Sunday, September 13, 2009

Cameron gets facelift, seat reconfiguration

Duke has reconfigured the seating at Cameron Indoor Stadium and is giving the arena a facelift with a new press table and fresh paint on the seats in the upper part of the basketball arena.

The school announced the changes Sunday afternoon in a news release. The 5,649 seats in the upper arena have been painted blue, and the brass railings will be refurbished before the start of the 2009-10 season.

Duke’s graduate students now will be located in seats at both the north and south ends of Cameron, which is set to begin its 70th season as the Blue Devils’ home arena. The change was made to place some of Duke’s most energetic fans behind both baskets and give opponents a difficult shooting background in both halves.

Cameron’s total capacity of 9,314 won’t change. Undergraduate student seating will remain the same, and graduate student seating will increase slightly, according to team spokesman Matt Plizga.

Undergraduate students will remain in their traditional lower-arena courtside location behind the media. The new media table was designed to decrease crowding in the first row of the student section and to provide aisles for reporters to get to their seats so they don’t have to climb over the media table.

The new media table also will include 90 feet of LED technology for scoreboard material in the middle and advertising on both ends.

Duke also created premium seating for sponsors, donors, alumni and prominent guests located on padded blue seats directly behind the scorer’s table.

“The fresh new look of the building does not compromise any of the traditional aspects that have long made Cameron Indoor Stadium the pinnacle cathedral for college basketball within our country,” Duke athletic director Kevin White said in a statement released by the school. “Needless to say, given these upgrades, we are all extremely excited about the upcoming season."

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he loves the new look of the arena.

“Getting the graduate students behind both baskets, while keeping our undergraduate student section courtside, will create even more of a home court advantage for the team,” Krzyzewski said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have the best fan base in the country, so to be able to enhance the gameday atmosphere is very exciting.”

Ken Tysiac

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

You do not have the best fan base in the country. You have a few undergrads who put on a clever show now and again. Too bad they're all so freakishly ugly, like Cameron itself.

Anonymous said...

The name of the arena is HANSBROUGH INDOOR STADIUM. And the playing surface is DANNY GREEN COURT.

Anonymous said...

A. It is not the pinnacle cathedral of college basketball.
B. Duke does not have the best fan base in college basketball. I'm sure the readers the correct response to each of these statements.

Anonymous said...

I am sure the readers KNOW the correct response to both of these statements.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it needs a facelift after that "in your face" slam Danny Green gave to Paulus a couple of years ago. See if you can get that mojo back Mr. K.

Anonymous said...

Why does dook think painting 70-year-old seats amounts to a face lift? Furthermore, Ken, why do you slavishly report it that way?

Anonymous said...

Ken probably doesn't want to have his credentials revoked at Duke. Remember K once called the Duke student paper's staff in to chastise (read: cuss at) them for giving his team a B+ on a mid-season report card.

Anonymous said...

At least at Cameron, they don't have to pipe in fake fan applause through the loudspeakers like they do 8 miles down the road.

Anonymous said...

Did the "facelift" address the horrendous stench?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, guys...the wine and cheese snobs at the sleepy Dunleavy-Boozer-Williams Dome top those Cameron Crazies any day.