Army West Point Athletics
Letter From Army Interim Director Of Athletics Sam Johnson
November 30, 2010 | General
It is a great time to be an Army Football fan!
Bowl-bound for the first time in 1996, I couldn't be more proud of Coach Ellerson, his staff and all the players on the team that have brought our program back into the national spotlight. We are all eagerly anticipating our trip to the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 30 in Dallas.
In case you missed it, tickets for the game went on sale via www.goARMYsports.com and our ticket office on Tuesday.
I'd like to thank each and every one of you that came out to Michie Stadium this year to show your support for our cadet-athletes. In times when budgets are tight and family dollars are pulled in all too many directions, 2010 marked the second straight year that we saw a significant increase in attendance, averaging almost 32,000 people per game. This is not only a testament to the dedication of all our fans, but a reflection of the time and effort put forth by our coaches, players and staff that strive to make our football experience one of the most unique in the entire country.
With this welcome swell in attendance came other byproducts. Undoubtedly, some of you experienced varying degrees of inconveniences upon entering the gates of our hallowed grounds, especially in the realm of parking. While we made every effort to find spots for every vehicle in an efficient and timely manner, many had to endure crowded lots and long lines before getting to their designated parking locations. In our attempts to make the most of every inch we have at our disposal, all of our lots were pushed to the limits of their capacity.
And while the demand on our lots keeps growing, the supply continues to shrink. We have lost over 1,000 parking spots throughout West Point in the last 10 years. Valuable real estate in lots around Michie Stadium was taken away with the building of the Lichtenberg Tennis Center and the Gross Gymnastics facility, while construction staging and other projects have also slashed our inventory. We are already slated to lose an additional 200 spots in 2011.
Long overdue are measures that address these issues. Through some dynamic initiatives we are planning, I would like to take this opportunity to announce changes that will go into effect next year. In conjunction with putting our 2011 season tickets on sale today, we felt this would be an appropriate time to make this announcement so that everyone realizes how much we are looking forward to welcoming you back next season and that these changes are being made in the best interests of our fans. We took a long and hard look at what was working as well as at the areas we felt needed improvement for the sake of our customers.
Below are five of the biggest changes that fans can expect for the 2011 season. We hope you will agree that these measures will streamline the parking process as we continue to enhance the game day experience at West Point for all of our guests. We have enlisted the help of consultants in the past to study our parking operation. Many of their suggestions have been implemented in our new plan.
Measure 1:
Eliminate specific lot names for F-Lot, E-Lot and D-Lot, combining all three to form one General Reserved designation:
Fans arriving on game day with an General Reserved pass will first be directed to park in F-Lot. Once F-Lot reaches capacity, vehicles will be directed to E-Lot. Once E-Lot reaches capacity, D-Lot will be utilized. Fans coming through Stony Lonesome Gate with single game, General Parking, will not be allowed to park in any of these lots and will be directed to park in H-Lot. Fans with a minimum A-Club donation at the Lieutenant Level ($125) will have access to a season General Reserve pass.
Expected Result:
This will dramatically aid in traffic flow through Stony Lonesome Gate and ease the overall parking process in our three largest donor lots. One lot will simply be filled, side-by-side from front to back, until every spot is taken and then vehicles will be directed to start filling the next lot. As F-Lot can only be accessed by driving directly through A-Lot, filling F-Lot first will also significantly cut down on the amount of time that traffic will be flowing through A-Lot as we project it will be filled roughly three hours before kickoff. Our A-Club donors will also have exclusive access to these lots while those who only have General Parking will not.
Measure 2: Combine A-Lot and B-Lot to form one large A-Lot designation:
Despite being one of our most exclusive parking areas, A-Lot pass holders experienced over-crowding issues during every single game in 2010. There previously has also been a wide discrepancy in donation level for these two lots that are merely separated by a matter of a few feet. Several large groups of tailgaters that have historically populated A-Lot also experienced frustration with their locations due to continued space restrictions.
Expected Result:
Creating a larger A-Lot will ease the wide-spread over-crowding problems associated with this past year, while assigning one donation level (Colonel Level, $1,500) will bring the overall area into more of a consistent alignment. There are also areas in B-Lot that are more conducive to setting up larger tailgates that will give our long-time fans a better and more efficient area to set up.
Measure 3: Turn AAA-Lot into a donor lot and align AAA-Lot, C-Lot and G-Lot at the same, consistent donor level:
Previously a staff lot located in a prime parking area close to the stadium, AAA-Lot will now be reserved for our donors along with nearby C-Lot and G-Lot at the same level of donation.
Expected Result:
Our customers in C-Lot and G-Lot also experienced over-crowding issues in the past so adding another large lot in the same area will ease those problems. Fans that wish to migrate from the former B-Lot will also only have to experience minimal lot relocation while their new donation level (Captain Level, $350) to access any of these lots will be reduced. Side-by-side parking in these three lots will also ensure that all areas are parked with maximum efficiency.
Measure 4: Enforce one car per parking spot, not one pass per parking spot:
In years past, anyone showing up with multiple parking passes were granted the same number of corresponding parking slots, even if they only had one vehicle. Moving forward, parking spots will only be allowed to be occupied by vehicles, not tailgates, etc.
Expected Result:
This measure will only help us maximize the number of parking spots in which vehicles park, thus easing over-crowding issues and making the overall parking process more streamlined.
Measure 5: Change single-game parking prices from $10 to $15 in advance and $20 on game day.
This price differential will encourage fans to purchase their parking passes before arriving at West Point, thus alleviating delays at the gates cause by on-site parking purchases.
Expected Result:
Having an advance grasp on the number of vehicles that are expected to show up on game day provides our parking attendants the ability to know exactly where to direct vehicles when they come through the gate and how to best utilize all of the General Parking areas. Non-A-Club season ticket holders will also have the opportunity to buy a season pass for $50 that will guarantee them access to Buffalo Soldier Field Lot, Tower Road Lot or K-Lot, while staff and faculty members will be exempt from this charge.
Overview
We feel this plan addresses many concerns that our fans have voiced, most notably overcrowding, lot availability, parking efficiency, safety concerns, traffic flow (particularly in A-Lot), price alignment with market value and available premium inventory.
We must ensure that individuals donating funds to guarantee parking in a specific area are, indeed, granted access to a corresponding parking spot. In all too many cases this past season we were forced to turn away guests from specific lettered lots due to overcrowding. We find that unacceptable and feel these measures will help eliminate many of the issues fans were faced with.
Grouping F-Lot, E-Lot and D-Lots into a General Reserved area will drastically reduce the bottlenecks down Stony Lonesome Road that plagued everyone on game day. Addressing the overcrowding issues in A-Lot as well as creating new inventory in AAA-Lot will also ease the tension in these areas.
As we eagerly anticipate 2011 season tickets going on sale this week, fans can find an updated A-Club benefits chart by clicking here where you will be able to view a complete listing of the updates we have made for our faithful donors, and see what we feel is the great value in donating to the Army A-Club.
Once again, on behalf of all the cadet-athletes that your donations go directly toward supporting, I'd like to thank you for your unwavering support. We look forward to seeing you for the rest of this season, including in Philadelphia in two short weeks for the Army/Navy game, as well as in Dallas for the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 30.
Go Army!
COL Sam Johnson
Interim Director of Athletics
United States Military Academy
