URI athletic bonds?
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:49 pm
Thorr Bjorn was on the Rhody Baseline podcast last week and dropped some interesting information about potential bonds for athletic facility improvements.
He begins talking about them at around 13:25. Pardon my poor transcription skills:
"Athletics hasn't been part of, for example facilities, we haven't been part of a bond since the Ryan Center was built. President Parlange knows that, he understands that we do need to get our East stands redone and a new press box and everything, we need a track, we need softball stands, we need baseball stands, we need a boathouse, we need a soccer press box and dugouts. So there's needs and we've done some of the initial architectural engineering work to figure out how much that's going to cost, but I think he understands that at some point that Athletics is going to have to be part of a bond whether two years from now, four years from now, I know the Bay Campus is something that's being discussed soon. Where do we fall in that pecking order and he's made it very clear to me that he understands that and he knows it's important, and we need to do those things. Because there may not be another athletic bond for another 25 years, 27 years, and that's ok because there's a lot of needs that's not a complaint, it is what it is. It's nice to know that we're going to be part of that conversation, we need to be. We've raised a lot of money for the practice facility, that's just about $8 million that we raised, all donors, it's great, it's the biggest fundraising initiative we've ever done. We've got great donors who are very supportive, but we don't have the masses like big time power 5 schools that are able to not only generate revenue from a donor perspective but can also finance things. We can't do that, they can. So we need that bond, we need to be part of that, and I know we will be at some point. I trust that will happen whether again two years, four years, probably not more than six because now we're getting pushed out too far."
Renovated Meade Stadium with new East stands and press box
Outdoor track
Softball stands
Baseball stands
Boathouse
Soccer press box and dugouts
Meade alone costs about $25 to $30 million.
Not sure how reputable this site is: https://sportsvenuecalculator.com/ but they have the
Outdoor track around $544,000 to $1.232 million (we have an 8 lane track and I went with disposal of old track and build instead of resurface because the track has been condemned for over 20 years)
Softball - George Mason (host of the 2022 A10 softball tournament) spent $2.3 million on their renovation in 2009, though that included a complete replacement of the field surface which we just did this past offseason. "In each of the newly constructed sunken dugouts, players have access to private restroom facilities as well as new bullpens. The third base side features a double batting cage. In the seating bowl itself, the stadium features 200 permanent metal seats behind home plate, with grass berm seating for an additional 500 spectators. While walking on the wide concourse, spectators can take advantage of the men's and women's restroom facilities and water fountain. The park features a brand-new public address and sound system as well as a climate-controlled press box." https://gomason.com/facilities/george-m ... -complex/3
Baseball - Fordham (host of the 2022 A10 baseball tournament) spent $4.3 million to renovate their baseball facility in 2005. "The facility underwent a $4.3 million renovation, which included a new drainage system, a new FieldTurf surface, a new scoreboard and sound system, and lights. In addition, new bullpens, recessed dugouts, a 500-seat grandstand, a press box and a renovated entrance were also a part of the new look of the complex." "In 2012, Houlihan Park got another new addition with a full-color video scoreboard, made by Daktronics. The new display has the ability to show video, in game statistics, and more. In summer 2014, the surface of Houlihan Park was replaced, while a new outfield wall and batting cage area (behind right field) were installed. In addition, a Daktronics sound system was installed on top of the scoreboard." I don't think we'll be looking at $4.3 million necessarily but we are probably almost due to have the field resurfaced, we don't have lights, and the seating and press box would be essentially brand new I'm assuming.
Boathouse - No fucking clue. Sorry, there's a limit to my research ability.
Soccer - again, not really sure, especially since it seems we wouldn't be doing anything to the field and stands.
So you're looking at $32.144 million to $37.832 million, minus softball field replacement, plus a boathouse, plus soccer dug outs and a press box just for the projects he named off the top of his head.
So the $35-$40 million question is how do we go about paying for transformational changes to the facilities of 9 of our programs? Thorr mentioned the last bond for athletics was for the Ryan Center, however that bond never went before the voters. And we had a $6.7 million bond in 2004 for athletics that 65.5% of RIers voted against. The timeline he threw out there didn't seem to allow for the Ryan Center bond to be paid for and kind of roll that over. Only thing I can think of then would be Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation bonds. We're using them for multiple projects on campus already, such as the Memorial Union expansion and renovation, so obviously taking out those bonds doesn't require going out to the voters. Interestingly it also seems like you can fund athletic facilities with these. When you go to the following website:
https://rihebc.com/accountability-trans ... tal-plans/
They have a picture of Bryant's athletic building. So is that the play? If so, is there any reason we're waiting? If we're doing it this way we don't have to wait for an election cycle. How would we pay these bonds back? Obviously still a lot of questions, but this is the current lay of the land as best as I can scope things out
He begins talking about them at around 13:25. Pardon my poor transcription skills:
"Athletics hasn't been part of, for example facilities, we haven't been part of a bond since the Ryan Center was built. President Parlange knows that, he understands that we do need to get our East stands redone and a new press box and everything, we need a track, we need softball stands, we need baseball stands, we need a boathouse, we need a soccer press box and dugouts. So there's needs and we've done some of the initial architectural engineering work to figure out how much that's going to cost, but I think he understands that at some point that Athletics is going to have to be part of a bond whether two years from now, four years from now, I know the Bay Campus is something that's being discussed soon. Where do we fall in that pecking order and he's made it very clear to me that he understands that and he knows it's important, and we need to do those things. Because there may not be another athletic bond for another 25 years, 27 years, and that's ok because there's a lot of needs that's not a complaint, it is what it is. It's nice to know that we're going to be part of that conversation, we need to be. We've raised a lot of money for the practice facility, that's just about $8 million that we raised, all donors, it's great, it's the biggest fundraising initiative we've ever done. We've got great donors who are very supportive, but we don't have the masses like big time power 5 schools that are able to not only generate revenue from a donor perspective but can also finance things. We can't do that, they can. So we need that bond, we need to be part of that, and I know we will be at some point. I trust that will happen whether again two years, four years, probably not more than six because now we're getting pushed out too far."
Renovated Meade Stadium with new East stands and press box
Outdoor track
Softball stands
Baseball stands
Boathouse
Soccer press box and dugouts
Meade alone costs about $25 to $30 million.
Not sure how reputable this site is: https://sportsvenuecalculator.com/ but they have the
Outdoor track around $544,000 to $1.232 million (we have an 8 lane track and I went with disposal of old track and build instead of resurface because the track has been condemned for over 20 years)
Softball - George Mason (host of the 2022 A10 softball tournament) spent $2.3 million on their renovation in 2009, though that included a complete replacement of the field surface which we just did this past offseason. "In each of the newly constructed sunken dugouts, players have access to private restroom facilities as well as new bullpens. The third base side features a double batting cage. In the seating bowl itself, the stadium features 200 permanent metal seats behind home plate, with grass berm seating for an additional 500 spectators. While walking on the wide concourse, spectators can take advantage of the men's and women's restroom facilities and water fountain. The park features a brand-new public address and sound system as well as a climate-controlled press box." https://gomason.com/facilities/george-m ... -complex/3
Baseball - Fordham (host of the 2022 A10 baseball tournament) spent $4.3 million to renovate their baseball facility in 2005. "The facility underwent a $4.3 million renovation, which included a new drainage system, a new FieldTurf surface, a new scoreboard and sound system, and lights. In addition, new bullpens, recessed dugouts, a 500-seat grandstand, a press box and a renovated entrance were also a part of the new look of the complex." "In 2012, Houlihan Park got another new addition with a full-color video scoreboard, made by Daktronics. The new display has the ability to show video, in game statistics, and more. In summer 2014, the surface of Houlihan Park was replaced, while a new outfield wall and batting cage area (behind right field) were installed. In addition, a Daktronics sound system was installed on top of the scoreboard." I don't think we'll be looking at $4.3 million necessarily but we are probably almost due to have the field resurfaced, we don't have lights, and the seating and press box would be essentially brand new I'm assuming.
Boathouse - No fucking clue. Sorry, there's a limit to my research ability.
Soccer - again, not really sure, especially since it seems we wouldn't be doing anything to the field and stands.
So you're looking at $32.144 million to $37.832 million, minus softball field replacement, plus a boathouse, plus soccer dug outs and a press box just for the projects he named off the top of his head.
So the $35-$40 million question is how do we go about paying for transformational changes to the facilities of 9 of our programs? Thorr mentioned the last bond for athletics was for the Ryan Center, however that bond never went before the voters. And we had a $6.7 million bond in 2004 for athletics that 65.5% of RIers voted against. The timeline he threw out there didn't seem to allow for the Ryan Center bond to be paid for and kind of roll that over. Only thing I can think of then would be Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation bonds. We're using them for multiple projects on campus already, such as the Memorial Union expansion and renovation, so obviously taking out those bonds doesn't require going out to the voters. Interestingly it also seems like you can fund athletic facilities with these. When you go to the following website:
https://rihebc.com/accountability-trans ... tal-plans/
They have a picture of Bryant's athletic building. So is that the play? If so, is there any reason we're waiting? If we're doing it this way we don't have to wait for an election cycle. How would we pay these bonds back? Obviously still a lot of questions, but this is the current lay of the land as best as I can scope things out