FB/BB Stadium Projects

[ULtimateCajun]

_ $100MM to build what stuff? Filling in two endzone sections where the foundation is already laid plus suites and other improvements that will pay for itself is not absurd, nor will it cost anywhere near $100MM. If the stadium is sinking, demolish the upper deck and fill in the endzones for a complete bowl. That would still provide about 40,000 seats. All of the other things you mentioned are certainly more of an immediate need. As I said, it is something that can be addressed as a long term project while other short term projects are addressed.

The problem I have always had is that UL has never planned for anything. It is a year to year operation. It is time for a multi-year plan on where we want to go and how we are going to get there in the short and long term. _

Correct me if i'm wrong but I think the reason things are year to year instead of more long term plans is because we have one of the smallest athletic budgets in D-1A. We are kind of forced to do this by our budget. Now once the RCAF is up and running (no idea when that will be) I think it will allow for us to make more long term plans. Everyone wishes we had a Boone-Pickens donating in the millions to our Foundation but we have to play the hand we're dealt right now. So if it's a gradual progress then we have to live with that for now. There has been substantial progress throughout the past 5 years with the Tigue, Indoor Facility, Brick entrances to Cajun Field, etc.... I know we keep wanting more more more but more more more takes time. And I don't mean to sound like i'm trying to pick on just you, I guess i just like to debate.

[CajunCanaille]

_ I know we keep wanting more more more but more more more takes time.

Not to mention more money. Hopefully the RCAF will be a jump start to a bigger athletic budget. With the RCAF, the committee or deciding board of the RCAF, we will be able to put the money where we see it needed as opposed to where the state wants us to put it. I just want to hear something on this RCAF besides it's coming.

As for the power washing of the stadium....if we are going to have it done before the Kent St. game and another poster said the "C" on the AJUN FIELD will be replaced when the mold is addressed, does that mean we will have to wait until after the summer to get this C fixed? This is an embarrassing eyesore. Visitor, Alumni, Acadiana natives are all looking at this and seeing that we don't care about our facilities. We need to get it fixed yesterday.

[HoustonCajun]

_ Correct me if i'm wrong but I think the reason things are year to year instead of more long term plans is because we have one of the smallest athletic budgets in D-1A. We are kind of forced to do this by our budget. Now once the RCAF is up and running (no idea when that will be) I think it will allow for us to make more long term plans. Everyone wishes we had a Boone-Pickens donating in the millions to our Foundation but we have to play the hand we're dealt right now. So if it's a gradual progress then we have to live with that for now. There has been substantial progress throughout the past 5 years with the Tigue, Indoor Facility, Brick entrances to Cajun Field, etc.... I know we keep wanting more more more but more more more takes time. And I don't mean to sound like i'm trying to pick on just you, I guess i just like to debate. _

I'm not trying to be argumentative either. We are where we are because of a lack of leadership in not allowing athletics to create its own funding and to grow to the level we should be at today. We, therefore, have a lot of catching up to do. If we want to get fans fired up about UL athletics, given what we have produced in the last 10 years, we need to demonstrate a committment by doing the immediate things you described and project where we want to be and how we are going to get there through a 5 or 10 Year Plan. I would hope that such a Plan would involve everything that we want to accomplish. As you pointed out, we are starting to see major progress in visible things like the IPF and new turf, for example. Other things are planned, but we are all anxiously awaiting word on what those are. We don't have a Boone Pickens or Nike to donate millions and build our stadiums. But we can do things that generate funds that will pay for improvements, like suites, more chair back seats, season ticket drives and marketing. We do nothing and wonder why no one shows up. Then, we they do show up, we lay an egg and lose (e.g. McNeese last year and MTSU for homecoming the prior year), then it is starting all over again. We have learned to accept mediocrity, blame everyone but ourselves for our lack of funding and our fans have lost interest. We have the perfect opportunity to turn all of that around, perhaps even in a big hurry, with our new President and how he addresses all of this, and how our AD gets the message to the public. And, on top of all of that, we MUST start to win. Continued losing should no longer be tolerated. Every sport should take a cue from our softball team on how to recruit, raise funds, schedule and compete at the highest level.

[anhil8tor]

I will donate once the fund is set up.

[cajun4life]

1. In talking to Scott about this, it is his goal to clean the stadium after the turf installation is complete. He hopes to have it done prior to Kent St. I think this has been mentioned here before.

2. He does have plans and ideas of things he wants to do with the stadium in the immediate future. One thing that he mentioned to me is bringing the audio and video up to date. Those things are pitiful, and need updating, and we need a video board that doesn't require binoculars to see it. But, this goes to taking care of what we have, and maximizing what we have. and as someone said in another thread, hopefully he'll use some dough to get all of that black off of the stadium, and install brick around the inner wall.

3. There are areas of the stadium that are sinking, thanks to the soft sediment we have on the Gulf Coast, and the massive weight of all the concrete that sits atop it. This is a big reason why we have drainage problems in the restrooms and such. These issues need to be taken care of now, and long before we think about adding more weight to the structure.

We need cash for better facilities...better facilities for better recruits...better recruits for better teams...better teams for more fans...more fans for more cash. It's a vicious circle, but it is the one we are faced with. I believe that all of our time would be better spent worrying about what we can do now, in terms of donations, etc., and worry about the things that we can physically and financially do, in order to maximize what we have, instead of worrying about a potential stadium expansion that won't happen for 10-20 years, or even never. For example, of all the people who've posted on this thread, how many of you donated funds to the Robert Lee Golf tournament. I know that many of us did, but as the saying goes, talk is cheap.

Someone said that we need to expand even though we don't fill to capacity now. That is absurd. There is no way that we'll be able to raise the $100MM, or whatever, to build all of this stuff, if we don't average more than 10k-15k fans at our games, consistently. And, even if we could raise that sort of cash in our current state, I don't think it would be intelligent to blow our wad on adding 20k seats, or luxury boxes, or whatever, when we could spend it on beautification of the grounds, coaches salaries, recruiting budgets, buying more games, vastly expanding/improving student facilities (dorms and study halls), hiring more qualified folks in the Ath Dept so that we're properly staffed, etc. Like someone said, recruits need to be impressed with our facilities, and we need better recruits to win. True, but we also need all of those other things in order to win. Better coaches, better living quarters, better study halls, also get better recruits. A better looking complex will help to attract more fans. And, having more money for recruiting, having a full athletic staff to take care of all the small stuff, etc. will help take a lot of the load off of said coaches and will allow them to spend much more time on coaching. An expanded stadium would be nice in some regards, but it will not add to the win total like all of those other things do.

Perhaps instead of continuing this thread, one of the guys who knows Gerald and Scott better than I do, can contact them about some other projects they're working on, and the different things they'll need for such projects, and post them here or somewhere. Then all of us can see what's needed, and figure out if we could donate them ourselves, or if we have contacts with various businesses who would be willing to donate certain materials. I think that would be a much better use of our time.

I have heard from close to the horses mouth that there is approximately 35 million dollars worth of facility improvement that are planed for the next 3-5 year time frame as well as a majority of the funds for these projects are in hand or they have been committed to UL by donors waiting for Dos S to take over.

Acadiana has a 6 billion dollar economy so there is no reason that UL can not raise 100M for athletics or 100M for academics within a 5-10 year fund raising initiative if allowed to do so. Hell there are 5 or 6 privately held companies that gross over 300M a year. Don't tell me that the money is not there. WE HAVE NEVER ASKED FOR IT!!!!!!!!!

[ULtimateCajun]

_ I have heard from close to the horses mouth that there is approximately 35 million dollars worth of facility improvement that are planed for the next 3-5 year time frame as well as a majority of the funds for these projects are in hand or they have been committed to UL by donors waiting for Dos S to take over.

Acadiana has a 6 billion dollar economy so there is no reason that UL can not raise 100M for athletics or 100M for academics within a 5-10 year fund raising initiative if allowed to do so. Hell there are 5 or 6 privately held companies that gross over 300M a year. Don't tell me that the money is not there. WE HAVE NEVER ASKED FOR IT!!!!!!!!! _

Some major companies in Lafayette that I have never seen advertised at UL (mind you I may have not noticed) Red's, Stuller Settings, Acadian Ambulance (not sure on this one) are just a few major companies that we need to get on board. I'm not saying they haven't been contacted, we just need to get these big guys to want to give to UL. There are probably some local Oil Field affiliated companies that could throw some money in there.

[BrudaCajun]

The only one I see wrong is Acadian Ambulance, others I am usure of. The people who hold the pen know this and should be utilizing every and all resources.
BTW Moncla is an oilfield company, one of the BIGGEST UL supporters

[zephyr]

_ I have heard from close to the horses mouth that there is approximately 35 million dollars worth of facility improvement that are planed for the next 3-5 year time frame as well as a majority of the funds for these projects are in hand or they have been committed to UL by donors waiting for Dos S to take over.

Acadiana has a 6 billion dollar economy so there is no reason that UL can not raise 100M for athletics or 100M for academics within a 5-10 year fund raising initiative if allowed to do so. Hell there are 5 or 6 privately held companies that gross over 300M a year. Don't tell me that the money is not there. WE HAVE NEVER ASKED FOR IT!!!!!!!!! _

It seems as if you are up for the job. You've got it!!! Many here just assume that the university doesn't call or meet with business owners and ask for money. That is a shame. That is not true. A part of the problem is that people don't want to donate money for an administration that has prided itself on apathy for years. They want to know their money is going to a good purpose. I think once we have a new administration in place, you will see a bigger donation pool. Plus the RCAF will help because people are going to be more aggressive in their approaches to the local community.

[DaddyCajun]

_ Some major companies in UL that I have never seen advertised at UL (mind you I may have not noticed) Red's, Stuller Settings, Acadian Ambulance (not sure on this one) are just a few major companies that we need to get on board. I'm not saying they haven't been contacted, we just need to get these big guys to want to give to UL. There are probably some local Oil Field affiliated companies that could throw some money in there. _

Acadian sponsored one of the Gateways at the athletic complex and they are also a Louisiana Classic member. Reds is a backer also, seen in the annual filings.

ps They could do more, esp. Acadian

[rhineaux]

$100MM to build what stuff? Filling in two endzone sections where the foundation is already laid plus suites and other improvements that will pay for itself is not absurd, nor will it cost anywhere near $100MM. If the stadium is sinking, demolish the upper deck and fill in the endzones for a complete bowl. That would still provide about 40,000 seats. All of the other things you mentioned are certainly more of an immediate need. As I said, it is something that can be addressed as a long term project while other short term projects are addressed.

The problem I have always had is that UL has never planned for anything. It is a year to year operation. It is time for a multi-year plan on where we want to go and how we are going to get there in the short and long term.

I think you're missing my overall point. Then again, I think you get it. I mentioned $100MM because it was just a number. I don't know how much it would cost to bowl the stadium, but the main point is that it won't be cheap, and there are a lot of other things that we could spend that money on instead of adding seats that won't be sat in. If you still want to talk about stadium expansion, then I'll meet you half way and we'll expand the Ath Dept building, up to the top of the South levee, which would include large amounts of coaches offices, meeting spaces, student academic center, a store with Cajun paraphenalia, and plenty of box seats and some luxury boxes...similar to what is being done at USM and OSU.

_ I have heard from close to the horses mouth that there is approximately 35 million dollars worth of facility improvement that are planed for the next 3-5 year time frame as well as a majority of the funds for these projects are in hand or they have been committed to UL by donors waiting for Dos S to take over.

I sure hope you're right. I had heard from a lot of people that there were folks who refused to give money to Dr A. to them I say..."He's gone now, so put your money where your mouth is, punks."

Acadiana has a 6 billion dollar economy so there is no reason that UL can not raise 100M for athletics or 100M for academics within a 5-10 year fund raising initiative if allowed to do so. Hell there are 5 or 6 privately held companies that gross over 300M a year. Don't tell me that the money is not there. WE HAVE NEVER ASKED FOR IT!!!!!!!!! _

I don't disagree, but $100MM in 5-10 years is a lot of money. You're talking about raising $10-20MM per year, and I just don't see UL getting that sort of attention right now. I agree that it can be done, but I just don't know if I would start the clock right now. If UL could raise $100MM in the next 10 years, starting right now, after the last 10-15 years that this football team and this athletic department has had (which overall is good, but not spectacular), then I can't even imagine what the future would hold for potential donations.

[anhil8tor]

Does Franks Casing Crews donate to UL?


They were a huge IceGator backer. Seems like someone from UL would have made that call after the gators folded.

[ULtimateCajun]

_ Does Franks Casing Crews donate to UL?


They were a huge IceGator backer. Seems like someone from UL would have made that call after the gators folded. _

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!!!!! haha Sorry.

[cajunfan96]

_ Why should it be expanded? _

Not expanded, but definetly renovated!!

[CajunCanaille]

_ Not expanded, but definetly renovated!! _

I agree....we just need to renovate the current stdium. Updating restrooms, concession, seats, sky boxes, drainage, etc. would give the stadium a lift and possibly generate more money. A nicer stadium will attract a few more people. But I will say the first two things on the renovation agenda should be 1. Replacing the "C" on AJUN FIELD and 2. Power washing the stadium.

[cajun4life]

It seems as if you are up for the job. You've got it!!! Many here just assume that the university doesn't call or meet with business owners and ask for money. That is a shame. That is not true. A part of the problem is that people don't want to donate money for an administration that has prided itself on apathy for years. They want to know their money is going to a good purpose. I think once we have a new administration in place, you will see a bigger donation pool. Plus the RCAF will help because people are going to be more aggressive in their approaches to the local community.

I agree.