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Seems a head scratcher to me? Anyone have some insight?

Replacing Rocket Hall


Might as well go ahead and list some initial thoughts, why I'm not getting this.

Renovations to Rocket Hall were fairly recent and it looks great. One of the better renovations on campus.


It invariably will have food services that would compete with the attempts to grow the off-campus.

Seems an expansion of overhead that would NEVER recoup the money in donations.

Seems designed by the office of redundancy. All the named facilities are already reasonably close to Driscoll and if you were going to try and impress possible donors, wouldn't you want a facility close to where the action is, research labs, athletic facilities...


In it's favor, it does have a nice big parking lot for the old farts.
Sounds like a complete waste of money.
I guess the other thing that's on my mind, the Pavilion.

Putting an Alumni Center out the boonies doesn't seem to add a lot of synergy. I'll go WAY back to when they first announced the Pavilion, I posted thoughts that the chosen location was space limited and anyone that's been there before games would have to now agree. My thought at the time was to use the area around the tennis courts as that was expandable and had a terrific opportunity for a nice indoor-outdoor conference room/patio overlooking lot 10 on one side and over the park-like area on the other. Then when they talked about putting the pavilion by the bottom of the stadium, I posted concerns about the effects on the stability of the stadium architecture (also proven true) and suggested Larimer could be converted, giving again, a nice synergy and a great money raiser with a patio overlooking the field.

Well, for 16 million, they can revisit instead of making a third mistake.


They seem to think one half step at a time, seeing only direct lines to building facilities when they should have in mind how they can be multi-purpose, flexible, provide something that not already is and work with established facilities to pay for themselves.

If they are going to build this thing, why not take advantage of the Pavilion in a way that can both expand its capabilities AND put the alumni facility close to athletic facilities, tail-gating and the conference facilities in the nearby Student Union? It will still be easy to service and access and also provide a way to use the Alumni building to generate income as an expansion of conference facilities. AND by the way, make it something to look at from the ground and from the East stands or use that technique they used on the glass museum, to make at least the second floor conference area almost invisible. I imagine that to be fairly in-expensive construction and minimizes the cost of stone.

Tennis courts can go just about anywhere.
The other location that would be excitable would to incorporate it into the stadium overlooking the south stands. It would be the best view on campus besides the press box, easily serviceable and not far from the Pavilion at the sacrifice of some parking but probably not a lot.

It'd be a heck of a sight from lot 10 and a great noise reflector for the stadium, leading to further expansion to a re-do of the East stands. If not the tennis courts, IMO they really should look at this as a step expansion to the stadium.
(04-07-2015 12:18 PM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]The other location that would be excitable would to incorporate it into the stadium overlooking the south stands. It would be the best view on campus besides the press box, easily serviceable and not far from the Pavilion at the sacrifice of some parking but probably not a lot.

It'd be a heck of a sight from lot 10 and a great noise reflector for the stadium, leading to further expansion to a re-do of the East stands. If not the tennis courts, IMO they really should look at this as a step expansion to the stadium.

I like this concept a lot !! Have the Alumni building designed with several suites with/2-4 rows of premium seating (like 5/3 Field) overlooking the GB from above the south brick wall. If done right, this could be a signature structure completing that end of the GB, and also fulfilling the needs of the UT Alumni.
(04-07-2015 01:13 PM)FMRocket Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-07-2015 12:18 PM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]The other location that would be excitable would to incorporate it into the stadium overlooking the south stands. It would be the best view on campus besides the press box, easily serviceable and not far from the Pavilion at the sacrifice of some parking but probably not a lot.

It'd be a heck of a sight from lot 10 and a great noise reflector for the stadium, leading to further expansion to a re-do of the East stands. If not the tennis courts, IMO they really should look at this as a step expansion to the stadium.

I like this concept a lot !! Have the Alumni building designed with several suites with/2-4 rows of premium seating (like 5/3 Field) overlooking the GB from above the south brick wall. If done right, this could be a signature structure completing that end of the GB, and also fulfilling the needs of the UT Alumni.

and a party deck on the roof......
(04-07-2015 01:25 PM)Terry Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-07-2015 01:13 PM)FMRocket Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-07-2015 12:18 PM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]The other location that would be excitable would to incorporate it into the stadium overlooking the south stands. It would be the best view on campus besides the press box, easily serviceable and not far from the Pavilion at the sacrifice of some parking but probably not a lot.

It'd be a heck of a sight from lot 10 and a great noise reflector for the stadium, leading to further expansion to a re-do of the East stands. If not the tennis courts, IMO they really should look at this as a step expansion to the stadium.

I like this concept a lot !! Have the Alumni building designed with several suites with/2-4 rows of premium seating (like 5/3 Field) overlooking the GB from above the south brick wall. If done right, this could be a signature structure completing that end of the GB, and also fulfilling the needs of the UT Alumni.

and a party deck on the roof......

And an office on the first floor for an in-house estate planning attorney.
(04-07-2015 01:34 PM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-07-2015 01:25 PM)Terry Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-07-2015 01:13 PM)FMRocket Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-07-2015 12:18 PM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]The other location that would be excitable would to incorporate it into the stadium overlooking the south stands. It would be the best view on campus besides the press box, easily serviceable and not far from the Pavilion at the sacrifice of some parking but probably not a lot.

It'd be a heck of a sight from lot 10 and a great noise reflector for the stadium, leading to further expansion to a re-do of the East stands. If not the tennis courts, IMO they really should look at this as a step expansion to the stadium.

I like this concept a lot !! Have the Alumni building designed with several suites with/2-4 rows of premium seating (like 5/3 Field) overlooking the GB from above the south brick wall. If done right, this could be a signature structure completing that end of the GB, and also fulfilling the needs of the UT Alumni.

and a party deck on the roof......

And an office on the first floor for an in-house estate planning attorney.

Parking?
Why doesn't the university buy the crappy Campus View apartments and tear them down. Use that property and part of the law school parking lot and build there?
16 million dollars! Imagine what they could to the Glass Bowl with that kind of money.
Buy Ottawa Park.
(04-07-2015 04:02 PM)inductchuck16 Wrote: [ -> ]16 million dollars! Imagine what they could to the Glass Bowl with that kind of money.

Best if done in a way that it might recoup itself. What are you thinking they should do to the stadium that would encourage more people to come or make it more useful, year-round?

We're designing a new toy here. So far, we have a multi-story alumni center incorporated into the west wall with a second floor indoor-outdoor patio, a deck on top and an attorney on the first floor to encourage responsible estate planning on the part of potential party accident victims. I'm thinking DRocket wants a parking garage wrapping around the corners to the main east and west stands for people that don't want to leave their cars to watch the game? Kind of like a drive-in movie for football?

I'm thinking a putting green on the party deck?
I have had discussions with Alumni staff about this. The article does not have a rendering. I got the impression this was an addition to Rocket Hall not a replacement.

The Rocket Hall renovation reduced the footprint of the complex. There is room for this over there

Knowing how Toledo views parking this is a necessity to expand programming for the alumni association. Driscoll does not have enough parking

Additionally the alumni office needs more space. Driscoll can house something else

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk
I guess we've slipped back into serious land.

(04-07-2015 09:00 PM)indianasniff Wrote: [ -> ]I have had discussions with Alumni staff about this. The article does not have a rendering. I got the impression this was an addition to Rocket Hall not a replacement.

The Rocket Hall renovation reduced the footprint of the complex. There is room for this over there

Knowing how Toledo views parking this is a necessity to expand programming for the alumni association. Driscoll does not have enough parking

Additionally the alumni office needs more space. Driscoll can house something else

Good luck?
If we go back to when the Driscoll Center was built, we had nothing for alumni functions. It was great and certainly added impact for those folks working. I think it allowed for creation of Institutional Enhancement and the Foundation teams. Now, given Dr. Gaber's comments on her focus on fundraising we need more space. The presidents home in OH is to small for large functions I'm guessing. Let's face it, many of us are hoping for us to turn the corner in the conference affiliation front and that and other initiatives will need a special place to entertain the right folks and it looks like this might be the strategy with this building? I know the really big donors aren't courted in these large events but let's let the plans move ahead to see what is cooking. Go Rockets.
What large event did alumni center try to hold that they didn't already have space for using other campus facilities? How is a Rocket Hall conversion going to be more special than a walk through U-Hall, Doerman, and the Student Union, which already has conference facilities?


Doesn't sound like anyone is going to get in the way of plans. The players have already made the decision I imagine but I think they're going to have to do a much better selling job than did that article. Asking 16 million for what appears to be sole use by a minor fundraising dept in a university with as poor an endowment as UT isn't asking chump change. I think they'll have much more success if they can show a history of fundraising significant to their cost of operation, particularly regards endowment and academic, not athletics facilities.

A little hard sell wouldn't hurt, presuming they can meet that challenge.
(04-08-2015 10:35 AM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]What large event did alumni center try to hold that they didn't already have space for using other campus facilities? How is a Rocket Hall conversion going to be more special than a walk through U-Hall, Doerman, and the Student Union, which already has conference facilities?


Doesn't sound like anyone is going to get in the way of plans. The players have already made the decision I imagine but I think they're going to have to do a much better selling job than did that article. Asking 16 million for what appears to be sole use by a minor fundraising dept in a university with as poor an endowment as UT isn't asking chump change. I think they'll have much more success if they can show a history of fundraising significant to their cost of operation, particularly regards endowment and academic, not athletics facilities.

A little hard sell wouldn't hurt, presuming they can meet that challenge.

Don't we have a university fundraising campaign going on for years that hasn't released any information about progress?

For a MAC school we have a pretty good endowment ($350 M+).
(04-08-2015 10:46 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote: [ -> ]
(04-08-2015 10:35 AM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]What large event did alumni center try to hold that they didn't already have space for using other campus facilities? How is a Rocket Hall conversion going to be more special than a walk through U-Hall, Doerman, and the Student Union, which already has conference facilities?


Doesn't sound like anyone is going to get in the way of plans. The players have already made the decision I imagine but I think they're going to have to do a much better selling job than did that article. Asking 16 million for what appears to be sole use by a minor fundraising dept in a university with as poor an endowment as UT isn't asking chump change. I think they'll have much more success if they can show a history of fundraising significant to their cost of operation, particularly regards endowment and academic, not athletics facilities.

A little hard sell wouldn't hurt, presuming they can meet that challenge.

Don't we have a university fundraising campaign going on for years that hasn't released any information about progress?

For a MAC school we have a pretty good endowment ($350 M+).

That's a WHOLE lot more than is reported by the review sites but even those are all over the map. You'd think someone at the University would want to get on those about some correction. Or it could be a creative accounting that includes the land and buildings into the endowment figures?

Any way to know how much that endowment generated last year?
(04-08-2015 01:12 PM)eastisbest Wrote: [ -> ]Any way to know how much that endowment generated last year?

UT Foundation reports are freely available on the web:

https://www.utfoundation.org/foundation/...request=15
Can't really figure out Alumni Association operating expenses or funds raised by them from that report. It shows how much the Foundation charged them to manage their investments (combined with the University at large).

I don't recall any of my other alumni assoc ever asking me to donate a penny towards fund raising capabilities, let alone such a significant chunk towards their own operating expenses. Generally I understand, they just grab a fixws percent of what they raise for operating expenses and the fund raisers I believe live partially off commission.

I presume UT AA works similarly. Wonder what reason UT isn't taking that approach for this particular project and I still don't understand the reasoning behind the location and purpose. I really can't conceive money jumping out of the estates as they walk potential donors though Rocket Hall.
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