Location Suggestion for 2010 Championship

[Michelle Celio]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

Amen to that. From the point of a coach who arranges the trip and needs to occupy and account for the students in the off hours Disney was the ideal "family" location. I know of NUMEROUS other coaches who agree with this. Is anybody listening?

WC

Being from the Greater Orlando Area, I can try to put a perspective on this.

There are two venues in the state of Florida, in the Orlando area, that could possibly be able to house the Championship.

There is one venue in the Kissimmee, The Silver Spurs Arena, that would be perfect, it would have less of a walk from the pits to the fields but we run into a lack of hotels for the teams in that area. However, as previously mentioned in the thread, when the consideration about hosting it in TX came up, we run into the same problem. Which is the lack of hotels. But, in the Kissimme and Orlando area, there is the Linx Bus System that is fairly inexpensive, and they do have 1-week passes available, the only thing is that they aren't heavily reliable and possibly could not handel the amount of traffic produced by the Championship.

Again, as mentioned earlier in the thread is the Orange County Convention Center. This place is HUGE. I High School, we went on a tour of just part of it, but I have not been able to see the entire place. There is defiantly enough room for the pits, and whatever FIRST wants to do that is convention style but I'm not exactly sure if they have a "stadium" of sorts where the field and spectators could easily view the matches. But, according to google maps, if you search "Orange County Convention Center" and "Hotels" and narrow it down to a "1 mile" radius, it says there are 717 hotels. That number seems a bit outrageous to me but the Orlando area is heavily populated with hotels.

Now, as for "Family Location". Have we looked at Disney Prices lately? They are not exactly family friendly. A base ticket, with expiration costs 79.88 for a one day ticket, and does not include park hopping. I'm sure they offer some sort of deal for large groups, but it probably won't be that much lower.


But hey, there is always the 2009 Florida Regional - and Disney is giving a free ticket to everyone in 2009, as long as it is your birthday.

[M. Mellott]

I know in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Convention Center was part of the RCA dome. Plenty of hotels were directly connected to the building, and the CC could handle the pits easily (hey, it handled 2 world-wide Star Wars conventions without a problem).

However, now that the Colts have moved to their new stadium next door, I don't know if the new stadium has a similar setup, or what the plan is for the CC at the old RCA dome. Anyone from IN know?

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by M. Mellott

I know in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Convention Center was part of the RCA dome. Plenty of hotels were directly connected to the building, and the CC could handle the pits easily (hey, it handled 2 world-wide Star Wars conventions without a problem).

However, now that the Colts have moved to their new stadium next door, I don't know if the new stadium has a similar setup, or what the plan is for the CC at the old RCA dome. Anyone from IN know?

RCA Dome is being torn down right now and will be replaced by more convention space that will be connected to LOS. Lucas Oil Stadium is much bigger than The Georgia Dome and could almost host the whole thing without the connected convention center.

There are lots of downtown hotels (with more being constructed) within easy walking distance, much closer than in ATL.

After party could be in Military park, big Friday social could be at the Indy Zoo.

Brand new airport terminal served by all major airlines, even some that Atlanta doesn't get (for Southwest lovers like me.) That means constantly cheep flights. In fact many people drive from Cincy to Indy to get the cheaper fairs.

The only thing that Indy is lacking is public transportation from the airport to downtown but that could be overcome.

[The Lucas]

Since this discussion is starting up again, I feel the need to summarize what I gathered from the last one

In order to hold championship in city we need:

• A Domed Football Stadium
• A Convention Center next to the stadium

With almost no exceptions to this criteria

And we figured there are only 3 cities met this criteria

1. Atlanta
2. Indy
3. St Louis

Are there any other cities we can think of to add to this list?

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by The Lucas

Since this discussion is starting up again, I feel the need to summarize what I gathered from the last one

In order to hold championship in city we need:

• A Domed Football Stadium
• A Convention Center next to the stadium

With almost no exceptions to this criteria

And we figured there are only 3 cities met this criteria

1. Atlanta
2. Indy
3. St Louis

Are there any other cities we can think of to add to this list?

Those three cities have venues that meet the criteria that has been discussed in CD for a few years. I personally prefer St. Louis because it is geographically more central than Atlanta.

The relatively new (opened fall 2006) University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ is the only domed football stadium in the West. It has enough internal space for pits (no need for convention center adjacent to stadium). There are a few motels within a mile away, with more likely to be built in the next couple of years. Yet, I don't think Arizona is a realistic venue. It's too far away for the eastern teams and FIRST definitely has deep roots in the east. (We west coast teams just love the three-hour time difference and five-hour flights endured for the Championship in Atlanta).

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

... I personally prefer St. Louis because ...

Reality Right Now:
The St. Louis Regional has a new venue for 2009. It is located in the city of St. Louis on the campus of St. Louis University.

Dream For The Future:
A FIRST Championship event in St. Louis would be cool. There are a bunch of hotels and restaurants, the City Museum, the Cardinals, the Arch, and several other entertainment options all within an easy walk of the Dome/Convention center.

[BPetry234]

Originally Posted by M. Mellott

I know in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Convention Center was part of the RCA dome. Plenty of hotels were directly connected to the building, and the CC could handle the pits easily (hey, it handled 2 world-wide Star Wars conventions without a problem).

However, now that the Colts have moved to their new stadium next door, I don't know if the new stadium has a similar setup, or what the plan is for the CC at the old RCA dome. Anyone from IN know?

As far as the CC, they are actually expanding it. We have car shows, Star Wars conventions (like you said), and the Indianapolis 500, which is no joke. The Super Bowl is also being held there in I think 2012. Indianapolis has the infrastructure, the space, and the know how to run such a large event as the FIRST championship. It is also fairly centrally located (Crossroads of America) so it would be easy to get to for almost every team other then those who have to fly. And for those folks, we just put in a new airport.

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by Michelle Celio

atches. But, according to google maps, if you search "Orange County Convention Center" and "Hotels" and narrow it down to a "1 mile" radius, it says there are 717 hotels. That number seems a bit outrageous to me but the Orlando area is heavily populated with hotels.

The Reason I mentioned the Convention center was mainly because of the number of living arrangements. There is also a great entertainment area as I believe International Dr. also is close by and it is pretty great as far as fun goes.

I'm not sure either about an stadium. It would be interesting to see what happens.

[DarkFlame145]

maybe the Sun Dome in Tampa? Or what about the Super Dome in New Orleans, I'm sure they would love the tourism to help rebuild. I went to NO last summer and it was very nice (as long as you kept out of the areas that where hardest hit by Katrina). Sure NO isn't the most HS student friendly city. But it's a pretty city (again as long as you kept away from the hard hit areas, I accidentally drove into the lower 9th and it was really bad).

But also I think that somewhere in Cali would be nice, like MacAfee Stadium (go RAIDERS). Since they always have to come to the east coast.

[DarkFlame145]

OR the Tundra up in Green Bay, might be a little cold, but if we ever had an ice game it would be perfect =P

[suj]

the rogers center or ontario science centers in toronto would be nice oh wait how about direct energy center it's huge

[xAlLKnoWingOnex]

that sounds amazing

[Big Ben]

2010 championships should be held in indianapolis
there is room with the new lucas oil staduim and the pits can be right next to in the convention center

[Sarah H]

Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa...are they thinking bout changing nationals. noooo im graduating this year...Im goina be SO jealous if you get it back in disney, that would be so sweet! but not fair

[JaneYoung]

I don't know about the future and won't know about the future until the information is made available. What I do know about is a moment that I will never forget. It occurred Saturday night after all the competitions were finished, the medals and trophies had been awarded, the crowds had dispersed, and most of the action had moved to the Finale. I had returned with my friend, Sarah Plemmons, (who was the fantastic Volunteer Coordinator for the Galileo pits) to retrieve her car. We were walking to the elevator to take us down to the garage where it was parked. Where we were walking was across the grass near where the big FIRST banner had hung for a few days and where colorful groups of people had thrown frizbees, played, walked, talked, and laughed. But Saturday night after all was said and done, it was still. Quiet. Beautiful. I stood there for a few minutes and inhaled the fresh cool air and the moment of stillness and I told Sarah that I understand the FIRSTers who remember Disney with fondness and a desire to return. If the Championship were to move from Atlanta, I would have that same sadness, happy fondness, and the desire to return to the wonder that is the Championship in Atlanta. I'm very glad I had that quiet moment with no one around but Sarah. She didn't even attempt one OINK OINK BOOM - I think she was too tired.