U N T's R F Q -- What You Need To Know

UNTFan23 · December 7, 2007

After talking with a few people over in the athletic department, here is what we know about where UNT stands as far as a new stadium to replace Fouts Field.
UNT has sent out a Request for Qualifications for architectural firms and will select one early next year that will study the site on which a new stadium would be built. The firm will work with the university to design a facility that would seat 30-35,000 and could be expanded to seat 50,000. That aspect of the project was spelled out in black and white in UNT's request for qualifications.
UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal called selecting a firm an initial step and said it does not mean that the school has a timetable set to build a stadium. He would also not reveal how much money UNT has on hand that will be used for a new stadium.
What it does mean is that UNT has raised enough to hire a firm to design a new facility, an aspect of the project that won't be cheap.
In a few months UNT will have a design for a new stadium, one that would no doubt be trotted out to show anyone with the ability to donate the money the school will need to complete the project.
Villarreal compared hiring a firm to the early stages of building the Mean Green Athletic Center. Once UNT had turned some dirt and shown that it was serious about the project, money was a lot easier to come by. UNT officials are hoping the initial steps they are taking toward building a stadium will have a similar effect.
UNT received $1.5 million for an early study on what it would take to build a new stadium late last year from Al and Shirley Goldfield. Putting out an ROP appears to be the next step -- one that will end with the school knowing exactly what it wants in a new stadium and having the designs that will eventually be used in construction.

I think what Brent mentions is very important. We're taking some important first steps that will hopefully allow us to go to the big donors with actual renderings of what the stadium will actually look like. If the big cats are receptive, we could raise a lot of money real fast. It will be interesting to see where we are in a year.

Edited December 7, 2007 by UNTFan23

UNTflyer · December 7, 2007

And who are these big cats?

The Goldfields, certainly.

But I think we need a serious local corporate donor, but probably not a Denton-based company. A few that come to mind:

JC Penney

EDS

Frito-Lay

Pizza Inn

Pizza Hut

Mmmmm... now I'm getting hungry.

LongJim · December 7, 2007

And who are these big cats?
The Goldfields, certainly.
But I think we need a serious local corporate donor, but probably not a Denton-based company. A few that come to mind:
JC Penney
EDS
Frito-Lay
Pizza Inn
Pizza Hut
Mmmmm... now I'm getting hungry.

Peterbilt??

UNTflyer · December 7, 2007

Yeah, I thought of Peterbilt. Honestly, they would be a great name to put on the stadium... Big, tough truck.

However, Peterbilt is not a very big company. It is owned by PACCAR, which made a profit of $50m last year.

Interstate Battery is another potential sponsor. The President, Norm Miller, is a UNT alum.

According to wikipedia, the following corproate big wigs are UNT alum:

Byron Baird, CEO of Mrs. Baird's Bakeries (now owned by Grupo Bimbo)
Rhys Best, president of Lone Star Steel Company
Mike R. Bowlin, chairman of ARCO
Frank D. Bracken, president of Haggar Company
Norm Miller, president of Interstate Batteries; co-founder of the Great Race
Linda Hefner Woltz, president/CEO of Sara Lee Hosiery
Wende Zomnir, founding partner and executive creative director of Urban Decay Cosmetics

Cr1028 · December 7, 2007

Interstate Battery is another potential sponsor. The President, Norm Miller, is a UNT alum.
[*]Norm Miller, president of Interstate Batteries; co-founder of the Great Race

After looking at the Interstate website I noticed that he says he went to "college" and never mentions Denton or North Texas at all. Another interesting thing I found is that Daniel Sepulveda of the Pittsburgh Steelers and formerly of the Baylor Bears is the son of Carlos Sepulveda, the CEO of Interstate Batteries.

DeepGreen · December 7, 2007

What about Robert Onstead? Although now deceased, he was a North Texas alum and founder of Randalls grocery chain. He must have left of load of money in some foundation that looks for ways to give it away.

UNTFan23 · December 7, 2007

What about Robert Onstead? Although now deceased, he was a North Texas alum and founder of Randalls grocery chain. He must have left of load of money in some foundation that looks for ways to give it away.

The fountain mall is named after his wife (or some other relative), I believe.

UNTflyer · December 7, 2007

After looking at the Interstate website I noticed that he says he went to "college" and never mentions Denton or North Texas at all. Another interesting thing I found is that Daniel Sepulveda of the Pittsburgh Steelers and formerly of the Baylor Bears is the son of Carlos Sepulveda, the CEO of Interstate Batteries.

That may be because Norm is a big evangelical Christian now and his college days are not something he is proud of:

Sadly, with so many vices readily available, Norm began drinking at age fourteen. He immersed himself in the party scene, believing that this was the best life had to offer. During his senior year of high school, still unfocused and partying, he decided on a whim to enroll at North Texas State University in Denton (now the University of North Texas).

Norm's years in college may not have predicted the spiritual successes he would come to achieve, but they certainly foretold the resourcefulness and innovation that would come to mark his career. With his fraternity buddies, Norm set up a business hosting parties and selling alcohol. They made a great deal of money on the enterprise, only stopping when the business grew too large for them to manage. Norm's summers were still spent working at his father's service station in Galveston, and there he learned many of the hard lessons of commitment and dedication--in spite of the personal issues he was battling with alcohol.

Green Nightmare · December 7, 2007

Yeah, I thought of Peterbilt. Honestly, they would be a great name to put on the stadium... Big, tough truck.
However, Peterbilt is not a very big company. It is owned by PACCAR, which made a profit of $50m last year.
Interstate Battery is another potential sponsor. The President, Norm Miller, is a UNT alum.
According to wikipedia, the following corproate big wigs are UNT alum:
Byron Baird, CEO of Mrs. Baird's Bakeries (now owned by Grupo Bimbo)
Rhys Best, president of Lone Star Steel Company
Mike R. Bowlin, chairman of ARCO
Frank D. Bracken, president of Haggar Company
Norm Miller, president of Interstate Batteries; co-founder of the Great Race
Linda Hefner Woltz, president/CEO of Sara Lee Hosiery
Wende Zomnir, founding partner and executive creative director of Urban Decay Cosmetics

Lone Star just got bought by US Steel as an FYI

Maybe they would like to help out though

Green to the Bone · December 7, 2007

I can't believe I'm having to remind people that the big local donor needs to be The Tomato. Mean Green Tomato Field. We'll even go retro and resurrect the name The Flying Tomato, which will become the nickname for a Vizza pass.

I'm still working on how we can tap into that big chicken finger money by calling the visiting team Chicken Express. Will advise.

good_ken · December 7, 2007

After talking with a few people over in the athletic department, here is what we know about where UNT stands as far as a new stadium to replace Fouts Field.
I think what Brent mentions is very important. We're taking some important first steps that will hopefully allow us to go to the big donors with actual renderings of what the stadium will actually look like. If the big cats are receptive, we could raise a lot of money real fast. It will be interesting to see where we are in a year.

Having the design done will also provide a way to get a better estimate of what the costs will be. Construction firms will have something more detailed with which to estimate construction costs

DeepGreen · December 7, 2007

I thought Villareal already had the stadium design idea acouple of years ago? Remember everyone drooling over the powerpont presentation that some firm put together? Are was that typical smoke and mirrors?