University of North Carolina Athletics
RAMblings - The Launch of The Blue Zone - Rams Club
RAMblings 10.22.09 - The Launch of The Blue Zone
by Lee Pace
The introduction of the premium seating area in the east end zone of Kenan Stadium and the launch of the newkenan.com website two weeks ago were met with interest and enthusiasm by Tar Heel fans near and far.
Fans flocking into Kenan Stadium on Oct. 3 for the Virginia game found a viewing chalet-the kind you might find around the 18th green at a PGA Tour event-installed just beyond the end line of the east end zone to provide a hands-on experience with what will one day be known as the Blue Zone. The website, featuring computer simulated flyovers of the expanded stadium and life-like tours of the proposing seating areas, had 50,000 hits within 24 hours, and the 20 Premium Suites had been leased within a week.
"We always strive to do things in a first-class manner and this campaign is no exception," says Rams Club President John Montgomery. "This facility will be state-of-the-art, and it will have a tremendous impact on all of our student-athletes."
The master plan for the expansion and renovation of Kenan Memorial Stadium, originally opened in 1927, comprises multiple phases. The first phase was completed this August and included adding a fifth floor to the Kenan Football Center on the west end and reconfiguring the existing office and meeting space on the second and fourth floors.
Now Phase II commences with two goals in mind: Meet the demand for premium seating in Kenan Stadium and replace the antiquated original field house on the east side. The Carolina Student-Athlete Center for Excellence will house academic support, an Olympic sport weight room, lacrosse and visiting football team locker rooms and additional athletic department office space.
Phase II, in effect, is not so much about football as it is providing some 800 Tar Heel athletes with quality space to train and study. The existing building has been cobbled together dozens of times over eight decades and is moldy, dusty, creaky and far too cramped.
"This project gives us an opportunity to significantly upgrade our student-athlete services and that is a great selling point," Montgomery says. "Superb academic services and leadership training are vitally important for our athletes, and those services resonate with our donors."
If the Rams Club's extensive market research plays out to form, the project will be a win-win for Carolina's football fans and its athletic program as a whole. Some 3,000 additional seats will sate the market's interest in premium seating, and the revenues from those leases will finance the new Student-Athlete Center.
"The Blue Zone offers our fans an option we have not seen in our stadium in 12 years," says Karlton Creech, The Rams Club's director of tickets and parking. "The Pope Box was wildly successful, and the demand has existed since then. We have had a pent-up demand for premium seats. That has been the driving force for the east end zone."
The Blue Zone will feature four new seating opportunities with price levels based on the amenity package. The common thread will be to offer an experience founded on proximity to the playing field and a variety of "creature comforts"-including buffet dining, beverages, private restrooms and plenty of televisions.
Carolina officials considered a variety of plans and ideas for the east end zone. One concept included a grass hill with the new building set behind it. Another idea was to construct a replica of the west end zone enclosure that opened for the 1997 season. But after studying what universities such as Texas, Clemson and Virginia Tech had done with successful end zone expansions in recent years, the Tar Heel hierarchy arrived at the current Blue Zone plan.
"We knew there might be some initial perception issues about end zone seats, so we said, 'Let's make these the best end zone seats we can create,'" Creech says. "I think we've done that. The seats are right on top of the field and they have great angles. Fans there will have a comfortable chair and a convenient place to go for food, beverages and restrooms, all housed within a climate-controlled area."
Today Kenan Stadium has one video board, and its positioning between the playing field and the original Kenan Field House restricts a good view to nearly 20 percent of the stadium's occupancy. Phase II includes the installation of two new video boards, one in each end zone. So fans in each end zone will have the luxury of seeing plays at the far end of the field on the video boards at that end of the stadium. The grade of the seating incline in the Blue Zone will be conducive to good views as well.
"The angles and slopes are more modern, more in tune to the way new stadiums are built," Creech notes. "The bowl of existing seats in Kenan Stadium was built in 1927 and the slope is very gradual-you're moving further away faster than you are moving up. The Blue Zone will have a steeper angle of seats, giving each row better sight lines than exist in the current bowl."