What Improvements and How Much???

[TXDAWG81]

Lots of talk on here about infrastructure improvements in our sports facilities. My contention is that if we're talking about much more than cosmetics the money is out of our reach. My thoughts are we may need to enclose north & south EZ's, add brick facade, ban/replace all chain link with iron, expand press box 3-4x, possibly add upper deck complete with suites. All of these x-facade and iron fence will cost big bucks. (millions of $'s) There are only 2 places that kind of money resides. In the back pockets of our "Big 5" or Baton Rouge. It's time to admit the obvious and start looking in both places. NOW!!!

PS: I don't care if they say the state is broke, sell it as "economic development". Let's just see how well JO plays the politics game, because accomplishing much of the above will be the yardstick he will be judged by the next 3-5 years.

[champion110]

True TXDAWG

[TECH88]

I like your post. Just replacing the chainlink fence and ticket booths would be a good place to start. Disposing of the blue balls would be real helpful too.

[markay714]

The thing is, TXDAWG81, that while they depend on the "big 5" for everything, they should not. Other fans could and would contribute to PLANS if they were asked. And, its an interesting phenomon, when people have a personal investment into something they're more likely to attend. I can think of lots of Tech grads here that would probably be glad to contribute to specific projects and would be much more interested in going to games if they were - win in both ways!

My trip to Tomball this weekend got me definitely thinking about some things. With brand new schools everywhere there, either there is way more revenue generated everywhere in Texas than Louisiana or we aren't spending ours in the same way. I don't think state funds should be used for athletic facilities (I'm a conservative Republican).

I think we should start working on it ourselves. With a plan I'd be happy to stretch with my own giving and to work on recruiting others to do the same. I think dependence on "the big 5" has actually been a cause of the biggest failure in our athletic program. Certainly I'm very grateful for what they do, but clearly there is the thought that they ARE the athletic donors. It just should not be that way. I want 2-3 times more donors (at whatever $$$ level) and I expect we'll have some percentage of corresponding increase in attendance at games. And, success breeds success. The more people that attend, the more others will want to. It will take a while, but we've got enough gung ho fans around here that with leadership and us working together (translates specifically to a PLAN) we can do some good things at Tech.

[altadawg]

Other fans could and would contribute to PLANS if they were asked. And, its an interesting phenomon, when people have a personal investment into something they're more likely to attend.

That is a great quote Markay......

[TechDawgFan]

Select the projects which have the greatest impact on the bottom line (what a CONCEPT :idea: ) like the business world have been doing for years. Additional seating affects the atmosphere, but do you get the return on investment? With the budget we have and the availability of funds, we need to pick the projects which give us the best bang for the buck. This administration has touted its ability to do just that for years. Just show the same ability when it comes to growth rather than the status quo.

TDF

[Bill Pup60]

Puzzling why anyone would want to enclose the end zones with more seats. We've been able to seat 30,000 plus for many many years and we've never filled it up. Why on earth would anyone pay to sit in the end zone when there are many empty sideline seats.

[TechDawgFan]

Puzzling why anyone would want to enclose the end zones with more seats. We've been able to seat 30,000 plus for many many years and we've never filled it up. Why on earth would anyone pay to sit in the end zone when there are many empty sideline seats.

The question you REALLY have to ask is "Would anyone come to the game BECAUSE of the end zone seating that WOULDN'T come if they weren't there?" That's where the value or lack thereof come from with ANY of these projects. Now granted, a part of that boils down to the "experience" of being in a full stadium, but that's what it basically has to come to.

TDF

[TECH88]

Puzzling why anyone would want to enclose the end zones with more seats. We've been able to seat 30,000 plus for many many years and we've never filled it up. Why on earth would anyone pay to sit in the end zone when there are many empty sideline seats.

Out of haste, Tech's top brass decided to install the bleachers to the top corners of Aillet without considering the sorry view. D-1A required the 30k seating capacity so Tech was in a rush to meet those requirements. Obviously, our people gave it very little thought as to what it would be like to sit there. Moving the two north end bleachers to enclose the north endzone will provide a louder more intimate surroundings-it's what most people call "Home field advantage". It would also improve the bland looks of Aillet. Fans would likely sit closer to the field even if it is endzone seating.

[TXDAWG81]

Puzzling why anyone would want to enclose the end zones with more seats. We've been able to seat 30,000 plus for many many years and we've never filled it up. Why on earth would anyone pay to sit in the end zone when there are many empty sideline seats.

You obviously didn't see our stadium being ridiculed and mocked by the CUSA crowd on their boards. Ours by comparison to some of theirs is a bit lacking.

[TXDAWG81]

The thing is, TXDAWG81, that while they depend on the "big 5" for everything, they should not. Other fans could and would contribute to PLANS if they were asked. And, its an interesting phenomon, when people have a personal investment into something they're more likely to attend. I can think of lots of Tech grads here that would probably be glad to contribute to specific projects and would be much more interested in going to games if they were - win in both ways!

My trip to Tomball this weekend got me definitely thinking about some things. With brand new schools everywhere there, either there is way more revenue generated everywhere in Texas than Louisiana or we aren't spending ours in the same way. I don't think state funds should be used for athletic facilities (I'm a conservative Republican).

I think we should start working on it ourselves. With a plan I'd be happy to stretch with my own giving and to work on recruiting others to do the same. I think dependence on "the big 5" has actually been a cause of the biggest failure in our athletic program. Certainly I'm very grateful for what they do, but clearly there is the thought that they ARE the athletic donors. It just should not be that way. I want 2-3 times more donors (at whatever $$$ level) and I expect we'll have some percentage of corresponding increase in attendance at games. And, success breeds success. The more people that attend, the more others will want to. It will take a while, but we've got enough gung ho fans around here that with leadership and us working together (translates specifically to a PLAN) we can do some good things at Tech.

Markay,

Good to finally meet you this weekend.

As for the needed $'s, excluding the "Big 5", do you think the rest of us have the wherewithall to fund 25-30 million $'s in needed upgrades?? I don't.

As for the brand new schools and athletic facilities in Tomball, those were funded by a bond issue supported entirely by an increase in property taxes here in the ISD. Mine went up over $600.00 annually just due to the rate increase. Wonder if the folks in Lincoln, Jackson, Bienville, Claiborne, and Union Parishes would support an ever so slight property tax to fund those needed improvements at JAS? I didn't think so. I have to say my eyes were opened when I moved from Lincoln Parish to the Tyler area in '92. I thought I would see an overall decline in my taxes due to no income tax in Texas. Well to my surprise the property taxes on my home in Smith County were 50% higher than my combined property and income taxes back in good ole Louisiana. My point is this, La is tapped out when it comes to taxing business and industry. The reality is that if the people want to have great schools including colleges with nice facilities they are going to have to pay for them somehow.

PS: You can count me as another "Conservative Republican"

[ChuckK3]

[quote:176dabb9e5="Bill Pup60"]Puzzling why anyone would want to enclose the end zones with more seats. We've been able to seat 30,000 plus for many many years and we've never filled it up. Why on earth would anyone pay to sit in the end zone when there are many empty sideline seats.

Out of haste, Tech's top brass decided to install the bleachers to the top corners of Aillet without considering the sorry view. D-1A required the 30k seating capacity so Tech was in a rush to meet those requirements. Obviously, our people gave it very little thought as to what it would be like to sit there. Moving the two north end bleachers to enclose the north endzone will provide a louder more intimate surroundings-it's what most people call "Home field advantage". It would also improve the bland looks of Aillet. Fans would likely sit closer to the field even if it is endzone seating.[/quote:176dabb9e5]

That's a good suggestion...replace the metal "wings" with permanent seating in the north end zone...creating a horse shoe...and it definitely would make the stadium louder. I think JAS would look good enclosed on the north end...with no wings.

I agree chuck-

Let's get to building our horseshoe.

[Bossdawg]

[quote:50f1528841="Bill Pup60"]Puzzling why anyone would want to enclose the end zones with more seats. We've been able to seat 30,000 plus for many many years and we've never filled it up. Why on earth would anyone pay to sit in the end zone when there are many empty sideline seats.

You obviously didn't see our stadium being ridiculed and mocked by the CUSA crowd on their boards. Ours by comparison to some of theirs is a bit lacking.[/quote:50f1528841]

That's true but being ridiculed still does not help the bottom line any.

1st get fan base up, then add seating when there will actually be people there to sit in them.

[markay714]

TXDAWG81,
Certainly I don't have $25-30MIL - and we may not even have that combined with every potential fan excluding the "big 5", but we can certainly do more than we are now in terms of capital improvements (nothing). Cast a vision and lets see what we can do. The "big 5" would probably be glad to have the load shared, and as I said, we'd have more investment in the program.

As far as the property tax issue in Texas, some close personal friends under the same assumption are now fully aware of what you said - it isn't cheaper! I agree business and industry are tapped out and there's got to be a reason that we're not getting our share of new businesses in Louisiana. I'd really like to see per capita tax revenue in Louisiana versus other states and see just where we are. I'm thinking the separation isn't as bad as we'd think (especially now that Stelly is in place - my taxes went up substantially!). With better attendance (down the road) we could probably finance some significant improvements with ticket price increases. LSU does major stuff w/ that all the time. We need to be more creative in how we seek funding. Again, get more people to invest and more people will be interested in attending games as well.