(02-21-2012 11:51 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:29 AM)niucyberdawg Wrote:  If bathroom and concession inadequacies are at the heart of attracting or keeping fans, what does that say about midmajor programs?


If ISU were to succeed in its long term FBS goals. what would that do to instate recruitment for NIU?

That a lack feed bag locations, number of crappers or just piss poor ones does hurt our attendance just as much as our no name opponents.

There are 0 bathrooms for the upper 1/3rd of the West side and the closest Men's bathroom for the lower 2/3rds of the stadium is closer to the front gate than any of our seats.

Quick solution is easy: Just upgrade your seats to skybox. There are nice bathrooms up there that you can use within a short walk from your comfy seats.

Illinois State would be a great addition to the MAC and I would love to see that happen but their basketball and baseball teams are in much better conferences now so that would be a tough decision for them.

(02-21-2012 12:14 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Illinois State would be a great addition to the MAC and I would love to see that happen but their basketball and baseball teams are in much better conferences now so that would be a tough decision for them.

It's not like they are winning the Missouri Valley right now in Basketball, so . .

I have no idea what trade off there would be in terms of share of conference money. It seems that would be an important consideration.

I would love an in-state rivalry, and if the Illini continues to refuse to make it happen, and we can't get Northwestern either (ie to come to Huskie stadium), then bring on Illinois State and / or SIU.

(02-21-2012 10:59 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 10:44 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 10:09 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 09:45 AM)gcd Wrote:  http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college...3ce6c.html


There is no doubt if ISU ever reaches this goal, which I don't think they will, they would in all probability want to enter the MAC. I would only admit them if they moved all sports in, and that includes basketball. I don't think they would ever agree to it.

If we used this same method it looks like we could move quickly on the West side renovation IF it includes more/expanded suites and club seats to pay for it over 10-20 years.


Funding sources

2012 bonds.......................................$20 million

2008 bonds......................................$1.5 million

University General Fund......................$1 million

Private contributions........................$2.5 million

Total..................................................$25 million

Read more: http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college...z1n1rWCseP

I pointed this out a few weeks back also. Pitiful the amount of private money involved. Look at total for NIU over the last 10 years - COB, Welcome Center, Yordon, now IPF. Taxpayers should be all over this plan.

We are not going to come up with the whole 15-20mil for our West side renovation from private money. Maybe at most 2.5 mil in donations, another 7.5mil from the sale of suites over 10 years and any sponsorships but that will be about the max of the outside money. I would expect 10-12 mil needed in bonds for that size of a project.

The stadium renovation is going to become a safety concern at some point soon since it is the same age as Hancock Stadium. The lack of bathrooms and good concessions also really hurts attracting & keeping our casual fan base.

Not sure how this works, but i think a school can get the money through bond issues if it is for revovation

(02-21-2012 12:32 PM)gcd Wrote:  Not sure how this works, but i think a school can get the money through bond issues if it is for revovation

Likely the same way they did the soccer/track complex no?

(02-21-2012 11:51 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:29 AM)niucyberdawg Wrote:  If bathroom and concession inadequacies are at the heart of attracting or keeping fans, what does that say about midmajor programs?


If ISU were to succeed in its long term FBS goals. what would that do to instate recruitment for NIU?

That a lack feed bag locations/options, number of crappers or just piss poor location of the ones we do have, hurts our attendance just as much as our no name opponents.

There are 0 bathrooms for the upper 1/3rd of the West side and the closest Men's bathroom for the lower 2/3rds of the stadium is closer to the front gate than any of our seats.

the west side was built as a multi purpose facility and the fact that it is heated I think has preserved it very well. However, it is not fan friendly especially when the west side is filled.

(02-21-2012 12:14 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Illinois State would be a great addition to the MAC and I would love to see that happen but their basketball and baseball teams are in much better conferences now so that would be a tough decision for them.

gets tiring to do a favor for the football programs and not have that school in turn enhance the MAC bball programs. If they ever got to that point I'd only let them in all or nothing.

(02-21-2012 12:34 PM)gcd Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:51 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:29 AM)niucyberdawg Wrote:  If bathroom and concession inadequacies are at the heart of attracting or keeping fans, what does that say about midmajor programs?


If ISU were to succeed in its long term FBS goals. what would that do to instate recruitment for NIU?

That a lack feed bag locations/options, number of crappers or just piss poor location of the ones we do have, hurts our attendance just as much as our no name opponents.

There are 0 bathrooms for the upper 1/3rd of the West side and the closest Men's bathroom for the lower 2/3rds of the stadium is closer to the front gate than any of our seats.

the west side was built as a multi purpose facility and the fact that it is heated I think has preserved it very well. However, it is not fan friendly especially when the west side is filled.

That's another way of saying it.

To really give HS the full renovation the wrestling and gymnastic teams would both have to be given temporary practice spaces in another building. The renovation would have to keep their space as is because its not unless they stay at the Field house its not likely that we would build something just for them.

(02-21-2012 11:54 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:51 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:29 AM)niucyberdawg Wrote:  If bathroom and concession inadequacies are at the heart of attracting or keeping fans, what does that say about midmajor programs?


If ISU were to succeed in its long term FBS goals. what would that do to instate recruitment for NIU?

That a lack feed bag locations, number of crappers or just piss poor ones does hurt our attendance just as much as our no name opponents.

There are 0 bathrooms for the upper 1/3rd of the West side and the closest Men's bathroom for the lower 2/3rds of the stadium is closer to the front gate than any of our seats.

Quick solution is easy: Just upgrade your seats to skybox. There are nice bathrooms up there that you can use within a short walk from your comfy seats.

If you've ever been in the skybox you know the restroom facilities there are as inadequate as the rest of HS. One has to walk up a flight of stairs and then squeeze through a row of media people sitting in a small, utiltarian space in order to reach a very small restroom. It's very inconvenient, especially for a larger-sized person (no particular person in mind DF).

(02-21-2012 01:17 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:54 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:51 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 11:29 AM)niucyberdawg Wrote:  If bathroom and concession inadequacies are at the heart of attracting or keeping fans, what does that say about midmajor programs?


If ISU were to succeed in its long term FBS goals. what would that do to instate recruitment for NIU?

That a lack feed bag locations, number of crappers or just piss poor ones does hurt our attendance just as much as our no name opponents.

There are 0 bathrooms for the upper 1/3rd of the West side and the closest Men's bathroom for the lower 2/3rds of the stadium is closer to the front gate than any of our seats.

Quick solution is easy: Just upgrade your seats to skybox. There are nice bathrooms up there that you can use within a short walk from your comfy seats.

If you've ever been in the skybox you know the restroom facilities there are as inadequate as the rest of HS. One has to walk up a flight of stairs and then squeeze through a row of media people sitting in a small, utiltarian space in order to reach a very small restroom. It's very inconvenient, especially for a larger-sized person (no particular person in mind DF).

I've been up there. It's a helluva lot better than taking a leak in the trough.