Detroit Venue for Championship 2018

[Hallry]

After seeing this thread, I figured we could start some discussion about the Detroit venue hosting World Championship North starting in 2018.

According to the official FIRST announcement, CMP-N will be held in the Cobo Center along the Detroit River as well as in Ford Field, which will be used for Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The two seem to be a little over a mile and a half walk (~30 minutes) from one another, but there is a people mover with a station at the Cobo Center that can get people closer to Ford Field.

Based on that info, it sounds like all of FLL Jr., FLL, FTC, and FRC (including the fields) will be in the Cobo Center, which just finished up a $279 million 5-year renovation. Included in this was the complete remodeling of the former 12,000 seat Cobo Arena. Here's an animated tour of the renovation, here are some photos, and here are floor plans. Perhaps they'll work it out for that FLL Jr. - FTC will be in the Level 1 Exhibit Halls, with FRC being on Level 2?

Here is a photo of Ford Field, which should have ample space for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Due to the distance between the two venues, I would guess that Einstein would be held in the Cobo Center (Possibly in the Grand Riverview Ballroom?)? I couldn't imagine FIRST trying to move the teams and their equipment up to Ford Field (though I've been wrong before). I would also assume that we're going back to bleacher seating for the fields as well?

For comparison, here are floor plans of the Edward Jones Dome and the America's Center in St. Louis.

[Arhowk]

Jamming 400 teams into the People Mover will be one fun adventure . I'd bet a lot of teams will elect not to attend opening or closing ceremonies (or Einstein if this prediction is correct) for this reason.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Arhowk

400 teams

Don't forget about FLL Jr., FLL, and FTC.

[Basel A]

Bleacher or any kind of temporary seating for Einstein would be a disaster. Einstein in Ford Field should be a certainty.

[Mastonevich]

30 Minutes for 1.5 miles seems excessive, none the less for those less fortunate it may be to far to traverse. I suspect they will have a solution of some sort.

[AndrewPospeshil]

Originally Posted by Arhowk

Jamming 400 teams into the People Mover will be one fun adventure . I'd bet a lot of teams will elect not to attend opening or closing ceremonies (or Einstein if this prediction is correct) for this reason.

Yeah, this bums me out. The last couple years have had less than stellar attendance at Closing ceremonies (relatively speaking, at least) because of how late they go and the fact that there's no more matches after them. I feel like this is a bit of a disservice to the winners of the Chairman's, Inspire, and Champion's Awards. This was in a venue where the pits and stands were all within the same building. Now that the two venues are over a mile apart, I doubt we'll have much better attendance at Closing or even Opening ceremonies for CMPN (is that what we're calling it now?).

I'm also sad about the potential seating situation in Cobo - I don't think the venue has any option to accommodate 400* teams' worth of seating for matches with the exception of using big risers. This isn't really something that can be remedied, however, so I'm gonna try to not get worked up over it.

*plus Jr. FLL-FTC teams

Originally Posted by Basel A

Bleacher or any kind of temporary seating for Einstein would be a disaster. Einstein in Ford Field should be a certainty.

God I hope so. Transporting 16/32 teams worth of pits and robots is worth it in my opinion, especially if any sort of attendance at Ceremonies is a priority.

[Arhowk]

Originally Posted by AndrewPospeshil

Yeah, this bums me out. The last couple years have had less than stellar attendance at Closing ceremonies (relatively speaking, at least) because of how late they go and the fact that there's no more matches after them. I feel like this is a bit of a disservice to the winners of the Chairman's, Inspire, and Champion's Awards. This was in a venue where the pits and stands were all within the same building. Now that the two venues are over a mile apart, I doubt we'll have much better attendance at Closing or even Opening ceremonies for CMPN (is that what we're calling it now?).



*plus Jr. FLL-FTC teams

Agreed. I'd love to see the Chairman's award winners and what not but the team (myself included) would rather get to the hotel early, eat some dinner, go swimming, etc. than wait through an hour delay until there's some silly presentations than watching the video at 9:30pm than getting back to the hotel at 10:30

On a side note, 1678 (or one of their mentors) seems to be calling it FSRN (FIRST Super Regional North). The FS part of this confuses me because I'm a baseball person and FS# is usually Fox Sports, but I do agree that it isnt a true "CMP".

[Roboshant]

I think I have a somewhat unique perspective on this as I was a participant in the Shell Eco-Marathon held in Detroit this year.

Shell set up 125 pits on the eastern third of hall B and C. Note these pits are 10*20, so it is similar to setting up 250 FRC pits.

Hall A is by far the largest hall, and is where Shell set up the practice track. The competition track was right outside Cobo. The queues for both these tracks (+inspection) significantly congested the area. Assuming that FIRST uses hall A for 4 FRC fields, if ample space is not given, there could be significant congestion considering there is 3 times the amount of teams as SEM.

Besides that, there should be enough space for FLL and FTC within the main halls. The basement also provides for a large amount of space, which could be used by sponsors and college set ups.

Teams will also not be able to enjoy as much travelling freedom as they have in St. Louis. Many of the areas directly outside the vicinity of Cobo, Renaissance center, and Ford Field are not the most built up. I think this will result in many teams concentrating themselves around these areas for Food, resulting in huge lines at restaurants. Expect the food court in Cobo and Renaissance to be 100% packed. Although most of the locations outside this general area are safe, I think that many, especially non-Michigan teams, may not feel safe outside this general zone. This problem was not encountered during the Shell Eco-Marathon, as Shell pays for all meals for students/mentors in the Cobo food court, so I can't be 100% sure about this.

(sorry for any grammar mistakes, just thought I would share some of my experiences)

[Tom Line]

FIRST - please please please please get some DECENT STADIUM SEATING for the FRC fields. These days are incredibly long, and a lot of people simply can't handle sitting on bleachers for 14+ hours - especially our parents, and grandparents who come to cheer the teams on.

Real seating:
http://www.seatingsolutions.com/wp-c...lipup-gal5.jpg

Fake seating:
http://www.seatingsolutions.com/wp-c...bench-gal1.jpg

[vhcook]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

FIRST - please please please please get some DECENT STADIUM SEATING for the FRC fields. These days are incredibly long, and a lot of people simply can't handle sitting on bleachers for 14+ hours - especially our parents, and grandparents who come to cheer the teams on.

Real seating:
http://www.seatingsolutions.com/wp-c...lipup-gal5.jpg

Fake seating:
http://www.seatingsolutions.com/wp-c...bench-gal1.jpg

Seconded. Back support is critical.

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by Hallry

According to the official FIRST announcement, CMP-N will be held in the Cobo Center along the Detroit River as well as in Ford Field, which will be used for Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The two seem to be a little over a mile and a half walk (~30 minutes) from one another, but there is a people mover with a station at the Cobo Center that can get people closer to Ford Field.

Due to the distance between the two venues, I would guess that Einstein would be held in the Cobo Center (Possibly in the Grand Riverview Ballroom?)? I couldn't imagine FIRST trying to move the teams and their equipment up to Ford Field (though I've been wrong before). I would also assume that we're going back to bleacher seating for the fields as well?

Hopefully the M1 lightrail is completed by this time which should be able to get people close to ford field very quickly.

I've heard rumors about FIRST transporting robots and pit stuff to ford field for the division winners.

Also anyone who has ever been to NAIAS (North American International Auto Show) would see that the venue is more than big enough with two levels.

As said earlier, food will be the biggest issues.