(08-07-2021 11:56 PM)DuelingDragon Wrote: The stadium is a public private partnership between city, county, state, UAB and others. UAB contributed $40 million as well as a long-term lease. It is part of a project that also includes $170 million upgrade to the civic center that is currently underway. When completed, Birmingham’s two main facilities will arguably be the best in America among midsized cities that do not also have a team in one of the four major pro leagues.
UAB boosters and civic leaders raised almost $50 million to bring back football, including the $22.5 million football operations center. There is also a new $6 million basketball practice facility under construction and new or refurbished facilities for almost every other sport. Baseball, softball, track, beach volleyball, soccer all have or will have new facilities. Soccer’s stadium is one of the best in the country, with the the local pro team subleasing it. The new track and field facility is top notch.
Since the return, UAB has eclipsed all its prior fundraising and booster total records. It has made Bill Clark one of the top paid coaches in g5. It’s trio of Clark, Andy Kennedy in MBB and Sammy Dunn in baseball is as good a trio in the major sports as any in g5.
This just one aspect of what is happening in Birmingham. The campus has made more than $1 billion in construction over the past decade, including new school of business, new school of arts and science, new school of public health, new dorms, new apartments, new honors house, and so much more. UAB has experienced record enrollment also, each year since the restoration of football, has twice been named No. 1 up and coming university in the nation, the No. 1 young university (less than 50 years old), a top 150 world university, one of the top public research universities in the nation.
Birmingham itself is undergoing a massive revitalization. There is a vibrant technology / entrepreneur ecosystem, in conjunction with the innovation depot (a public/private partnership led by UAB) that is fueling major growth with companies like Shipt (acquired by Target for $500 million) and many others springing up within the city.
Things have come a long way from where they were a decade ago.
Thank you for the serious response. And don't take this wrong, but I was hoping for more than just another UAB advertisement. I seriously want to know where all that money and funding is
coming from. For instance, early in your response you casually threw out "
UAB contributed $40 Million", before quickly moving on. Well, where is that $40 Million coming from? And don't tell me "
increases in enrollment", because that's not it. How is (or was) the bulk of the $40 Million raised? Is the school floating bonds (debt) to finance this stuff? Are fund raising events scheduled in the future?
Same for your comment "
UAB boosters and civic leaders raised almost $50 Million to bring back football". Again, most civic organizations the size of Birmingham would choke if asked to raise $50 Million. How was THAT money actually raised? Do you guys have boosters committing
multiple millions to UAB projects? If so, who are they? That's a lot of money too.
How in the heck does UAB afford
$1 Billion in construction costs over the last decade? I'm sorry, the Birmingham community is just not that big. In fact, Birmingham --with a population of about 212K-- is about the same size as the city of Shreveport LA. And there's no way in hell Shreveport could raise money like this.
Again, don't take this wrong, but UAB is not even Alabama's "pride and joy" flagship university. So, it's just extremely weird to see so much money is being thrown at a non-P5 school (that's the nicest way I can put it) in a state not known for it's enormous wealth. It's not California, or Texas or even Florida. It's Alabama. Again, I'm sincerely not trying to be
critical, but the City of Birmingham and the state of Alabama just never struck me as an enormously wealthy municipality and state.