Venue Change for Novice/Junior at 2004 Nationals

[PAskate]

http://www.usfsa.org/news/2002-03/gwinnettarena.htm?siteid=983

While I don't live in Atlanta, I have spent many months working in and around the area. I've actually worked in Gwinnett and the commute to and from downtown is not nice. The traffic tie-ups on the freeways in Atlanta are legendary and unfortunately MARTA doesn't run out to the arena in Gwinnett.

[skaternum]

Ooh, this is bad. There are going to be a lot of very angry people in Atlanta next year!

[BCsk8]

how long is the commute during traffic, and without traffic. This could be tough for junior skaters.

[Sassafras]

I'm angry now, and I haven't even gotten there yet! One of the reasons that convinced me to go was being able to walk to both venues and not have to rely on other transportation.

[PAskate]

At least my experience was that it would be 45 minutes on a good day, but I wasn't trying to go back and forth at varying times. Hopefully someone from Atlanta can respond?

The only positive thing that I can see is if all you want to see is novice and junior events there are multiple reasonably priced hotels nearby. A car is necessary though.

[Louis]

I understand the disappointment, but I would have had major reservations about committing to an event where ANY part of the competition was held on Convention Center ice. The ice is terrible for the skaters, the sightlines are terrible for the fans, and the seats are usually very far back from the ice. Skaters and fans alike complained ad nauseum after 1998 Nationals and 2003 Worlds.

I'm not going to Atlanta because of the insane ticket prices (it's no more expensive for me to go to Dortmund for Worlds), but if I were going, I would view the benefit of having the novice/junior events in an actual arena as a fair tradeoff for having to travel a bit to get there. That said, I think it was maybe not the best decision to award Nationals to a city without two nearby permanent ice surfaces.

[speedy]

So much for walking across the street to see all the competitions and practices. :roll: Guess I won't be seeing juniors and novice now. I've been in Atlanta traffic many times, it is very bad, at just about any time of the day. I'm sure the ice at Gwinnett will be better for the skaters, but this is just one more screw-job for the fans that have bought their tickets years in advance and made hotel reservations expecting the events to be reasonably close to the hotel that they're paying $200 a night to stay in... and just one more instance of the USFSA showing that they could care less about the fans that come to Nationals. I love how they say it's "conveniently" located. :lol: To who? It's literally 2 counties away from Phillips Arena. It's probably an hour-long bus ride away from downtown. Funny how's there's no mention of that in the article or on their webpages, nor even a link to a map of the place...but I did some searching and found one here (and not a very good one at that)...

http://www.gwinnettciviccenter.com/main.html

[Ellyn]

If the schedule is similar to past years, all the novice events will be held on Sunday and Monday, and none of the senior events will start until Tuesday and many of the top seniors won't arrive for practices until after the initial weekend anyway. So if you're eager to see novice competitions, planning to spend the whole day on Sunday and Monday at the secondary venue would be the way to go. (If you weren't planning to get to town until Tuesday or later in any case, you would miss all the novice events anyway.)

If it's true that the junior free skates will all be held at the main arena downtown, then that should not be a problem.

Deciding on Tuesday-Thursday between senior and junior short programs, CDs, long programs for some events, and practices will be where the problem comes in, since you'll probably have to decide to spend all or most of the day at one venue or the other depending which has more going on that you're interested in rather than having the option to run back and forth at will.

[rasouza]

I just sent a letter protesting the decision to the Atlanta organizers. I hope all of you will do the same. We bought our tickets to see ALL of the competitions, not to have to choose one or the other. Let them know what you think.

[adrianchew]

I believe they are going to have quite a bit of protest since part of what they did was to tell people the ice surfaces will be close to each other, but OTOH, having seen terrible convention center ice, I'd rather have a real rink for an event.

My complain now would be having only part of the Junior event at this out of town facility - why not have it all there. I'd go watch the Novice/Junior events and be done! :twisted:

[sonora]

My sentiments exactly Adrian and in fact that is my plan!

[rasouza]

That's probably what we'll do too, but I know I'm going to wind up having to choose between Juniors and Seniors and I paid a lot of money to get to see both - together! Two separate events, fine. Two separate sets of tickets and two separate timeframes.

[jkl]

For those of us with all-event tickets---are there any restaurants or hotels within walking distance? Help please. I called several hotels in Duluth GA and the person who answered the phone ( I tried 4 different hotels) had never heard of the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

[btqkta]

will the championship skaters have practices at this venue? or at philips? will philips be only used to championship? and the other one (sorry i don't want to mess up the name) used only for junior and novice? i'm only going to see championship and will be extremely upset if i have to drive all that way for some practices....and i totally understand everyone's frustrations with this...i hope it all works out for everyone!

[Catherine M]

Originally posted by jkl
For those of us with all-event tickets---are there any restaurants or hotels within walking distance? Help please. I called several hotels in Duluth GA and the person who answered the phone ( I tried 4 different hotels) had never heard of the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

I looked up the arena information on ticketmaster's site. Here's what it said:

The Arena At Gwinnett Center
6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097


Driving directions:


Heading North: Take I-85 to Exit 108/Sugarloaf Parkway (formerly Exit 42A). Turn right off the exit, go back under the Interstate and cross over Satellite Boulevard. The Arena will be on your left.

or

I-85 northbound traffic can exit the interstate at SR 120, go west on SR 120 through Satellite Boulevard to Meadow Church Road. Take a right on Meadow Church Road to Sugarloaf Pkwy, then turn right from Sugarloaf into the arena parking lot.

Heading South: Take I-85 to Exit 108/Sugarloaf Parkway (formerly Exit 42A). Turn right off the exit and you cross over Satellite Boulevard. The Arena will be on your left.

or

Southbound traffic on I-85 would be encouraged to exit at Old Peachtree Road, turning right to reach Meadow Church Road. Taking a left on Meadow Church, then another left onto Sugarloaf Parkway. The Arena parking lot will be on the right.

From Interstate 285: Go north on Interstate 85. Take exit 108 - Sugarloaf Parkway (formerly Exit42A). Turn right off the exit and cross over Satellite Boulevard. The Arena is on the left.

Take 316 west: to Interstate 85 north take exit 108 - Sugarloaf Parkway. Turn right off the ramp. Cross Satellite Boulevard and the Arena is on the left.

From Hartsfield (Takes 45 minutes): Head north on Interstate 85 take exit 108 - Sugarloaf Parkway. Turn right off the ramp. Cross Satellite Boulevard and the Arena is on the left.

From the Gwinnett Place Mall: Take Satellite Boulevard north 2-1/2 miles. Turn left onto Sugarloaf Parkway and the Arena is on your left.


So there is a mall approx. 2.5 miles away so that should help though I doubt you'll be able to bring in any outside food.

[Sassafras]

I emailed the Atlanta LOC and received this response:


Please know that the decision by the local organizing committee to change the secondary venue for the 2004 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was made in the best interest of the event, as a whole, and the competitors, in particular. Our ticket brochures have always stated that venues were subject to change.

The local organizing committee is considering all feasible ways to facilitate an efficient transportation system from downtown Atlanta to Gwinnett for everyone involved. Each All-Event ticket holder will have the right to purchase a bus pass for the event. The ride from downtown to the Arena at Gwinnett Center is approximately 25-35 minutes in normal Atlanta traffic. Atlanta area public schools will be out of session through Tuesday, January 6, 2004, so we anticipate normal traffic volume through that day. As much as possible, events at Gwinnett will be scheduled during times which avoid heavy traffic and which don't conflict with other events.

Information regarding the transportation system and pricing will be available at our website no later than July 15, 2003.

The Arena at Gwinnett Center is a brand new, beautiful venue affording the Novice and Junior competitors the experience of performing in a large, Championship caliber arena. The opening of the arena presents an incredible opportunity for these young, talented skaters who have qualified to compete at the national level. The Junior Freeskate competition events and, of course, all Championship (Senior) competition events are scheduled for Philips Arena.

The Local Organizing Committee for the 2004 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

[jkl]

I called the Gwinnett County Visitors Bureau today. The lady told me there were 3 hotels very near the arena. Camden Suites, Hilton Garden, and a new LaQuinta Inn. As far as getting from Hartsfield (airport) to Gwinnett Co. she told me I would want to rent a car. Wrong. She said the cab ride would be very expensive . No kidding it must be 45 miles.

[PAskate]

There are also lots of airport shuttles that service Hartsfield International. I am sure that there would be one that services Gwinnett County.

[jkl]

I was told that no airport shuttle goes to Gwinnett Co. That was my first question. Well, maybe second after food.

[FridaCat]

I wrote to the LOC regarding the planned event schedule, and here's what they said:

The following is kept general since the schedule has not yet been finalized. Novice events are tentatively scheduled for Sun 1/4 and Mon 1/5. Junior events in Gwinnett are tentatively scheduled for Tues 1/6 - Thur 1/8, and then downtown Wed 1/7 - Sat 1/10. Championship events downtown Tues 1/6 - Sat 1/10.