Poor Lil' ol' Oklahoma. Add this to Florida postponing it's renovations to it's facilities, particularly the huge basketball project, and Syracuse with no progress at all on the Carrier Dome, where the roof is failing (again), and the state and city have broken off talks on a new taxpayer funded venue in the last year, amongst others.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — University of Oklahoma President David Boren admitted skepticism that Memorial Stadium’s grandiose renovation project even would be started.
When oil prices unexpectedly started tumbling a few months ago, major donors took a crunch on their net worth. Giving money suddenly wasn’t a top priority.
Instead of scrapping the $370 million project, Boren started looking for ways to get part of the renovation complete before the 2016 football season, which was the original timetable for stadium improvements.
Corners were cut and, while using words like “focused†and “frugal†during the Board of Regents meeting Tuesday, Boren presented a scaled-down $160 million version of the stadium renovation.
The project, unanimously approved by the board, will begin with Phase I in 4-6 weeks. The most visible portion of this phase will be completion of the south end zone seating bowl, which will increase the seating capacity to more than 84,000 seats. As future adjustments to aisles and handrails are made, the capacity could decrease a bit.
“I was skeptical myself,†Boren said after the meeting. “The jury was out with me even if we could move forward with this first phase. But the resiliency of the fan base — the strong support from them and the athletic department revenues — have convinced me that this is very doable.â€
No taxpayer funding or student funds are going to the project. Boren said $43 million has been accounted for through revenue like suite sales, while the remaining $117 million will be funded by bond money.
Repaying the bond — at $7 million annually — was important, Boren said. He said OU football can generate $12 million a year at 80 percent capacity, which gives a $5 million cushion. That final figure gave him confidence the project could continue.
“We’re all part of the economy. What happens, it’s ebb and flow, and the fact that we have said from day one that any and all of the stadium construction we fund has to come from private sources,†OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said. “So we have to be mindful of those key stakeholders that currently or in the future will fund the aspects of our program that we’re trying to improve. We’re also mindful of our own operational budget and the sources of revenue required to make it work.
“We’re one of the six remaining programs in the United States that are truly self-sustaining. We have to keep all of that in mind as we’re being good stewards of our financial resources.â€
A portion of the current south end zone structure, which includes some stadium seating, football operations, a training room and strength training facility, will be razed and reconstructed.
The new building will include a new locker room, strength and conditioning room, training room, nutrition center, meeting rooms and equipment operation. Student-athletes from all 21 sports will benefit, Boren said.
The seating bowl will feature an expanded concourse, additional restrooms and concessions. The new structure will have 22 suites, 60 open-air loge boxes and 1,976 club seats. The south end zone facility will include a pair of open-air fan plazas.
Original design concepts included work on the stadium’s west side, and Castiglione said work will proceed when scheduling and funding allow.
Boren said there’s no timetable on future improvements.
“Maybe when the oil prices get back up and stay stable for a while and the economy is back on its usual footing, that’s when we’ll make a decision on the second phase,†Boren said. “It’s kind of the same thing in reverse.â€
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New assistant coaches get contracts approved: The Board of Regents approved the contracts for OU’s three new assistant coaches.
Defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks has a two-year contact worth $425,000. Defensive line coach Diron Reynolds and outside wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons received one-year deals worth $275,000.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
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OKLAHOMA CITY — University of Oklahoma President David Boren admitted skepticism that Memorial Stadium’s grandiose renovation project even would be started.
When oil prices unexpectedly started tumbling a few months ago, major donors took a crunch on their net worth. Giving money suddenly wasn’t a top priority.
Instead of scrapping the $370 million project, Boren started looking for ways to get part of the renovation complete before the 2016 football season, which was the original timetable for stadium improvements.
Corners were cut and, while using words like “focused†and “frugal†during the Board of Regents meeting Tuesday, Boren presented a scaled-down $160 million version of the stadium renovation.
The project, unanimously approved by the board, will begin with Phase I in 4-6 weeks. The most visible portion of this phase will be completion of the south end zone seating bowl, which will increase the seating capacity to more than 84,000 seats. As future adjustments to aisles and handrails are made, the capacity could decrease a bit.
“I was skeptical myself,†Boren said after the meeting. “The jury was out with me even if we could move forward with this first phase. But the resiliency of the fan base — the strong support from them and the athletic department revenues — have convinced me that this is very doable.â€
No taxpayer funding or student funds are going to the project. Boren said $43 million has been accounted for through revenue like suite sales, while the remaining $117 million will be funded by bond money.
Repaying the bond — at $7 million annually — was important, Boren said. He said OU football can generate $12 million a year at 80 percent capacity, which gives a $5 million cushion. That final figure gave him confidence the project could continue.
“We’re all part of the economy. What happens, it’s ebb and flow, and the fact that we have said from day one that any and all of the stadium construction we fund has to come from private sources,†OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said. “So we have to be mindful of those key stakeholders that currently or in the future will fund the aspects of our program that we’re trying to improve. We’re also mindful of our own operational budget and the sources of revenue required to make it work.
“We’re one of the six remaining programs in the United States that are truly self-sustaining. We have to keep all of that in mind as we’re being good stewards of our financial resources.â€
A portion of the current south end zone structure, which includes some stadium seating, football operations, a training room and strength training facility, will be razed and reconstructed.
The new building will include a new locker room, strength and conditioning room, training room, nutrition center, meeting rooms and equipment operation. Student-athletes from all 21 sports will benefit, Boren said.
The seating bowl will feature an expanded concourse, additional restrooms and concessions. The new structure will have 22 suites, 60 open-air loge boxes and 1,976 club seats. The south end zone facility will include a pair of open-air fan plazas.
Original design concepts included work on the stadium’s west side, and Castiglione said work will proceed when scheduling and funding allow.
Boren said there’s no timetable on future improvements.
“Maybe when the oil prices get back up and stay stable for a while and the economy is back on its usual footing, that’s when we’ll make a decision on the second phase,†Boren said. “It’s kind of the same thing in reverse.â€
---------
New assistant coaches get contracts approved: The Board of Regents approved the contracts for OU’s three new assistant coaches.
Defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks has a two-year contact worth $425,000. Defensive line coach Diron Reynolds and outside wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons received one-year deals worth $275,000.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
