A rendering of proposed plans for the overhaul of the RAC and addition of a practice facility.



Tim Pernetti isn’t even waiting for the last construction crew to pack up at Rutgers Stadium before embarking on his next big facilities upgrade.

The Rutgers athletic director said Monday that “preliminary concepts, ideas and designs” are in place for a major overhaul of the Rutgers Athletic Center — the first to the building since it opened 31 years ago — with the next step being the onset of a fundraising campaign to get the project started.

A new basketball practice facility is the centerpiece of what Pernetti is calling “the renaissance of the RAC.”

But the plans also call for far-reaching improvements and additions beyond a practice facility that would be located adjacent to the Rutgers Athletic Center. The early outlines also call for upgrading the locker rooms, replacing the scoreboard and the playing court, adding premium and club seats and creating an atrium in the entranceway that would include retail stores and a Hall of Fame area. New coaching offices for a majority of the sports also would be created.

Pernetti said the project would impact 19 of the 24 sports that Rutgers has.

“It’s very ambitious,” he said. “I’m bullish on it because it affects so many sports in one shot and it gives us the ability to spread the fundraising umbrella a little wider.”

Pernetti said the estimated cost has yet to be determined. But he has already been told that the project, which will basically wrap around the RAC from one side to the front, would take two years to complete. Rutgers would continue using the facility while construction takes place.

Private funding is needed to get the project jump-started, Pernetti said, with income from premium and club seating paying for the rest. That model was used in large part for the still-ongoing $102 million expansion and upgrades to Rutgers Stadium, with two donors then footing the bill for the addition of a $5 million recruiting lounge.

Pernetti said he is moving ahead on the assumption that no state assistance will be involved.

“Our football stadium is a great example,” he said. “A significant piece of revenue is being generated from our club seating and premium seating. That’s an example we want to re-create in basketball. If we can do that, we can privately raise to a point where you can then count on income from premium and club seating to pay the rest of the way.”

The idea behind the project, besides bringing Rutgers in line with the majority of Big East schools in terms of facilities, “is to turn basketball games into events,” Pernetti said.

Rutgers president Richard McCormick has signed off on the idea as long as Pernetti’s combination of private funding and facility-generated revenue are able to underwrite the cost.

The project is also independent of any plans to build a private arena in downtown New Brunswick.

Talks about a 10,000- to 12,000-seat private facility, which would hold concerts and be the home to the Rutgers men’s team, began a few years ago but the project, while not totally dead, has lost steam.

“Whether our arena stays here for the next four years or there’s some scenario under which a different arena becomes ready, we still need the practice facility,” Pernetti said. “It’s not something we’re doing in lieu of. It’s something that’s additive. The practice facility is something we need.”

The hard part, as Pernetti knows, comes now: raising the money needed.

“Right now we’re looking for some people to lead the way on the project to get the ball rolling,” he said. “But until we have commitments from a couple of people we’re going to spend time behind the scenes trying to fine-tune the plan and work on designs.”

Link

(01-04-2010 09:55 PM)KnightChris Wrote:  Ummm... correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the private fundraising effort for the stadium expansion largely considered a disaster? A laughable one at that? What makes him think this would be any different?

It's Rutgers. Repeat the delusion over and over and over and eventually it has to be true, right?



Cheers,
Neil

I wouldn't say it was a complete disaster I believe about 4-5 M was raised which was of course well short of the 30 M and some bells and whistles had to be cut but Tim wasn't in charge of that effort . His first year on the job has proved he can fund raise since he raised 5 million for the the football recruiting lounge in the stadium and fund raising in general at RU reached a record high. But now this is where he proves himself even more so if he can get the money for the RAC. Aand if there is anyone that could do it I believe Tim can.


Lol and it's nice to see bitter cuse fans out in full force all you need now is your texas amigo and you can complete the sour grape trifecta

Oh and this is an article written about Tim in the star ledger in regards to his funding.

Politi: Tim Pernetti's aggressive fundraising just what Rutgers needed most
By Bridget Wentworth/The Star-Ledger
July 22, 2009, 9:15PM
Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerOne prominent booster described Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti, above, as 'a closer.'

COMMENTARY

NEW YORK -- After spending his first 113 days as Rutgers athletic director making pitches to anyone who will listen, Tim Pernetti threw one more Wednesday. This one required an actual baseball.

His lob from the mound at Yankee Stadium sailed high and wide, leading to the predictable groans. But, at least for the Scarlet Knights, his most important pitches are hitting their targets.

And those targets have deep pockets.

It is much too early to judge his performance as AD -- that will take years, not months -- but Pernetti already has made several important moves to push this department forward.

He upgraded the football schedule, replacing nonconference patsies with Penn State, Miami and UCLA. He has insisted on transparency with contract issues involving his high-profile coaches.

But most of all, he has become what Rutgers needed the most: an aggressive fundraiser.

In the coming days, Pernetti said the school will announce that athletic donations reached an all-time high for the fiscal year that ended in June despite the downturn in the economy. The bump is significant: Rutgers raised $11.7 million for the year, an all-time high and well above the previous record of $7.4 million.

"I think that's a very strong statement in this climate, and it also shows we haven't scratched the surface of our potential yet," Pernetti said Wednesday. "Which we intend to do.

"There are a lot of Rutgers people out there that, frankly, we haven't touched yet," he said. "And maybe there are some Rutgers people out there that feel like they should have been touched sooner, and we're making that connection and we're hoping people come back to it."

Much of that record total took place before Pernetti arrived. But one prominent booster described him as a "closer" in the recently announced $5 million recruiting lounge that will become part of the renovated football stadium.

That project will be funded entirely by two prominent alumni -- exactly how the major powers operate. Fans want a winning program? They have to pay for it. Pernetti said he has spent 80 percent of his time on fundraising since he started the job, and no goal is more important.

"This is the way we will fund facilities -- with private money," Pernetti said Wednesday as he stood outside the Yankees clubhouse. He was in the Bronx to announce that Rutgers will play Army here in 2011, a move that takes a mediocre nonconference game and makes it special.

"I think it was a very good blueprint for how we're going to do these things going forward," he said. "Which is, there's a price, and there's private money raised to pay that price."

Pernetti, with experience in the TV world and deep ties to Rutgers, is a natural fundraiser, and we'll have to be to succeed. After the funding debacle to expand the football stadium -- private goals were set at $30 million and were never approached, forcing the school to borrow the entire cost for the project -- he can't count on state money any more.

His ambitions are not small, either. In the coming weeks, Pernetti hopes to unveil plans for a project that will include a basketball practice facility and renovations to the Rutgers Athletic Center.

He said this will include more than a pie-in-the-sky rendering, but a realistic timeline and fundraising plan for making it happen. There is no doubt that Rutgers needs it -- badly -- to keep up in the Big East.

"It's important we have a plan in place that we can sit down with people and share," Pernetti said. "The one thing we've missed on for a long time, we had a vision for doing something, but we never had the plan in place, never really had discussions with the key people, never lined up the lead people to take us there.

"To me, we want to say, 'Here's what we're going to do' instead of, 'If you can help us, we can do this.'"

Pernetti knows his next immediate need is a big one: filling the 52,000 seats at the expanded stadium. Season ticket sales are up 15 percent, but with a lower-than-expected number of fans on the waiting list buying them, thousand of tickets are available.

The school is offering mini-plans and giving more seats to students, but after pushing hard to add those seats, it would be a very visible blemish on the project if scores of them were empty.

"The most important thing for us, and I challenge our fans, is that we fill that place," Pernetti said. "We have an obligation as Rutgers people to fill that building, and that's my goal and my mission."

He has a month and a half to make that happen. Pernetti will keep busy this summer pitching Rutgers to anyone who listens, and the Scarlet Knights need him to keep finding the plate.

(01-04-2010 10:05 PM)UltimateCFBfan Wrote:  Lol and it's nice to see bitter cuse fans out in full force all you need now is your texas amigo and you can complete the sour grape trifecta

Would you rather we ignore you, little brother?



I'll give Tim some credit. He has improved the upcoming OOC scheduling. At least Rutgers will play one decent near-elite/elite level program out of 5. Hope it's at least one every year instead of one every other year.

Cheers,
Neil

I like the aggressive approach he's taking. If Rutgers wants to be a player on the national scene, this is the kind of thinking that's required...

(01-04-2010 10:58 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  I like the aggressive approach he's taking. If Rutgers wants to be a player on the national scene, this is the kind of thinking that's required...

Thank you to the WVU fan who KNOWS what its like to be one of the bigtime schools in the modern era!

Mostly I'm just joshing you Syracuse guys with that one, but its also partly true as WVU is the model school for any Big East FB member.

My ears were burning...hmm lol

Well Rutgers needs to do something as Cuse and UConn all ready are so far ahead. The smallish RAC still won't do much to impress recruits. I learned today that Rutgers hasn't been ranked since 1979...the longest time on not being unranked by any bcs school. This should help if it comes through.

(01-04-2010 09:55 PM)KnightChris Wrote:  Ummm... correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the private fundraising effort for the stadium expansion largely considered a disaster? A laughable one at that? What makes him think this would be any different?

Because if you frame a basketball expansion as being primarily a public endeavor during this economy it will be a PR disaster. I'm sure RU will try to secure as much privte fundiing as possible, but I'm sure they will understand the state will need to step in at some point here for at least partial assistance. At the same time, he could also be counting on private funding because NJ doesn't have much money in the coffers lately.

Finally, I think RU needs to show they are committed for their athletics if they want to be a major player in the NCAA, either as a flag bearer for the BE or a candidate for the B10.

Once Penn State and Michigan start making visits funding won't be an issue...

(01-05-2010 12:30 AM)esayem Wrote:  Once Penn State and Michigan start making visits funding won't be an issue...

You think those schools will draw more for BB games?

(01-04-2010 11:15 PM)brista21 Wrote:  

(01-04-2010 10:58 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  I like the aggressive approach he's taking. If Rutgers wants to be a player on the national scene, this is the kind of thinking that's required...

Thank you to the WVU fan who KNOWS what its like to be one of the bigtime schools in the modern era!

Mostly I'm just joshing you Syracuse guys with that one, but its also partly true as WVU is the model school for any Big East FB member.

Not when it comes to hiring football coaches

Good job by Rutgers to start looking into it. USF is also adding a practice facility that would include courts for the men's amd women's teams as well as coaches offices etc for basketball. Renovation of the Sun Dome is also in the planning but the practice facilities are a go

(01-05-2010 11:09 AM)KnightChris Wrote:  Kobe Bryant and the Lakers could play Rutgers every year and it wouldn't help fundraising for their basketball program.

They already have the most attractive in-conference schedule any school could possibly want.

This is very true. And the out of conference schedule always features a few good ooc games (see Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, UNC etc. in recent years) as well as many local schools. I think they do need to just make the renovations and expansions because its a real detriment to try recruit and develop players in that facility as it stands now. We also need a new men's bball coach no doubt about that. However again to attract a good coach they need to start making the facilities upgrades that are so badly needed. I think its a case of having to spend money to make money.

Great for RU. Now UCONN men's and women's teams will have a new court to pound the Knights :)

(01-05-2010 11:11 AM)MichaelSavage Wrote:  

(01-04-2010 11:15 PM)brista21 Wrote:  

(01-04-2010 10:58 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  I like the aggressive approach he's taking. If Rutgers wants to be a player on the national scene, this is the kind of thinking that's required...

Thank you to the WVU fan who KNOWS what its like to be one of the bigtime schools in the modern era!

Mostly I'm just joshing you Syracuse guys with that one, but its also partly true as WVU is the model school for any Big East FB member.

Not when it comes to hiring football coaches

Wow your a tough man to please...the last bad head football coach hire sy WVU...was..what...1976?

Jackson

The jury is still out on whether Bill Stewart was a good hire or not.

Sometimes...its WHO you hire and how much $$$ you put into a program is much more important than playing in a not so modern arena.

70 year old Cameron Indoor Stadium

Duke is the exception...the RAC has always been a tough place to play but it needs to be moderized.

(01-06-2010 09:34 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  Duke is the exception...the RAC has always been a tough place to play but it needs to be moderized.

Exactly and at this point Duke is a brand name in basketball where as Rutgers is mostly known for being an improving program in football, a mediocre at best men's bball program, and an excellent women's program who was involved in an incident with Imus.