Board passes $22M for stadium design

[USF_Bullsharks]

$400MM does sound high - I wonder if there are unannounced revenue streams or pledged donations being considered. 

[GoBulls84]

2 minutes ago, USF_Bullsharks said:

$400MM does sound high - I wonder if there are unannounced revenue streams or pledged donations being considered. 

I can't imagine that Weatherford, Law, Kelly, and everybody have come this far without having at least a large portion of the funding figured out, we just haven't heard what it is yet. I'm sure there are some larger donations that are set in place and will be announced when the official cost and groundbreaking date and everything are made public. We've come too far down the pipeline to get to the cost being publicized and them saying "Ok, well now we know it's $___ million. Now then, who's going to pay it?"

[USF_Bullsharks]

Agreed 100%. Plus, the university is willing to invest significantly. That can also mean that the gifts to the school for this school year have been generous. I've been waiting for the USF Foundation annual report since year end and have looked for it 3-4 times because every few weeks I forget that it's based on the school year calendar. Should be out in about 2 months I think. 

[bulloni]

22 hours ago, Jim Johnson said:

@FazaUSF and I were on the same session with about 20 others.  The ideas shared were basically everything we've heard here many times before.  Some highlights:

• Quite a lot of support for having a centralized tailgating location, while allowing people to tailgate across campus if they so choose.
  • This would allow for a return of the pregame walk for the team
  • It would also allow parts of the band to play for different tailgate areas (something they used to do)
• Shade! With more shade, people are more likely to remain in the bowl for more of the game
• Band - make it easy for them to get to and from the field, and account for instruments if they have a dedicate section
• Seat backs were important to a few people... but everyone said the students could use SRO or bench seating
• Ensure a enough concessions and bathrooms to avoid really long lines, and allow video/audio of the game when waiting
• Allow expanded access to the facility
  • A restaurant that could be open year around
  • Allow people to run/workout
  • Let student club sports use/rent the field
  • Design the acoustics to account for concerts

 

Did it seem like the shape/style of the stadium is decided, and these groups are to help them decide what bells and whistles to prioritize? Or are we pretty early in the design process and even the shape of the stadium is still being decided?

[Jim Johnson]

41 minutes ago, bulloni said:

Did it seem like the shape/style of the stadium is decided, and these groups are to help them decide what bells and whistles to prioritize? Or are we pretty early in the design process and even the shape of the stadium is still being decided?

There was a comment about the shape being the Iconic U logo... but there wasn't a great deal of discussion because of the additional cost to make that shape -- plus logos can change.

There was also discussion about making it consistent with the rest of the athletics district (baseball, softball, muma center, corbett, etc)

Does that help?

[belgianbull]

1 hour ago, USF_Bullsharks said:

$400MM does sound high - I wonder if there are unannounced revenue streams or pledged donations being considered. 

It does sound high. However, San Diego State's new stadium has a listed construction cost of 310 million. Nice stadium with 35,000 capacity. If you take into account high inflation the 400 million might not be that far from reality looking at todays prices for something similar.

[CousinRicky]

3 hours ago, GoBulls84 said:

I can't imagine that Weatherford, Law, Kelly, and everybody have come this far without having at least a large portion of the funding figured out, we just haven't heard what it is yet. I'm sure there are some larger donations that are set in place and will be announced when the official cost and groundbreaking date and everything are made public. We've come too far down the pipeline to get to the cost being publicized and them saying "Ok, well now we know it's $___ million. Now then, who's going to pay it?"

You may need a better imagination.

[jjlovecub]

54 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

You may need a better imagination.

You don’t really think they don’t have a solid plan do you? Every indication is that they’ve been very diligent about the organization of this plan.

[John Lewis]

12 minutes ago, jjlovecub said:

You don’t really think they don’t have a solid plan do you? Every indication is that they’ve been very diligent about the organization of this plan.

What business is Will Weatherford in?

[jjlovecub]

27 minutes ago, John Lewis said:

What business is Will Weatherford in?

Exactly