New Improved Sun Dome for USF??

[Knight_Light]

Look at what your new AD was able to plan/start to build at St. Louis.

SWEET Building!!!

http://arena.slu.edu/arena4.html

Not bad building for private school.

[Guest S.  Bien]

Look at what your new AD was able to plan/start to build at St. Louis.

SWEET Building!!!

http://arena.slu.edu/arena4.html

Not bad building for private school.

Knight Light....thank you for the direction.  I believe once Woolard's had a chance to get going he will impress many.

A good hire, that is relatively unassuming right now.

[Ricky the Bull]

It sounds like one of his priorities will be the rennovation of the Sun Dome... something sorely needed.

Sun Dome Is A High Priority

By GARY HABER ghaber@tampatrib.com

Published: May 13, 2004

TAMPA - One of Doug Woolard's first acts as the University of South Florida's new athletic director will be opening a long-awaited $15 million athletic training facility this summer.

But Woolard, who was named to the post Wednesday, said one of USF's oldest buildings is also on his mind. Renovating the aging Sun Dome is another priority as USF prepares to enter the Big East conference in 2005, Woolard said.

``It's an older facility and there are a lot of facilities that have been built more recently,'' said Woolard, who led the push to raise the $60 million needed to build a 13,000-seat on-campus basketball arena as the athletic director at Saint Louis University since 1994.

``What we want to do is provide the best experience for our student-athletes,'' he said. ``Some upgrades need to be done in that facility, and we also need to be able to give our coaches an opportunity to have more of a level playing field in recruiting.''

Woolard said he has not determined which improvements need to be made to the 24-year-old arena, but school officials have talked about a laundry list of upgrades, from replacing the 10,411 molded plastic seats to adding plush luxury boxes and a new scoreboard.

USF is in the midst of a fund-raising campaign to raise between $30 million and $40 million for the athletics program, a portion of which would pay for a Sun Dome makeover.

Adding fan-friendly amenities and a winning record in basketball - the Bulls finished last in Conference USA this season in coach Robert McCullum's first year - will help draw more fans for men's basketball games, Woolard said.

The USF men's basketball team had the worst home attendance in Conference USA this season, drawing an average of 3,348 fans a game, a 50- percent drop from 6,760 in 2002-03.

``I think they've got the right guy in place,'' Woolard said. ``I think he's going to change the fortunes of this basketball program, and he's going to do it the right way. ... That alone will be a big step, then we need to make sure we market the product and provide a good fan environment.''

As Saint Louis' AD the past 10 years, Woolard has presided over a men's basketball program that has been one of the top draws in college hoops, nearly selling out the 20,000- seat Savvis Center, which the Billikens share with the NHL's St. Louis Blues.

The Billikens averaged 17,707 people in 1997-98, but attendance has slid each of the past six seasons, bottoming out at 8,918 this season, ninth best in 14-team C-USA.

Woolard also said he hasn't yet identified how much USF will need to increase its athletics budget to field competitive Big East teams.

``I'm not going to name a number, because I don't know what that is yet,'' he said.

USF's operating budget for athletics for 2003-2004 is $17.4 million, and will rise to about $19 million next year, the school's last season in C- USA. School officials have said they expect to bump up the budget once they enter the Big East in 2005.

The average C-USA football school spent an average of $29.4 million on athletics in 2001-02, the most recent year figures were available.

http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGA29N286UD.html

[Knight_Light]

Those Jesuits run a very, very, tight ship

SLU President delays construction of new SLU Basketball Arena:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/9D89BBB88415CA4C86256E8B00476CC4?OpenDocument&Headline=SLU's+arena+construction+is+pushed+back++

SLU's arena construction is pushed back

By Doug Moore

Of the Post-Dispatch

05/05/2004

Construction on an arena at St. Louis University will not begin for at least nine months, pushing the opening date back a year later than originally targeted.

University officials said Tuesday that the focus of SLU remained education and getting the money in hand for a new biomedical research facility took priority over the planned 13,000-seat arena.

Their comments reiterate those of SLU's president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, who said in his state of the university address two weeks ago that the research building "remains my top priority for our university."

The university announced plans for the research center just more than two months ago. Biondi has told his staff that construction will begin on the $80 million research project, which will be partially funded with federal dollars, before work begins on the arena.

 Ã‚ 

In December, Biondi predicted a spring groundbreaking for the arena. It was expected to be completed in late 2005 to coincide with the basketball season and the university's switch to the Atlantic 10 conference, which has a higher profile than Conference USA.

Don Whelan, vice president for development, said there was some concern from SLU faculty that too much emphasis was being put on the arena project, so the university's top officials are making sure the focus on SLU's growth remains with research support, academic programs, endowed chairs and scholarships.

And the university stands by its commitment not to dip into tuition money to help build the arena, said Bob Woodruff, SLU's chief financial officer and arena project manager.

The university has raised more than $200 million of the $300 million goal set at the beginning of its fund-raising campaign two years ago. The majority of the money is going to fund scholarships. Only $12 million has been pledged for the $70-million arena.

On Tuesday, Woodruff said the stadium was a "huge financial commitment" and construction would not start until the university had reached its fund-raising goal - including $40 million in private funds to pay for the arena.

SLU officials want at least 75 percent of that in hand before construction begins. The university would sell $25 million in bonds with payments covered from ticket sales to events at the new arena and from naming rights.

The other $5 million would come from building the arena in a tax increment-financing district.

The university is negotiating with several corporations about putting their name on the arena. The site on the southwest corner of Laclede and Compton avenue and just north of Highway 40 (Interstate 64) provides great visibility, Whelan said.

He estimates that 50 million vehicles a year pass by the site. The new arena also would be built in a flight path so that a sign on top would be visible from a plane.

The naming rights, which the university wants to sell for $15 million over 20 years, "are a big part of the equation," Whelan said.

The university also has verbal commitments for 16 of the 20 suites planned for the arena, although formal marketing of the suites has not begun. Depending on the level of interest, the arena could be built with 32 suites, Whelan said.

Meanwhile, the university continues working on the arena project every day, Woodruff said. Waring School, which SLU bought from St. Louis Public Schools for $1.25 million, has been torn down. Engineers have bored several holes at the arena site to check the water table. The arena would sit atop groundwater often referred to as Mill Creek. And Woodruff and other officials are talking with arena management companies to see whether it is best to outsource the work or have the university do it.

The university plans to wait on relocating tennis courts and tearing down a third of Grand Forest Apartments, used for student housing, until an arena construction schedule is firmly in hand.

The university now hopes to be able to start construction in February 2005 for an opening in the fall of 2006, Woodruff said. The men's basketball team will continue to play at Savvis Center until the new arena opens, Woodruff said.

"We're committed to the project," he said. "We just don't have a firm date."

Reporter Doug Moore

E-mail: dmoore@post-dispatch.com

Phone: 314-622-3580

[bulls96go]

he likes coach mac

and usf has done more with less than any cusa school (usf has won the most csua championships)

$17.4M vs $ 29.4M

wow! and some still think LRS did a mediocre job as AD

[USFMikeB]

There's something wrong with the $29.4 million number...

[USFMikeB]

I can confirm that the non-profit that runs the Sun Dome as a USF DSO is looking for a naming rights sponsor...

[CyberBull]

There's something wrong with the $29.4 million number...

That number is the average budget for the Big East.

UL had C-USA's highest athletic budget and it was just over $30-million.

.

[Omniscientbull]

If non-profit could sell the rights they could in turn provide a lower rent for basketball, thus easing the budget.  Additionally, the non-profit could afford a new scoreboard, upgraded seats, etc, none of which comes out of the athletic budget.

[USFMikeB]

That number is the average budget for the Big East.

UL had C-USA's highest athletic budget and it was just over $30-million.

.

I figured it was for the BE, but didn't have time to verify.  I love it when you see an obvious error in a story...