood wouldn't be cost effective. It could be done, provided you had enough money, retrofitting and space, but I think it would likely be cheaper to build a separate facility at another location.

That could be very correct but let me change the analogy somewhat. Rathe than a convertible imagine an umbrella. It need not be air tight, just keep the rain off.

I think you would still have to do some pretty extensive renovations. The problem is that nothing in Ford was designed to support anything beyond what it currently does. Therefore, you would have to go back into Ford and build in the support structure to support your umbrella. That is going to be costly. I am still going to fall on the side that it would be cheaper to build a new facility from scratch.