Step forward for indoor facility

[gfhockey]

UND got approval to from SBOHE to sttart fundraising for the indoor stadium. Lots of effort and events will happen. The old rea will be torn down and a new stadium built in its place/

[GeauxSioux]

I see it listed in today's agenda for SBoHE.... 12-17-09 Board Agenda

Project Description

Construction of an approximately 100,000 square foot athletic facility having indoor track and

football field space, training room space, locker room space, and other areas supporting the

functions of the Athletic Department

Project will begin upon completion of a successful fundraising effort. It is possible construction may begin within 12 months of fundraising authorization.

[MJohnce]

http://www.crucialperception.com/timed.html

The link above has a possible visual of the facility in their set of images.

[UND Fan]

UND got approval to from SBOHE to sttart fundraising for the indoor stadium. Lots of effort and events will happen. The old rea will be torn down and a new stadium built in its place/

This is outstanding news - in many different ways, most importantly:

-- It will allow many of our teams to be much better prepared and, ultimately, more successful.

-- It should assist tremendously in football recruiting as well all the other sports utilizing the facility. It will certainly help offset the weather factor that helps athletes decide to attend college someplace warmer!

-- It will finally provide our track & field teams a facility that will allow us to be competitive. Even in DI, there are some athletes that want to participate in both track and another sport (usually football) so this should help us land a multi-sport athlete once in a while.

-- With many of our teams struggling right now, it gives all of us fans and boosters something to be excited about. We can not afford to lose fans and/or contributors during these difficult times we are experiencing during the transition, .

[The Sicatoka]

I heard Brian Faison talk about this recently.

He said he was hoping for a $10-20 million facility, depending on the "bells and whistles", where $10 million would be a good facility, and $20 million would be a facility that would be more capable and meet more needs for space, training rooms, and such.

From the ND SBoHE minutes:

Approve UND request for authorization to request private donation funding in the amount of $19,500,000 for construction of an indoor track and football practice facility.

I'm glad to see they requested authorization up at the high end, the "bells and whistles" end of that range.

[UND1983]

From what I have heard, it will be done in Phases because of the fundraising issue. These days money needs to be in hand vs. a "pledge". The first phase would be the track and football field. After that the locker rooms, weight room, coaches offices, etc. would come in the next phase.

I would expect that the demolition of the Old Ralph would begin shortly after the new year.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

From what I have heard, it will be done in Phases because of the fundraising issue. These days money needs to be in hand vs. a "pledge". The first phase would be the track and football field. After that the locker rooms, weight room, coaches offices, etc. would come in the next phase.

I would expect that the demolition of the Old Ralph would begin shortly after the new year.

For fundraising: SELL seats from Old Ralph. The Canad Inn bought some, put others up for sale to the general public.

[star2city]

From what I have heard, it will be done in Phases because of the fundraising issue. These days money needs to be in hand vs. a "pledge". The first phase would be the track and football field. After that the locker rooms, weight room, coaches offices, etc. would come in the next phase.

I would expect that the demolition of the Old Ralph would begin shortly after the new year.

What other FCS programs have indoor practice facilities?

[RD17]

From what I have heard, it will be done in Phases because of the fundraising issue. These days money needs to be in hand vs. a "pledge". The first phase would be the track and football field. After that the locker rooms, weight room, coaches offices, etc. would come in the next phase.

I would expect that the demolition of the Old Ralph would begin shortly after the new year.

Really? That soon?

Does anyone know how Old REA teardown costs will affect the overall budget of the project? (i.e. is teardown part of the $19.5 million?)

As a comparison, Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, MO is currently building about the same size facility in conjunction with bringing in the KC Chiefs training camp. Their facility will have offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms, etc. with an overall cost of $15.7 million ($10 million being kicked in by the Chiefs).

Youngstown State is also building an indoor facility with a 300 meter track. YSU is going the bare bones route without all of the locker room and office space for about $10 million. You can see a "virtual video" of what that facility will look like by clicking here.

[SiouxMD]

What other FCS programs have indoor practice facilities?

Appalachian State - Sofield Facility

[nodakvindy]

For fundraising: SELL seats from Old Ralph. The Canad Inn bought some, put others up for sale to the general public.

Seats, bricks, everything that can, should be reclaimed and put up for sale. That is what has happened with Shea Stadium and Yankees Stadium in New York. The Twins also did so when moving out of the dome.

[RD17]

What other FCS programs have indoor practice facilities?

Central Arkansas has one as well, but it is only 50 yards in length. Other than App State and UCA, I can't think of any other current FCS schools that have one.

There are a few schools in D-II (GVSU, MWSU, Tusculum, Arkansas-Monticello, Northeastern State) that have (or will have) them, but some of those facilities are small and/or cheap.

[UND1983]

Really? That soon?

Does anyone know how Old REA teardown costs will affect the overall budget of the project? (i.e. is teardown part of the $19.5 million?)

As a comparison, Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, MO is currently building about the same size facility in conjunction with bringing in the KC Chiefs training camp. Their facility will have offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms, etc. with an overall cost of $15.7 million ($10 million being kicked in by the Chiefs).

Youngstown State is also building an indoor facility with a 300 meter track. YSU is going the bare bones route without all of the locker room and office space for about $10 million. You can see a "virtual video" of what that facility will look like by clicking here.

Demolition is all part of the cost. They are looking into seeing how much money can be reclaimed by selling the copper, steel, etc. from the Old Ralph.

As far as the YSU facility, I would think UND's is going to look very similar to that with an added turf area on the end for lineman. Also, a major cost of any of these facilities is the exterior. A decision needs to be made on how nice the exterior is going to look because going fancy can really drive up the cost.

[MoreSiouxForYou]

Seats, bricks, everything that can, should be reclaimed and put up for sale. That is what has happened with Shea Stadium and Yankees Stadium in New York. The Twins also did so when moving out of the dome.

Sign me up for 3 seats up against my bar rail at home! I'll even use the bricks as a backsplash, a little bit of the copper to cover my now wooden top. I can see it now! Sioux-tiful!!

[UND Fan]

Demolition is all part of the cost. They are looking into seeing how much money can be reclaimed by selling the copper, steel, etc. from the Old Ralph.

As far as the YSU facility, I would think UND's is going to look very similar to that with an added turf area on the end for lineman. Also, a major cost of any of these facilities is the exterior. A decision needs to be made on how nice the exterior is going to look because going fancy can really drive up the cost.

I believe I am correct that the demolition cost quoted a year or so ago was just over $1 million.

[star2city]

Central Arkansas has one as well, but it is only 50 yards in length. Other than App State and UCA, I can't think of any other current FCS schools that have one.

There are a few schools in D-II (GVSU, MWSU, Tusculum, Arkansas-Monticello, Northeastern State) that have (or will have) them, but some of those facilities are small and/or cheap.

Didn't realize indor facilities were so rare at the FCS level (excluding USD, NAU, Idaho St, of course!). This should help make UND football THE FCS recruiting destination in the Upper Midwest.

[star2city]

As a comparison, Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, MO is currently building about the same size facility in conjunction with bringing in the KC Chiefs training camp. Their facility will have offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms, etc. with an overall cost of $15.7 million ($10 million being kicked in by the Chiefs).

Youngstown State is also building an indoor facility with a 300 meter track. YSU is going the bare bones route without all of the locker room and office space for about $10 million. You can see a "virtual video" of what that facility will look like by clicking here.

Several years ago, Sioux Falls attempted to sway Vikings summer camp away from Mankato to Howard Wood, and almost succeeded. Maybe off the wall, but wonder if UND could get the Vikings to relocate with state of the art facilities like MWSU apparently is getting. Build the shell first class and then get the offices etc later.

[SooToo]

From what I have heard, it will be done in Phases because of the fundraising issue. These days money needs to be in hand vs. a "pledge". The first phase would be the track and football field. After that the locker rooms, weight room, coaches offices, etc. would come in the next phase.

I would expect that the demolition of the Old Ralph would begin shortly after the new year.

Wasn't it just six or nine months ago that Faison was talking about a rehab of the Old Ralph as the top option for attaining an indoor facility? I wonder what the change in plan says about the success of "pre-campaign" fund-raising efforts...

[star2city]

Wasn't it just six or nine months ago that Faison was talking about a rehab of the Old Ralph as the top option for attaining an indoor facility? I wonder what the change in plan says about the success of "pre-campaign" fund-raising efforts...

Hopefully, a matching funds commitment or better. If this happens by 2011, what an awesome way to finish off the transition: our greatest facility need being met. Rather have the bricks and mortar complete than some short-lived fame but no facility upgrades, like a certain school down the road.

[UND1983]

Wasn't it just six or nine months ago that Faison was talking about a rehab of the Old Ralph as the top option for attaining an indoor facility? I wonder what the change in plan says about the success of "pre-campaign" fund-raising efforts...

They quickly realized that idea was a bad one. The field would only have been 40 yards long because of the track having to be there too. Terrible idea.

[MplsBison]

Hopefully, a matching funds commitment or better. If this happens by 2011, what an awesome way to finish off the transition: our greatest facility need being met. Rather have the bricks and mortar complete than some short-lived fame but no facility upgrades, like a certain school down the road.

First of all...why the need for that comment?

Second of all...which facility upgrades related to football have we stated a need for but have yet to complete? New facility in the Fargodome and new turf at Dacotah are done.

[The Sicatoka]

First of all...why the need for that comment?

You assume star2city was thinking about a school that wears yellow pants on the football field.

There are a lot of schools "down the road" from Grand Forks, and for that matter, which road? I-29? US-2?

[star2city]

First of all...why the need for that comment?

Second of all...which facility upgrades related to football have we stated a need for but have yet to complete? New facility in the Fargodome and new turf at Dacotah are done.

Could easily be USD, SDSU, NDSU, even UNI (UNI took forever to get a basketball facility).

NDSU seemed to take the hare approach to the transition, while UND is taking the tortoise approach. For the long term sake of the football program, a new practice facility on campus by the end of a DI transition exceeds a win over Minnesota, although both would be nice.

The reference wasn't necessarily football. Consider the BSA: it was known to be a problem well before the transition, during the transition, and after the transition (even with an NCAA bid), yet nothing has happened. Where's the leadership on that issue. NDSU has seemingly squandered the transition lead it had.

Granted, UND hasn't formally raised a dime in funding for the practice facility, but in the background seems to have been some type of informal pledges occurring.

[MplsBison]

Could easily be USD, SDSU, NDSU, even UNI (UNI took forever to get a basketball facility).

NDSU seemed to take the hare approach to the transition, while UND is taking the tortoise approach. For the long term sake of the football program, a new practice facility on campus by the end of a DI transition exceeds a win over Minnesota, although both would be nice.

The reference wasn't necessarily football. Consider the BSA: it was known to be a problem well before the transition, during the transition, and after the transition (even with an NCAA bid), yet nothing has happened. Where's the leadership on that issue. NDSU has seemingly squandered the transition lead it had.

Granted, UND hasn't formally raised a dime in funding for the practice facility, but in the background seems to have been some type of informal pledges occurring.

What football facility improvements has UND stated a need for and completed since the start of the transition...period? None. Because you guys already had top-notch facilities at the end of your DII run. You don't really need anything else right now. Indoor facility is icing on the cake. It's nice to have, but other successful programs (UNI, Montana, CAA schools) don't even have those.

NDSU, on the other hand, had fairly bad facilities at the end of their DII run, save the Fargodome. Everything else (including the BSA) was pretty bad.

They have done a major improvement with the Fargodome football facilities and the new turf.

A dedicated indoor facility and a new weight room would be nice and with bball upgrades and a new arena.

[MoreSiouxForYou]

What football facility improvements has UND stated a need for and completed since the start of the transition...period? None. Because you guys already had top-notch facilities at the end of your DII run. You don't really need anything else right now. Indoor facility is icing on the cake. It's nice to have, but other successful programs (UNI, Montana, CAA schools) don't even have those.

NDSU, on the other hand, had fairly bad facilities at the end of their DII run, save the Fargodome. Everything else (including the BSA) was pretty bad.

They have done a major improvement with the Fargodome football facilities and the new turf.

A dedicated indoor facility and a new weight room would be nice and with bball upgrades and a new arena.

Agreed. Also NDSU selected its wrestling and Volleyball programs to be the first to usher the transition and look at the improvements done to the BBF. That has become a fantastic home court and, well, not on the cheap, but it was a lower cost option then many.

UND cannot forget the advantage of one or two large bennifactors.