Tx Fb News Article/dmn Nt Wants To Build Its Dream Home

[OldTimer]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...de.337081c.html

[UNTflyer]

Since hiring Dodge, UNT has been more open about its desire to replace Fouts Field – a facility built in 1952 – with a 30,000-seat expandable stadium.

So, let's put all this talk about a 40 or 50k stadium to rest. The key is that the new stadium will be EXPANDABLE for future needs, unlike Fouts today.

[Green Crazy]

i'm pumped about them saying it's closer than we think, but is that because they keep dropping the cost of the stadium? i remember seeing the estimated cost of the stadium a couple of years back at $67 mill, then maybe a year a go seeing the estimated cost at $62 mill, now it's dropped to $52 mill, has anyone else noticed this?

[gksmith]

I read that while waiting for a haircut. Impressive. Looks like a new stadium is not that far away.

[NT80]

Why a new stadium is closer now than a year ago:

"Your football coach has to be a part of the puzzle when you are working on a project of this nature," Villarreal said. "He has to let people know how important the project is and take the time to go out and meet donors. We are going to ask people for large sums of money who have to believe in our football coach."

I do like how NT administrators are more openly talking about a new stadium and it has been in the media lately. This article is on the top of the page inside the DMN sports section in Bold headline with a good photo of Fouts and RV. Being the day after a Cowboy win many sports fans (and hopefully donors) will be reading it.

[Mad Hatter]

I've had 3 people at work today ask me if I saw the article, and they said it was cool to see NT getting so much publicity and really taking advantage of Dodge.

[NTPhiKap99]

I've had 3 people at work today ask me if I saw the article, and they said it was cool to see NT getting so much publicity and really taking advantage of Dodge.

That's exactly what we have to do. Rather he's here for 4 years or 20 we need to take advantage of eveything he brings to the program.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Yet...what's really different from Day One when we were told not so long ago all football operations would be moving over to our Eagle Point Campus?

Fact remains.............UNT will (still) need a Big Donor whether we build a 30K, 35K or a 40,000 seat stadium. Question is who is going to give the Big Bucks to even build a 30,000 seat stadium? Only the green-tinted shadow knows I suppose. NOTE: FWIW, if we can find a Big Donor who can build us a 30K size stadium, would an additional 5,000 seats be so undo-able? Like ADLER's recent post said, "let's not be the first NCAA D1-A school that has a football stadium smaller than its enrollment.

IMHO, UNT may not be pulling out all of the stops to get the right fund-raising team together to get "US" a consortium of Big Donors using our fire power influencers from decades past. If this thing is built too small because of a few egos who won't be around when we will probably really need a larger stadium; or those who may just want to get something built for the sake of getting anything built, then our lot will (once again) be cast for the next 25 years and (hopefully) it won't shadow our last 25 years of which not that much significant really happened for Mean Green football as far a being a Top 25 program (or even inside the Top 50 FWIW).

NOTE: I would think UNT's higher echelon leaders are still a bit uncomfortable approving the raising and spending more monies on this new stadium than our school's fund-raisers have been able to raise in our entire 100 plus years of existance and FWIW................can you really blame them, although not a dime raised for our new football digs will not affect faculty/staff pay raises whatsoever.

I still defer to the below signature and will until someone tells me Fry and/or Blakely just aren't interested. In the opinion of more than a few, they are virtually a prime untapped resource that the UNT Board of Regents, ie, most of whom are joined at the hip to UNT most likely till the day they pass on to that Mean Green haven in the sky; nevertheless, our UNT BOR's should (at least) check on this fund-raising resources (if they are serious about using those with UNT ties in this fundraising venture) and just not lightly pass by this possible dynamic resource .............that is, 2 men from our UNT past who had been DFW Metroplex fixtures for most of their adult lives and while during that time really getting to know many, many, many of DFW's rich & famous. Isn't that what successful collegiate fundraisers have in their personal arsenals anyway? Why not go to those potential Big Donors already familiar with some of our home-grown own?

Couple of Decades In DFW Inter-Collegiate Work-Force Breeds Familiarity: All this building of personal relationships with some of Texas' most rich & famous when Fry was at SMU for 11 years as AD/HFC (and then with his 6 years at UNT); and with Bill Blakely you had a former coach of the old ABA Dalllas Chapparals and then later at UNT when BB used to draw larger crowds when Denton had a pop. of about 39,000 and UNT had about 17,000 enrollment.

BUT..................does it really matter who gets the glory in getting this new stadium done in Denton?

I for damn sure hope we are way beyond any of that possible kind of mind-set.

Edited August 11, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen