COMPLETE: Dunkin' Donuts Center renovations

[Dan]

The seats are to narrow. The arm rest grab your pockets as you sit down.

Ever been to Fenway Park?

[Lone Ranger]

smaller seats means more seats... weren't you complaining that there aren't enough seats?

Ever heard the phrase "wants to have his cake and eat it too?"

[Cotuit]

I still have photos in my camera, they're nice. Maybe someday I'll have a chance to download and post them.

[dgreco]

Besides the seats being small and seeing a few of the pictures from the outside facade; how does the interior look overall? Are the concessions drastically changed? I have been out of the state for a few months now and haven't heard much about it, except reports on here and was just wondering the progress.

[Cotuit]

11:13pm on a Friday night, still at work. Someday, someday I'll get those photos out of my camera.

[mental757]

PROJO: "The extensive renovation of The Dunk has yet to produce the revenue that was expected"

http://www.projo.com/business/content/BZ_R...72.3a181a7.html

[runawayjim]

PROJO: "The extensive renovation of The Dunk has yet to produce the revenue that was expected"

http://www.projo.com/business/content/BZ_R...72.3a181a7.html

Not surprising considering they finished it right before the economy tanked.

[09/21/38]

Besides the seats being small and seeing a few of the pictures from the outside facade; how does the interior look overall? Are the concessions drastically changed? I have been out of the state for a few months now and haven't heard much about it, except reports on here and was just wondering the progress.

The interior of the new Dunk looks great. The concessions are a big improvment over what was there before. The bridge which connects the Dunk with the Convention Center is very useful in bad weather.

It is a nice mid sized arena to see an event. Next years NCAA tournament should be a huge boost to the city. We just need more of these kind of events.

[runawayjim]

I'm hoping now that Phish is back, they'll play the Dunk. That would be HUGE for the city because they come with not just the people with tickets, but tons of people without tickets, from all over the country.

[CtownMikey]

I'm not quite understanding the whole unemployment rate thing here. If someone chooses to have their concert in pvd as opposed to boston. One over the other... if that person is big enough.. people will drive the extra hour to see that person perform. If they can sell out boston and not go to providence, providence will drive to boston... and the other way around no? Isn't it cheaper to book the dunk vs td banknorth as well?

[runawayjim]

I'm not quite understanding the whole unemployment rate thing here. If someone chooses to have their concert in pvd as opposed to boston. One over the other... if that person is big enough.. people will drive the extra hour to see that person perform. If they can sell out boston and not go to providence, providence will drive to boston... and the other way around no? Isn't it cheaper to book the dunk vs td banknorth as well?

I'm not really following what you're saying here, but I'll try to make some sense of it. If there are more unemployed here, there are less people going to stuff. Boston has a bigger venue and it's easier to get to for more people with the multitude of public transportation options. The predominate group coming to a show in PVD is from RI. The predominate group going to a show in Boston is from MA.

Some acts can easily sell out both Boston and Providence in the same tour (Phish Phish Phish), while others can't. The example of Earth Wind and Fire was poor. They're still playing concerts because they have nothing to do and need the money. It's a tired act. It's not surprising it didn't sell as well as they wanted.

The economy sucks right now. No one is doing as well as they should be.

[Cotuit]

A nice big LED sign in LaSalle Square might help sell some tickets.

Seriously, the old Dunk had a message board with upcoming shows, the new one should too.

Just make sure the thermometer works better on the new one.

[runawayjim]

A nice big LED sign in LaSalle Square might help sell some tickets.

Seriously, the old Dunk had a message board with upcoming shows, the new one should too.

Just make sure the thermometer works better on the new one.

In all the renders of the new Dunk, there was a big LED sign on the big sign out front. It's obviously not there. I'd like to see something there and a scrolling banner of events above the main entrance. Those, combined with the one on the Hilton, would make La Salle Sq our little Times Sq. I was disappointed when they announced it was finished and there was no sign. It looks so slick and modern, but without the sign, it's just missing something.

Did they leave the sign on the I-95 side (the one that's barely visible from the highway)?

[Cotuit]

Remember that day it was 115 in Providence?

Neither do I.

[numonex]

Epic fail. I said it a while ago when the plans were revealed. They reduced the capacity of an already under sized arena to put in luxury suites which we all know are for the crooked politicians in this dufas state and what are we left with?

An empty arena, outside of the occasional circus and American Idol losers the rats and crickets play there!! I said it before the construction began when I was at a Providence Bruins game. They had people going around surveying what peoples thoughts on improvements would be. I sat the kid down, bought him a drink and said:

"Listen. What this place needs is to be able to compete with TD Bank Garden and the arena in Hartford. If they dont increase the capacity to at least 16K no major shows will come here and it will fail"

Of course by the looks of the events calendar on their website they OBVIOUSLY didnt listen to me. Most likely because I was the only one who said it, guess I was the only one who was right!

[CtownMikey]

Epic fail. I said it a while ago when the plans were revealed. They reduced the capacity of an already under sized arena to put in luxury suites which we all know are for the crooked politicians in this dufas state and what are we left with?

An empty arena, outside of the occasional circus and American Idol losers the rats and crickets play there!! I said it before the construction began when I was at a Providence Bruins game. They had people going around surveying what peoples thoughts on improvements would be. I sat the kid down, bought him a drink and said:

"Listen. What this place needs is to be able to compete with TD Bank Garden and the arena in Hartford. If they dont increase the capacity to at least 16K no major shows will come here and it will fail"

Of course by the looks of the events calendar on their website they OBVIOUSLY didnt listen to me. Most likely because I was the only one who said it, guess I was the only one who was right!

Just because Britney Spears can shrug off the worst economic situation that our nation has been faced with since the depression by selling out every single US show for the first leg of her current tour which ---> ""grossing US$74.6 million in its first 48 shows and becoming the highest grossing tour of 2009 so far in the US and the third highest grossing tour worldwide""

DOES NOT mean that the Dunk can..

it was completed during a very... sucky time. Lets wait till convention centers around the country are booked until we judge the dunk. :)

[runawayjim]

Epic fail. I said it a while ago when the plans were revealed. They reduced the capacity of an already under sized arena to put in luxury suites which we all know are for the crooked politicians in this dufas state and what are we left with?

An empty arena, outside of the occasional circus and American Idol losers the rats and crickets play there!! I said it before the construction began when I was at a Providence Bruins game. They had people going around surveying what peoples thoughts on improvements would be. I sat the kid down, bought him a drink and said:

"Listen. What this place needs is to be able to compete with TD Bank Garden and the arena in Hartford. If they dont increase the capacity to at least 16K no major shows will come here and it will fail"

Of course by the looks of the events calendar on their website they OBVIOUSLY didnt listen to me. Most likely because I was the only one who said it, guess I was the only one who was right!

I'm with Mikey. Wait until the economy picks up before you really judge it. And just because you think American Idol is a bunch of loser (I tend to agree), it's a very popular tour that sells out the Dunk. The same goes for Hannah Montana.

Also, I think you're a bit crazy for thinking it should be competing with the Garden in Boston. Our competition is first Worcester, then Mohegan Sun, followed by Hartford (which hasn't been competing with Mohegan as well as it should be).

Look at the events page for the Worcester Centrum or the Hartford Civic Center. Are their events any better than ours right now? It's also summer. Indoor events with the exception of the circus don't usually happen until the fall/winter.

[numonex]

So you are trying to tell me that there are no shows in the Donk, why? Because of the economy? I am failing to see the connection here. Miley Cyrus, Pink, Killers, and Briteny Spears are making appearances in CT and Boston....no Providence show. Last I checked the ecenomic situation is not that much better in MA or CT so what gives? Is it that Rhode Islanders dont go to events? I see plenty of RI plates at events at the TD and at venues in CT.

And its the "we are so small" kind of thinking that really gets my goat. In the 70s, 80, and 90s we compeated fine with Boston and actually did better. Providence was where it was at before the Garden was rebuilt so the notion of being "crazy" for thinking we should compete with Boston is a little off. If the ton of money that was spent on the Donk, and it was a ton, was put to better use we would be in the game.

I realize that it is summer and more shows are outside, that is a whole differant subject as I think we should have a real outdoor venue in this state too. And before you say we are too small for that or cant compete just look at what the Newport Yachting Center can do and its not a real venue.

And as for calling the American Idols "losers" what I am referring to is the ones who didnt win on the show. At any rate it isnt a show I would go to but niether is Miley but even those 2 shows are not on the same level anymore. Miley will pass us over for Hartford and Boston on her upcomming tour. As a matter of fact she is already listed as going to the XL Center in Hartford.

[runawayjim]

So you are trying to tell me that there are no shows in the Donk, why? Because of the economy? I am failing to see the connection here. Miley Cyrus, Pink, Killers, and Briteny Spears are making appearances in CT and Boston....no Providence show. Last I checked the ecenomic situation is not that much better in MA or CT so what gives? Is it that Rhode Islanders dont go to events? I see plenty of RI plates at events at the TD and at venues in CT.

And its the "we are so small" kind of thinking that really gets my goat. In the 70s, 80, and 90s we compeated fine with Boston and actually did better. Providence was where it was at before the Garden was rebuilt so the notion of being "crazy" for thinking we should compete with Boston is a little off. If the ton of money that was spent on the Donk, and it was a ton, was put to better use we would be in the game.

I realize that it is summer and more shows are outside, that is a whole differant subject as I think we should have a real outdoor venue in this state too. And before you say we are too small for that or cant compete just look at what the Newport Yachting Center can do and its not a real venue.

And as for calling the American Idols "losers" what I am referring to is the ones who didnt win on the show. At any rate it isnt a show I would go to but niether is Miley but even those 2 shows are not on the same level anymore. Miley will pass us over for Hartford and Boston on her upcomming tour. As a matter of fact she is already listed as going to the XL Center in Hartford.

Miley came through here on her last tour. Sold out completely. The city was a mad house. As for American Idol, they might be the losers on the show, but it's still a popular event.

I would not be surprised if Miley added a date here.

Where would you like to see this outdoor venue in RI? We have McCoy that is used for concerts (Dylan just played there a couple weeks ago). The Newport Yachting Center is used for concerts, though not really big ones. We need something similar to the Bank of America Pavilion on the water in Boston. That would be ideal for Providence or RI. This isn't a "we're too small" mentality saying this, but there's no reason for us to build something similar to Great Woods or the Meadows. It really does not make economic sense to build something like that, just as it did not make economic sense to build an arena to compete with the Garden. It's just not gonna happen no matter what happened 20-30 years ago.

I have delusions of grandeur for this city and state with the best of them, but the reality is, we're not competing with Boston and the sooner we get that through our heads, the better off we'll be. We're competing with Worcester and Hartford. That's a fact. Maybe if our population grew quite a bit, we'll be competing with Boston, but until then, we need to work on competing with those in the same league.

And, for the record, I am not a fan of Boston. I like Providence a whole lot more.

[CtownMikey]

So you are trying to tell me that there are no shows in the Donk, why? Because of the economy? I am failing to see the connection here. Miley Cyrus, Pink, Killers, and Briteny Spears are making appearances in CT and Boston....no Providence show. Last I checked the ecenomic situation is not that much better in MA or CT so what gives? Is it that Rhode Islanders dont go to events? I see plenty of RI plates at events at the TD and at venues in CT.

And its the "we are so small" kind of thinking that really gets my goat. In the 70s, 80, and 90s we compeated fine with Boston and actually did better. Providence was where it was at before the Garden was rebuilt so the notion of being "crazy" for thinking we should compete with Boston is a little off. If the ton of money that was spent on the Donk, and it was a ton, was put to better use we would be in the game.

I realize that it is summer and more shows are outside, that is a whole differant subject as I think we should have a real outdoor venue in this state too. And before you say we are too small for that or cant compete just look at what the Newport Yachting Center can do and its not a real venue.

And as for calling the American Idols "losers" what I am referring to is the ones who didnt win on the show. At any rate it isnt a show I would go to but niether is Miley but even those 2 shows are not on the same level anymore. Miley will pass us over for Hartford and Boston on her upcomming tour. As a matter of fact she is already listed as going to the XL Center in Hartford.

I am just trying to point out that business in any form in this country right now...... really can't be reviewed and looked at as the maximum performance of that business due to the sucky situation of whatever % of our state and country being unemployed and terrified.

hope that made sense!!

If I were Britney.. I'd chose a state with more money and an overall financially healthier state population than a state who is worse off.

They are trying to sell tickets.. RI residents aren't in the front of the line to buy buy buy!

There are endless reasons as to why the Dunk isn't doing well. Why 110 hasn't been built. Why our roads suck. WHY WHY WHY

just don't assume that the Dunk has failed because of it's performance in the past year.

[numonex]

Never gave all that much thought to where the actual outdoor venue would go. My thinking would be either Johnston or the southern part of the state.

I know we dont compete with Boston, I said we used to. As for population we have 1.6Million in the greater Providence market. But lets take a step back for a second and analize this a bit and maybe you can see where I am comming from. Lets take a look at Hartford, where in my opinion we are losing the competition.

Greater Hartford is about a million in population just for the basis of comparison. 1.2Million if you count New Haven.

Just in the Hartford area you have the XLCenter which is a major venue 16K+ capacity. The Meadows which is similer to Comcast, AND a 40K capacity stadium. That is not counting the Mohegan arena, New Havens arena (Yale Bowl) which holds 64K.

For this conversation all I am trying to say is that with the money that was spent on the Dunk they should have bumped up the capacity. I dont ever see us getting any sort of outdoor venue, stadium, or anything like that. So we are not even in the running to compete with Hartford at this point and with our prioreties not in the right place for economic development we are not going to.

The point I have been trying to make here is that the Dunk needed a capacity upgrade, that was known in the 90s and talked about. They finally get to renovating the arena and they reduce the capacity by more than a thousand in leu of luxury suites. I dont think it was a good move and my conspericy mongoring seems to think they will be used more by our crooked politions than anyone else anyway.

[Lone Ranger]

As for population we have 1.6Million in the greater Providence market. But lets take a step back for a second and analize this a bit and maybe you can see where I am comming from. Lets take a look at Hartford, where in my opinion we are losing the competition.

Greater Hartford is about a million in population just for the basis of comparison. 1.2Million if you count New Haven.

Not quite.

First off, if you're counting New Haven into the Hartford metro, you really need to count Springfield as well. After all, Springfield is actually closer to Hartford than NH, NH being about 40 miles from Hartford, Springfield only 30. Also, New Haven County is contiguous with Hartford County, and Hartford County is contiguous with Hampden County. Call it a Combined Statistical Area if you want to you, but the three population centers really need to be regarded as one these days.

Second of all, about your numbers. Our metro population is usually counted at around 1.6m, so you're right about that. Also, you're right about Hartford's metro, which is generally listed at about 1.1m. But New Haven's is in excess of 600K by most estimates I've seen, and some significantly higher. Springfield's is in excess of 680K, so all told in the NH-Hartford-Springfield population corridor there are something like 2.4m people, or possibly even more depending on the final figure you choose for the Greater New Haven area.

So the greater population of the overall region, compared to ours, could explain the greater number of entertainment venues. I would also venture to say -- although I could be wrong about this -- that there's more wealth in that area as well, particularly right now, with the Providence metro staggering.

[runawayjim]

Just in the Hartford area you have the XLCenter which is a major venue 16K+ capacity. The Meadows which is similer to Comcast, AND a 40K capacity stadium. That is not counting the Mohegan arena, New Havens arena (Yale Bowl) which holds 64K.

For this conversation all I am trying to say is that with the money that was spent on the Dunk they should have bumped up the capacity. I dont ever see us getting any sort of outdoor venue, stadium, or anything like that. So we are not even in the running to compete with Hartford at this point and with our prioreties not in the right place for economic development we are not going to.

The point I have been trying to make here is that the Dunk needed a capacity upgrade, that was known in the 90s and talked about. They finally get to renovating the arena and they reduce the capacity by more than a thousand in leu of luxury suites. I dont think it was a good move and my conspericy mongoring seems to think they will be used more by our crooked politions than anyone else anyway.

The Yale Bowl doesn't count. They haven't had a big concert/event (other than the obvious Yale football games) there in over a decade to my knowledge. We have Brown Stadium, though not quite the capacity, it's still there. The only thing New Haven had that could compare is now gone - the New Haven Coliseum.

Meadows is similar to Great Woods, but almost twice the capacity and in a crappier area to get to. It gets most of the same tours that Great Woods gets because it's far enough out and has the population to draw those crowds. Slap one of those in RI and you're now competing with both Meadows and Great Woods and it will lose because it's in the middle of 2 major population areas (Great Woods serves the greater Boston area as well as RI, while Meadows serves pretty much all of CT and western MA.

The Hartford Civic Center has always had more seats than the Dunk to my knowledge. I have a feeling that to really bump the number of seats, they would have had to either serious compromise comfort (think the craptastic Fenway seats) or increase the size of the building, neither of which were gonna happen.

I notice you never mentioned Gilette Stadium, which holds almost 60k for concerts (nevermind what it can hold for football or soccer games). There's no reason for us to have anything like that unless the Revolution move to RI (which would give us something to compete with Renchsler Field (the 40k football stadium in East Hartford).

So the greater population of the overall region, compared to ours, could explain the greater number of entertainment venues. I would also venture to say -- although I could be wrong about this -- that there's more wealth in that area as well, particularly right now, with the Providence metro staggering.

You are most definitely correct in your assumption that there is more wealth in the Hartford-New Haven-Springfield market than there is in the Providence market. We're also disconnected enough from the Hartford area and close enough to Boston that events and concert tours will skip over Providence for Boston, but also stop in Hartford because of the disconnect. People from our area aren't traveling to Hartford for most concerts, but will gladly travel to Boston. It's an hour on the highway versus at least an hour and a half on a combination of highways or country roads. Had 6 ever been finished as a limited access highway from Hartford to Providence, it'd be a completely different story.

[numonex]

The Yale Bowl doesn't count. They haven't had a big concert/event (other than the obvious Yale football games) there in over a decade to my knowledge. We have Brown Stadium, though not quite the capacity, it's still there. The only thing New Haven had that could compare is now gone - the New Haven Coliseum.

Meadows is similar to Great Woods, but almost twice the capacity and in a crappier area to get to. It gets most of the same tours that Great Woods gets because it's far enough out and has the population to draw those crowds. Slap one of those in RI and you're now competing with both Meadows and Great Woods and it will lose because it's in the middle of 2 major population areas (Great Woods serves the greater Boston area as well as RI, while Meadows serves pretty much all of CT and western MA.

The Hartford Civic Center has always had more seats than the Dunk to my knowledge. I have a feeling that to really bump the number of seats, they would have had to either serious compromise comfort (think the craptastic Fenway seats) or increase the size of the building, neither of which were gonna happen.

I notice you never mentioned Gilette Stadium, which holds almost 60k for concerts (nevermind what it can hold for football or soccer games). There's no reason for us to have anything like that unless the Revolution move to RI (which would give us something to compete with Renchsler Field (the 40k football stadium in East Hartford).

You are most definitely correct in your assumption that there is more wealth in the Hartford-New Haven-Springfield market than there is in the Providence market. We're also disconnected enough from the Hartford area and close enough to Boston that events and concert tours will skip over Providence for Boston, but also stop in Hartford because of the disconnect. People from our area aren't traveling to Hartford for most concerts, but will gladly travel to Boston. It's an hour on the highway versus at least an hour and a half on a combination of highways or country roads. Had 6 ever been finished as a limited access highway from Hartford to Providence, it'd be a completely different story.

I didnt bring up Gilette because suggesting one of those in RI is silly. The only reason that one was even rebuilt is because they had an existing established sports franchise in there to begin with.

I get what you are saying but I am not content with letting everything skip over Providence and go into MA. Economic areas need to compete for economic development to move further. Here is where you and I have differant visions. I think if we were to build a facility, say like the Meadows in RI, being better facility than Comcast, market it right... There should be no reason for the new, better place, to not outperfoem the Comcast center. I am thinking of this from an economic viewpoint, not a selfish standpoint. RI needs to draw people to RI as additional sources of income. Without the million people in RI stadiums like Gillette would not be doing aswell but look at all the money that we as RIers are pumping into MA with no benefit to our own economy. And people dont get why we are in dire streights?

Its obvious that this debate isnt really worth continue. Not to offend you as it is not my intention but people with your mindset. The mindset to allow and be in favor of everything being across the boarders, like Comcast, Foxwoods, TDBank, XL Center, even Gilette to an extent and to support those venues and not support or be afraid to support venues in state to compete are part of our states problems. Having a state with the primary and majority source of income being property and sales tax with no outside generation (tourism) is going to be a 100% burden on the people when push comes to shove and the state needs money. Most states that have a more diverse income model just about always end up better off.

I loose this debate because of that mindset. Typical RIers dont want anything in the state but run for the boarders to dump their money. That is why I tell people, "Shut up and pay your taxes"

[runawayjim]

I didnt bring up Gilette because suggesting one of those in RI is silly. The only reason that one was even rebuilt is because they had an existing established sports franchise in there to begin with.

I get what you are saying but I am not content with letting everything skip over Providence and go into MA. Economic areas need to compete for economic development to move further. Here is where you and I have differant visions. I think if we were to build a facility, say like the Meadows in RI, being better facility than Comcast, market it right... There should be no reason for the new, better place, to not outperfoem the Comcast center. I am thinking of this from an economic viewpoint, not a selfish standpoint. RI needs to draw people to RI as additional sources of income. Without the million people in RI stadiums like Gillette would not be doing aswell but look at all the money that we as RIers are pumping into MA with no benefit to our own economy. And people dont get why we are in dire streights?

Its obvious that this debate isnt really worth continue. Not to offend you as it is not my intention but people with your mindset. The mindset to allow and be in favor of everything being across the boarders, like Comcast, Foxwoods, TDBank, XL Center, even Gilette to an extent and to support those venues and not support or be afraid to support venues in state to compete are part of our states problems. Having a state with the primary and majority source of income being property and sales tax with no outside generation (tourism) is going to be a 100% burden on the people when push comes to shove and the state needs money. Most states that have a more diverse income model just about always end up better off.

I loose this debate because of that mindset. Typical RIers dont want anything in the state but run for the boarders to dump their money. That is why I tell people, "Shut up and pay your taxes"

There's more to a successful venue than being a "better" place. You're ignoring the fact that Great Woods sits between Boston and Providence. It draws from both populations. If you put a similar venue west or south of Providence, it won't be able to compete with Great Woods no matter how wonderful a place it is simply because it's too far from Boston. There'd be no reason for tours to stop there when they already stop in Hartford and Mansfield, both of which draw from the RI population.

It might make economic sense to try to bring those tours here, but it doesn't make economic sense for them to come here unless they add an additional date in what are usually already tight schedules.

What RI needs is a place like the Bank of America Pavilion on our waterfront that holds about 5000. We also need to better utilize PPAC for concerts. I think with concert venues like that, we could be better suited to compete than with huge amphitheatres or arenas. The arena competition is even more difficult. You also have to keep in mind that fewer concert tours take place during what I will call the "arena months" (fall, winter, early spring). You'll get the huge touring acts that tour non-stop like Phish, but also things like American Idol, Britney, Hannah Montana, and the various boy bands and that type of pop music. The other acts that tour in those months are generally too small for arenas and play clubs or theatres. This is where using PPAC would be better. Building something similar to The BoA Pavilion would allow us to compete for those mid-size acts in the summer.

I'd also like to see better use of public spaces we have. There's a great small natural amphitheatre in Roger Williams Park known as the Temple of Music. I'd love to see some outdoor concerts held there, even if they fence it off and require tickets.

But this is all way off the topic of the Dunk. I have yet to see the renovations, but as I said before, they gave it the upgrades they could without compromising on comfort and without having to tear it down and build again to fit more seats (which would have cost a whole lot more than they had to work with).