Come closer Clarisse: $22m raised for hoops facility, $32m needed to break ground, $42m budget

[Rumrunner]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-men/hc-jim-calhoun-midldesex-1002-20121001,0,5059892.story

Still a bit of work to do.

I can dream, but would love for Herbst and Manuel to announce an on-campus, privately funded fb stadium is the next mega capital project once the #'s are hit. (Not ice) I know that it is humanly impossible to accomplish...cough...cough..or politically untenable, but you don't become legendary life is too hard

 

[uconNYC]

Maybe this should be on the FB board - but 80% of attendance will be comprised by non-students and a good portion of that non-alumni, therefore I really don't see an on campus stadium somehow taking our football program to the next level. Right now the stadium is at the perfect spot to attract a wide selection of fans.

 

[Rumrunner]

All true, but I'm talking about the next decade. With the development of "downtown" Storrs, it isn't unreasonable to conclude that UConn should shoot for one on campus. 90% of FBS programs have on-campus stadiums. There must be something fun about them. Insead of 6k of bussed in students,10-12k drunken walk-ups. Not the most important number but it still has consequence.

 

[FluxTZ]

As much as I would love to see it - I really doubt it will ever happen.

 

[UCONNfan1]

All true, but I'm talking about the next decade. With the development of "downtown" Storrs, it isn't unreasonable to conclude that UConn should shoot for one on campus. 90% of FBS programs have on-campus stadiums. There must be something fun about them. Insead of 6k of bussed in students,10-12k drunken walk-ups. Not the most important number but it still has consequence.

I don't see that as realistic - mainly because of the difficulty in getting to campus. It's not like Storrs is in the Alps, but there are single lane roads leading to and from campus, and those roads go on for miles.

I've not been to enough on campus football stadiums around the country, but given UCONN's intense rural setting, it seems hard to imagine getting 60,000 people in and out with any reasonable time frame.

As for the hoops facility, $10M more is needed, eh? I'm encouraged by JC's recent comments that he'll be talking to some of the former players who are in the NBA (or he made some comment like that). $22 mil is pretty good. Obviously not good enough yet tho...

 

[ktuck911]

What I'm trippin on is how is $22Million not enough to break ground when the budget is $42Million? smh, a dollar doesn't go far these days... smh...

 

[Waquoit]

All true, but I'm talking about the next decade. With the development of "downtown" Storrs, it isn't unreasonable to conclude that UConn should shoot for one on campus. 90% of FBS programs have on-campus stadiums.

Talk about beating a dead horse on the way to boarding a ship that has sailed.

 

[CL82]

I don't see that as realistic - mainly because of the difficulty in getting to campus. It's not like Storrs is in the Alps, but there are single lane roads leading to and from campus, and those roads go on for miles.

I've not been to enough on campus football stadiums around the country, but given UCONN's intense rural setting, it seems hard to imagine getting 60,000 people in and out with any reasonable time frame.

As for the hoops facility, $10M more is needed, eh? I'm encouraged by JC's recent comments that he'll be talking to some of the former players who are in the NBA (or he made some comment like that). $22 mil is pretty good. Obviously not good enough yet tho...

Agree that it won't happen in the foreseeable future but getting into Storrs is not worse than getting into Rutgers Highpoint Stadium (as many will see this weekend) and a lot easier then getting into Army's Michie Stadium. It is possible to get people in and out in a reasonable timeframe, particularly with a new development helping to feather out the crowds a bit. That's the difference between the Rent (and it is a nice facility and I am grateful to have it) and a campus location. At a campus, there is more you can do before (although with the tailgating at the Rent that's less of an issue) and after the game. So you aren't trying to get 50,000 people in or out at exactly the same time -not that ever happens at the Rent either with capacity at 40K and the arrive late, leave early crowd.

 

[Rumrunner]

This is going to happen in the next five years. Or even 10. But why not think like a big time program?

From just today:


And Colorado State sees the benefit of an on campus stadium:

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingn...ident-tony-frank-approves-new-campus-football
Colorado State University President Tony Frank on Monday afternoon gave approval to construction of a new football stadium on campus. Here is the text of the e-mail he sent to students.

Read more:CSU President Tony Frank approves new on-campus football stadium - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21673302/csu-president-tony-frank-approves-new-campus-football#ixzz28AeRpyOJ
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

....
"Against this backdrop, I think a well-maintained stadium located on the main campus, now with decades of tradition behind it, would be a great benefit to the university, providing a familiar venue for athletics, graduations, freshman convocations, band days, and other large events. And so, with that long view in mind, I support our moving forward to attempt to build such a facility.
The reasons I have found compelling are not new. I like the idea of bringing people onto our campus: alumni returning to reconnect with the place they lived and learned, fans and their families coming to the campus around the event of a football game, and students enjoying an event — whether a concert or a commencement — in the space they call home for a wonderful, if short, period of their lives. Done well, such events can highlight our university and its mission and be an important and useful tool in our success — measured in very diverse ways.

 

[Waquoit]

This is going to happen in the next five years. Or even 10. But why not think like a big time program?

USC doesn't play on campus. You can think all you want, it's not going to happen. There is zero support for it anywhere but in your brain.

 

[Rumrunner]

You have never been to the Coliseum have you?

USC doesn't play on campus. You can think all you want, it's not going to happen. There is zero support for it anywhere but in your brain.

 

[Rico444]

Didn't they just build Rentschler?

 

[Waquoit]

UCLA doesn't play on campus.

 

[Mike Honcho]

UCLA doesn't play on campus.

That's true. It's an hour+ to get to Pasadena on game days.