There is a fitting if unfortunate thought that came to mind when learning that Georgetown was delaying the formal dedication of Cooper Field to 2022. We've waited this long, what's another year?
And so, 23 years after first proposed, 17 years its groundbreaking, seven years after the naming gift, and three or four years since everyone figured it would eventually be done, will come 2022. And there we will be, God willing.
There will be another time and place to discuss what the lesson of the Multi-Sport Facility saga was. It wasn't what was planned, nor what was promised to recruits, nor donors. The double deck seating and glass-paneled concourse has been relegated to a dusty corner of the archives that collects those grandiose plans of Georgetown that never were.
Cooper Field arrives as valuable and as needed as ever. In some ways, the project morphed from a grand multi-sport experience to a more utilitarian purpose: much-needed locker room space with seating. And without the naming gift, one wonders where this project (and this field) would be today.
In the interim year, the locker rooms will be busy and the field will be active. But there are some opportunities to add a little extra to what has been committed to, to make the fan experience at Cooper Field an even better one, however distinct from more optimistic eras.
Here are three thoughts to "completing" what's already completed.
1. Visitor Seating. What was once a plan for 5,600 seats kept getting whittled down, and as we've seen, the most visible cut in its final product was the removal of permanent visitor seating. But like a lot of things at Georgetown, there's a story behind it. Two, in fact.
Facilities at Georgetown are a Rubik's cube--make one change, and you rearrange a couple more. Cooper Field lies on the axis of one of the last two undeveloped parcels of land on a campus to whom "green space" is a metaphor for overbuilding. That open trapezoid to the north east of Cooper Field, abutting Regents Hall, is already being eyed for an academic building, while the Harbin patio, just to its south, is a candidate for yet another dormitory project over the next decade. The academic building and the dorm won't take over field space but the construction equipment required to stage, excavate, and eventually build a multi-story building over 12-18 months (and maintain right of way) could very well have been affected by a permanent seating structure on the east side stands.
And then the Rubik's cube turns again. For by 2029, which is almost as far away as 2013 is right now, the Yates Field House will be 50 years old, or about 20 years past its usable life. Built entirely out of concrete in 1979, moisture has a way of settling a score with concrete, and leaks have damaged thee facility for years. The University has spent millions to keep it up and running rather than eating the costs of a full rebuild, which could be well over $120 million for a building that cost $7.5 million and took two years to build.
When this happens, the soccer teams may be temporarily relocated to Cooper Field, which in a football configuration is not wide enough for a regulation soccer field. Not having permanent seats would allow GU to extend the width of Cooper Field from 53 yards to 70 yards--a little on the west, a little on the east.
(Did I say nothing is easy at Georgetown?)
There is no date for either a new dorm or a new recreation center. A few years, a decade or two. But is there an opportunity to reconstruct what existed on that sliver of land for the last 16 years, that is, temporary seating?
The previous configuration supported somewhere between 600 and 800 seats along the east side, sans concessions or rest rooms. Maybe GU doesn't need that many today, but the ability to have some basic, ADA accessible seating for fans who wants to sit with their team is not only a good idea, but a reasonable one. It's very much a temporary effort which would go away when or if construction takes place, and adds something to the overall feel of the place (and would improve capacity over 4,000 should GU ever schedule a football or lacrosse game where the "lawn seating" would be overwhelmed.)
Temporary seating won't ruin Cooper Field, but might make it a little more like a stadium and less like there's something missing.
2. Video Board. When Multi-Sport facility planning was in full force way back when, a video board may have been seen as an extravagance, something for NFL teams., Well, time marches on, and it's not just NFL teams, but most college teams and even many high schools. This is 2021, after all.
And among the Last Amateurs? Every Ivy stadium now has a video board, even the Yale Bowl, that great relic which stands alone as if, as it was once said, to "stand athwart history, yelling "Stop!", at a time when no one is inclined to do so."
In 2019, Lehigh and Holy Cross became the fifth and sixth PL schools with a video board. The lone PL stadium without one? Cooper Field.
Georgetown's present scoreboard is not as old as the Yale Bowl once used, but it's old. The scoreboard setup predates football on the lower field, having been installed for soccer circa 1994.
Now is the time to raise the funds for a video board to debut in 2022. These do not come cheap but there is no better "wow" factor in college sports (or fandom) today than to see a defender or a fan in the stands on a 4K 1080p view at the game. The planned scoreboard location in the southeast corner of Cooper Field is still there, untouched, and could host a board not unlike that employed by Colgate, below.
And if Georgetown can't or won't find the funds, may I make a modest suggestion? When last RFK was opened for business to feature Georgetown and Harvard, there were two reasonably modern video boards which had been installed there earlier that year for DC United. Sometime in the next two years or so, RFK will be imploded and unless someone takes out those boards, they may go down in the rubble. Anyone interested in making an offer to Events DC for an early relocation?
3. Recognition. Outside of a sign on the gate, Cooper Field may be the most generic stadium in college football, with little or nothing on (or around it) that says "Georgetown". And unlike the cost to being aforementioned video boards to the field, the ability to bring some visibility to Georgetown football in its own home is relatively low cost effort.
Many high school, college, and minor league stadia use a popular form of vinyl covering known as a windscreen or "privacy fence", which can easily be placed along a wall or fence to promote their teams or, at the very least, its accomplishments. You see this at Shaw Field when Georgetown rightfully salutes the championships of its' men's and women's teams.
Cooper Field had an ever-generic "We Are Georgetown" wrapping along the sides of the east stands, some of which is still visible but badly faded. Why not wrap that fencing with something specific to Georgetown football?
These windscreens are not expensive (a 10' x 30 yard roll starts as little as $150 before customization) and easily swapped out--when it's springtime, roll out the lacrosse covering with their recognition.
On first glance, Georgetown football does not appear to have the titles and championship bona fides of its lacrosse or "association football" brethren. What does it have?
1941 Orange Bowl, check.
1950 Sun Bowl, check.
1993 Bermuda Bowl? That might be a stretch.
1997 MAAC Champions.
What the Hoyas lack in NCAA appearances it has in history. Georgetown could take a page from Holy Cross, who recognizes its football greats along the wall at Fitton Field.
So whom could Georgetown honor? There are 60 football members of the Athletic Hall of Fame, so that might be a big list. There are 26 All Americans (including the five club All-America selections), and that's a number that, when presented over 40 or 50 yards, makes the point to players and opponents alike that some really good players have come through Georgetown, even if most never played at this field.
Here are the 26, with number and last name:
And that's what this suggests: we recognize those who came before us, we inspire those to join the list. One of the reasons the Athletic Hall of Fame display in the Leavey Center is more impactful than something lost in a corner of McDonough Gymnasium is that it is visible to guests as well as those familiar with the names on those plaques. Our guests to Cooper Field are, in almost all cases, unaware of those who played here before. Putting their name on a sideline wall at Cooper Field is small but important way of saying thanks, and adds to a story that football at Georgetown has permanency, relevance, and purpose.
So barring war, terrorism, civil insurrection, or another pandemic, next fall we may all be able to gather and salute the conclusion of this 20 year odyssey. And a little lagniappe wouldn't hurt, either.
