Someone Has Finally Listened - Southern Univeristy Coming to Ruston in 2015

[jellidawg]

Wow! Tech could really make a killing if only we had a large building on campus, near the stadium, that could be retrofitted as a for-profit lodging facility.

If you are talking about the recently demolished dorms, the retrofit cost would have been astronomical to get it to the standards that a paying customer would want to spend money to stay there. I know that I would not want to subject my family to communal bathrooms with 10 other families. I would be willing to bet that just the plumbing retrofit to install bathrooms in each "suite" would be in excess of $5M. And then you haven't gotten to the structural repairs, HVAC components, fire protection, elevator rehabs, interior walls, windows, finishes, or furniture. I would be willing to bet that a retrofit to turn one of those old dorms would be in the ballpark of $20-$30M (just a gut feeling).

Assume 20 rooms per floor, 10 floors, $165/night, every room is filled one night per game weekend, and 6 home games in a football season. This would generate ~$200K/year. Just on the lower figure, not including interest, labor for housekeeping, maintenance, or utilities, it would take 10 football seasons to pay off the bonds.

[KSDAWG]

If you are talking about the recently demolished dorms, the retrofit cost would have been astronomical to get it to the standards that a paying customer would want to spend money to stay there. I know that I would not want to subject my family to communal bathrooms with 10 other families. I would be willing to bet that just the plumbing retrofit to install bathrooms in each "suite" would be in excess of $5M. And then you haven't gotten to the structural repairs, HVAC components, fire protection, elevator rehabs, interior walls, windows, finishes, or furniture. I would be willing to bet that a retrofit to turn one of those old dorms would be in the ballpark of $20-$30M (just a gut feeling).

Assume 20 rooms per floor, 10 floors, $165/night, every room is filled one night per game weekend, and 6 home games in a football season. This would generate ~$200K/year. Just on the lower figure, not including interest, labor for housekeeping, maintenance, or utilities, it would take 10 football seasons to pay off the bonds.

That being said, it would help us draw p-5 opponents. The Lodd Cook on LSU campus is used for thing other than just football games. Basktball game and other olympic sports would also used the Hotel. We could use a full scale hotel in Ruston for sure.

[PawDawg]

Wow! Tech could really make a killing if only we had a large building on campus, near the stadium, that could be retrofitted as a for-profit lodging facility.

I see what you did

[PawDawg]

That being said, it would help us draw p-5 opponents. .

[Snowmane88]

Need a Hilton Garden Inn on the Service Road; should have already been in place. Hopefully the new city government will see the light in time for future seasons.

[qng001]

We need a Waldorf Astoria, I only stay at the finest.

[Cool Hand Clyde]

Wow! Tech could really make a killing if only we had a large building on campus, near the stadium, that could be retrofitted as a for-profit lodging facility.

I'd rather have a green space

[jellidawg]

That being said, it would help us draw p-5 opponents. The Lodd Cook on LSU campus is used for thing other than just football games. Basktball game and other olympic sports would also used the Hotel. We could use a full scale hotel in Ruston for sure.

I was just making a point about the cost. I understand that it will be used at other times. However, football season is the only time of year that it will be full, and it would never be a full service hotel from a manpower standpoint.

[Cool Hand Clyde]

That being said, it would help us draw p-5 opponents. The Lodd Cook on LSU campus is used for thing other than just football games. Basktball game and other olympic sports would also used the Hotel. We could use a full scale hotel in Ruston for sure.

Huh?

[HogDawg]

I hope HCSH has the team watch the Northwestern State film every day leading up to this game.

Yep. Despite all the good things LA Tech did in 2014, the NSU debacle DEFINED the season for us. It's the kind of loss you can never really recover from for the rest of the season.

After a loss to an FCS school, the national polls will never rank you in the Top 25, and even your own conference "turns on you", because they don't want a conference champ with an FCS loss. It makes the whole conference look bad.

[inudesu]

After a loss to an FCS school, the national polls will never rank you in the Top 25,

It can be done, but takes a lot of doing: http://espn.go.com/college-football/...ia-tech-hokies

[KSDAWG]

Huh?

One of the big gripes about why Power 5 schools won't play in Ruston is that we do not have a full service Hotel. This would eleviate that complaint.

[Tech77]

I'd rather have a green space

Or beautiful asphalt or concrete. Student parking on Tech campus is in very short supply. It's in very short supply for visitors, too, but we don't have to pay the tickets.

[Champ967]

If you are talking about the recently demolished dorms, the retrofit cost would have been astronomical to get it to the standards that a paying customer would want to spend money to stay there. I know that I would not want to subject my family to communal bathrooms with 10 other families. I would be willing to bet that just the plumbing retrofit to install bathrooms in each "suite" would be in excess of $5M. And then you haven't gotten to the structural repairs, HVAC components, fire protection, elevator rehabs, interior walls, windows, finishes, or furniture. I would be willing to bet that a retrofit to turn one of those old dorms would be in the ballpark of $20-$30M (just a gut feeling).

Assume 20 rooms per floor, 10 floors, $165/night, every room is filled one night per game weekend, and 6 home games in a football season. This would generate ~$200K/year. Just on the lower figure, not including interest, labor for housekeeping, maintenance, or utilities, it would take 10 football seasons to pay off the bonds.

And that's exactly what they said about the abandoned derelict hideous eyesore dorm on the UArk campus on Fayetteville. It's too ugly, too old, too expensice, etc ... they all said.

Now it's a four-star hotel, booked up almost continuously. Both the university and the hotelier to whom they leased the building are making out like bandits. Alums pay out the wazzoo to stay on campus. And professional & academic conferences that wouldve gone to Fort Smith on Little Rock now held at UA.

[Champ967]

I'd rather have a green space

Glad our university is so fantastically wealthy that we can afford to let acres of land (ie. real property with market value) to sit idle.

Maybe we could also liquidate all the Foundation's assets and bury the cash in coffee cans.