New Stadium Activity

[untcampbell]

Did anyone see how much dividers between the urinals will set me back?

Signed,

Shy bladder

[PerryG2480]

Did anyone see how much dividers between the urinals will set me back?

Signed,

Shy bladder

Haha. Say your multiplication tables (2 times 2 is 4, 2 times 3 is 6, etc) silently to yourself...works every time! Seriously. Or, just drink enough beers to where you could care less.

[DeepGreen]

Since Plumm is MIA, I'll send out the Plumm-signal(sm)

HELLSBELLS!!!!

LG computer screens are worth the money. Spewed coffee does not effect them!

[GreenAlums]

Just had another talk. Bottom line, we WILL have a new stadium in 2010. Any way you cut it, spin it, speculate it, minimize it...sounds like it's ACTUALLY happening. We do need the money sooner than later to make ther stadium the best it can be.

School needs the Fouts field complex and surrounding area (parking lot and MG Village) for classroom/dorm space and TXDot needs the land to the Northwest for I-35 right of way. There are quite a few moving parts to this deal.

GMG!

[runt96]

Should we all meet accross 35 with shovels on Sat. am ?

[UNTflyer]

Should we all meet accross 35 with shovels on Sat. am ?

I think it would be more fun to show up at Fouts with dynamite.

(This posting was made in jest and no act of domestic terrorism is encouraged or endorsed by UNTflyer. Thank you, Homeland Security and Dick Cheney, and God bless America.)

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I'm not sure that this means very much yet as Mr. and Mrs. Goldfield funded this study several months ago. Supposedly the engineering and environmental studies had been completed prior to the construction of the athletics center so this is the preliminary step in order to sell a product rather than a concept. That does not mean that millions have already been donated/pledged toward that goal.

Remember, we do not have to have the entire project pledged before we can start construction. Since the stadium will produce revenue, it's likely that stadium bonds will be issued. That will happen when the Board of Regents is convinced that the combination of pledges and attendance figures are sufficient to expect a reasonable probability that the bonds can be retired on schedule.

As to potential donors, I would expect at least one bank, perhaps more to be a seven figure contributor.

[runt96]

I think it would be more fun to show up at Fouts with dynamite.

(This posting was made in jest and no act of domestic terrorism is encouraged or endorsed by UNTflyer. Thank you, Homeland Security and Dick Cheney, and God bless America.)

I like the small print disclosure(good choice)

[NT80]

Supposedly the engineering and environmental studies had been completed prior to the construction of the athletics center so this is the preliminary step in order to sell a product rather than a concept. That does not mean that millions have already been donated/pledged toward that goal.

Remember, we do not have to have the entire project pledged before we can start construction. Since the stadium will produce revenue, it's likely that stadium bonds will be issued. That will happen when the Board of Regents is convinced that the combination of pledges and attendance figures are sufficient to expect a reasonable probability that the bonds can be retired on schedule.

I'm confused. As GreyEagleOne mentions, didn't we already do the major studies for this stadium site, even producing a stadium design and concept video? Why would we have to redo the studies again? I think the previous design itself could be better (yes, I volunteer to help decide what the stadium should look like! ).

Also, it was mentioned in one of the request statements that something like dual classroom or academic space incorporated into the stadium could be considered. Would academic space qualify for state funding towards partial construction?

Any stadium talk is encouraging, I want to hear more......

[Stan R]

My understanding was the work done was to study environmental impact. Drainage, traffic out of the area, impact to endangered species, Lead paint testing, squirrel abatement, that kind of thing. The conceptual rendering was some guy playing around with CGI software. There was no architectural data behind it. So they need an ACTUAL architect to give them cost with a *REAL* desgin. Besides, we didn't like the original design anyway, right? Hopefully they'll burn that and try again without the small lower level seating. Just my understandings.

[ShopMeanGreen]

Villarreal estimated over the summer a new stadium would cost $52 million.

From everything I have seen $52M won't get much of a stadium. Probably will have to look like UCF but a little small. Are my numbers off?

[Stan R]

I remember RV saying something about the fact that an in-ground stadium is cheaper to produce because there is not as much concrete being used. That could lower the costs somewhat.

[keith]

Forgive me if this had been posted in the past, but in my digging, I ran across this:

Not DIRECTLY related to the stadium fund, but either I missed this, forgot about it, or it wasn't announced.

Thanks for posting this Cerebus. I knew Mr. Payne and his wife when I lived across the street from them at the old Phi Kap house on Scripture (great house with great parties BTW). Anyway, Mr. Payne had a little side business where he sold (rented really since he bought them back for pennies on the dollar at the end of the year/semester) window air conditioning units out of his garage. He put up with a lot from us. I didn't know they had both passed away.

Keith

[JesseMartin]

Sorry I haven't been on in a couple of days, otherwise I could have helped to make more sense of some of this as far as funding goes. Some of the following information may be old news to some people, but it might help. Refer to the quotes below when unraveling why I'm pointing out some specifics.

Structures such as the Rec Center and a new stadium are auxiliary structures. As such, we can't get state funding for them. We can, however, be "bonded", which is basically a University's version of a mortgage. The amount of interest paid in bonding depends on the rating we get for a bond for a given structure, and Phil Diebel's office could explain that a lot better than I can.

The Rec Center problem wasn't that enough money wasn't raised, it was that there were some problems mid-construction and the company was trying to change their price. I believe the Regents did help, but the problem was that the company tried to change their price quote on a state contract mid-construction. The student fee was already set, and the amount wasn't going to be enough to cover the excess that they wanted. If I recall correctly, I think some materials and labor costs may have gone up since the original quote. Sue Delmark at UNT Rec or Dr. Jacobs' office (Student Development) would probably have more info on how they made up the difference, but I do know that in the end the construction company didn't get as much of an increase as they had requested.

With such auxiliary structures and bonds, you do have to show how the money will be raised. The other quote below refers to one of those methods. However, don't be too terribly surprised to see a designated Stadium Fee proposed through the Student Government soon. On the other hand, there was an issue in 1990 or 1991 with the new bleachers being paid out of Student Service Fees, and after the fact that money had to be repaid and the initial money went into a scholarship fund. If you can find Bill Miller (SGA Pres around 1990 and "HomeCondom King" right before or after, I forget), he can explain it better...as can, again, Phil Diebel or someone else in Finance. It was a big clusterf***, but I think the problem was that the money was incorrectly designated...so, to make a long story short, I'm still pretty sure that a temporary "designated fee" could help.

Otherwise, if they show a decent amount of donations to date, increase in donations for such a cause over the last couple of years, etc., that should be sufficient...again, Diebel's office can tell you anything you want to know about bonds for state entities.

Basically, the whole thing is a big pain in the ass. My freshman year (1996-97) is when RLSS (Rec/Leisure Studies Society) initially proposed the new Rec Center. We went through student surveys, multiple votes, 2 state legislative votes, traveling across the country to discuss funding, facilities, staffing, etc. with Universities that had similar facilities to the one we were hoping to get, dissent among students and within Student Government...it was quite a hassle.

Athletics has a much better fundraising base, as well as people who research stuff like this on a regular basis, so I think as long as any bonding issues work out as we would hope, it will probably be a much easier process than was the Rec Center...unless, of course, a designated student fee (sorry I didn't define it sooner, it seems pretty obvious but it's a specific fee above and beyond what you pay in general fees, like your library fee, rec center fee, Union fees, etc) comes into the picture...then there's a whole new can of worms and it's a major pain. Let's just hope their fundraising will be sufficient to take care of it in the long run.

The point is that we don't need $40 million, we probably need to show that money in hand and money pledged and not received is...I'm making an educated guess here, but probably about $10-14 million since we don't have a designated fee (guaranteed revenue) for it yet.

Hope this helped...at least a little...

Jesse

That we started construction without enough money raised. Then it had to stay half constructed for a while. Then the regents had to bail us out.

As I have been told they go by an 80/20 rule, meaning during a silent phase they try and obtain 80 percent of the stadium from 20 percent of the donors. Once that is reached you go back and try and get the remaining 20 percent from the remaining 80 percent of the donors.

Rick

[greenminer]

We have a stadium on campus now. Did she say we would have a NEW stadium by 2010?

If you really want to word smith that quote, you can speculate whether the new stadium will actually be ON campus. What would they do with Fouts?

[PlummMeanGreen]

Look at the date required for the RFQ to be returned.....12-12-07 2pm. Looks real and it looks real soon! Also seems there is a short list for UNT already. This would not be the first any firm heard of it if the turnaround was several weeks on an RFQ.

OK, OK,...I'll try to contain my excitement!!

I saw the 2 write-ups on this most important announcement in today's Dallas Morning News & Fort Worth Star Telegram and all this truly is:

A Red Letter Day--

For The University of North Texas--

And More Than We Can Possibly Realize!

Edited December 7, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[Mean Green 93-98]

I saw the 2 write-ups on this most important announcement in today's Dallas Morning News & Fort Worth Star Telegram and all this truly is:

A Red Letter Day--

For The University of North Texas--

And More Than We Can Possibly Realize!

Red letter? Well, I imagine this stadium will set us back quite a bit, but in the long run it will be good for the university.

[mean green d]

Or a Mean Green Letter day as it were! GMG

[trud1966]

Red letter? Well, I imagine this stadium will set us back quite a bit, but in the long run it will be good for the university.

Can someone post the link from the DMN and/or FWST?

[NT80]

Can someone post the link from the DMN and/or FWST?

The DMN blurb was just a small portion of the whole DRC article posted here:

http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=38420

Link to Star Telegram article under "college notes" section:

http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sport...ory/346989.html

Edited December 8, 2007 by NT80

[UNTflyer]

What would they do with Fouts?

Parking... and wouldn't that be a great spot for the new business building??

[MCMLXXX]

Parking... and wouldn't that be a great spot for the new business building??

Destroy the stands and enclose the field as an indoor practice facility.

[Bryan316]

Parking... and wouldn't that be a great spot for the new business building??

They already have a spot for the new COBA building.

[NT80]

Parking... and wouldn't that be a great spot for the new business building??

I heard parking, dorms, and academic buildings (core campus type stuff).

[GreenAlums]

Destroy the stands and enclose the field as an indoor practice facility.

That would be an excellent addition to the football facilities but I don't think it will happen. Great idea though. I think to justify the funds required to build a new stadium we have to show a long range plan to realize the return on investment that doesn't include increased revenue on attendence at the football game. (Not sure why I think this!!) The return on a great stadium is a no-brainer! But...That long range plan would have to include growth in areas of students and facilities to take care of them. Dorm space that is attractive enough to encourage more students to stay on campus is money in the universitie's pocket that can't be ignored. Everything happens with a price.

Still a good idea!!