(06-11-2013 09:55 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  I keep hearing that our locker rooms have leaks, vermin, and no hot water. I don't know whether that is true but I don't question it.

What I want to know is, if it is true, then why aren't these issues at the top of the priority list? Surely these things could be fixed for less than the $45M and who-knows-how-many years an entirely new building will take.

The whole structure reeks of mildew/mold/age. Atleast it did the last time I was in there.

As for your second Q, beats me. Im sure donors would be far more willing to get behind a practical plan that addresses our most pressing needs first; I sure would.

(06-11-2013 09:55 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  I keep hearing that our locker rooms have leaks, vermin, and no hot water. I don't know whether that is true but I don't question it.

What I want to know is, if it is true, then why aren't these issues at the top of the priority list? Surely these things could be fixed for less than the $45M and who-knows-how-many years an entirely new building will take.

There is no money to fix them. That's what I've been trying to explain.

The only way they can figure out how to get money to fix them is a capital campaign to build a new facility. That's what's wrong here. I don't think there's anybody around who understands operating revenues.

I believe it is easier to raise $45mm to build a brand new building than it is to raise $15mm to gut and rebuild an old one that still won't be as nice and effective. I agree that is probably the better solution, but the donor base isn't the same for those two things

(06-11-2013 10:12 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 09:55 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  I keep hearing that our locker rooms have leaks, vermin, and no hot water. I don't know whether that is true but I don't question it.

What I want to know is, if it is true, then why aren't these issues at the top of the priority list? Surely these things could be fixed for less than the $45M and who-knows-how-many years an entirely new building will take.

There is no money to fix them. That's what I've been trying to explain.

The only way they can figure out how to get money to fix them is a capital campaign to build a new facility. That's what's wrong here. I don't think there's anybody around who understands operating revenues.

I can't understand why fixing/maintaining those facilities was/is not a higher priority.

(06-11-2013 10:33 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 10:12 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 09:55 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  I keep hearing that our locker rooms have leaks, vermin, and no hot water. I don't know whether that is true but I don't question it.
What I want to know is, if it is true, then why aren't these issues at the top of the priority list? Surely these things could be fixed for less than the $45M and who-knows-how-many years an entirely new building will take.

There is no money to fix them. That's what I've been trying to explain.
The only way they can figure out how to get money to fix them is a capital campaign to build a new facility. That's what's wrong here. I don't think there's anybody around who understands operating revenues.

I can't understand why fixing/maintaining those facilities was/is not a higher priority.

It's not a question of priorities. There isn't any money to do it with. It could be priority number one and it still wouldn't happen.

That's what nobody seems to understand. There is no money to do anything. None. There are hundreds of things that need to be done, but there's no money to do any of them. That's why I'm harping so hard on the revenue issue.

Owl 69-I am with you all the way on your view on matters except for maybe bailiff, but how does this end? From one of my favorite movies,1776, is anybody there, does anybody care? Will the BOT/leebron/Tudor just going to continue with how matters have been conducted over the last 5/10/20/40 years and I contend it has just gotten worse and worse? I dunno about everyone else, but it is clear to me that this is just like the astrodome, just let it die by non attention. Starting this year my support will be cut back as I refuse to support something that seems to be dieing as if "they" don't care, why should I? There is no doubt that greenspan has been a disaster and seems to have no plan for anything but those who hired him must be blamed or did they hire him to run the hospice. Very very very sad.

No. There IS a plan. The plan involves the north complex and scholarships. Scholarships increases revenue... though at a small amount per year... i,e, a 1mm endowed scholarship donation generates like 50k per year to spend.... so 50mm in endowed scholarships solves our immediate problem... and $100mm would allow us to be first class across the board.... but we're at like $5mm.... though we should certainly be able to raise $100mm... too bad we didn't ask for it during centennial... that REALLY sucks.... and the committment to the building would increase interest and results... and thus somewhat revenue... but IMO, not enough because we have to reward what gets us there... so we STILL need more revenue.

If we can endow $100mm in scholarships and fund the stadium renovations, which is the plan... then we may not NEED any "money" games. We can insist on home and homes with good teams because we expect to beat them.... and we can get poor/small teams to come play us at home with no return for the chance to recruit in Houston.

(06-11-2013 10:32 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  I believe it is easier to raise $45mm to build a brand new building than it is to raise $15mm to gut and rebuild an old one that still won't be as nice and effective. I agree that is probably the better solution, but the donor base isn't the same for those two things

You could make the same argument with the total HRS facility.

(06-11-2013 10:33 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 10:12 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 09:55 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  I keep hearing that our locker rooms have leaks, vermin, and no hot water. I don't know whether that is true but I don't question it.

What I want to know is, if it is true, then why aren't these issues at the top of the priority list? Surely these things could be fixed for less than the $45M and who-knows-how-many years an entirely new building will take.

There is no money to fix them. That's what I've been trying to explain.

The only way they can figure out how to get money to fix them is a capital campaign to build a new facility. That's what's wrong here. I don't think there's anybody around who understands operating revenues.

I can't understand why fixing/maintaining those facilities was/is not a higher priority.

Are these issues serious enough to get a City of Houston code violation? Maybe that would be enough of a Chronicle Page 1 embarrasment to get something happening.

(06-11-2013 09:52 PM)Cougar Hippy Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 12:25 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  The cost to set Minute Maid up for football can't be cheap. Is BBVA Compass Stadium just too small? It is a very nice stadium, but I can see the 22,000 capacity as a problem.

Yeah. Our only real complaint with BBVA is the 22k capacity. Our fanbase is way too big just for a mere 22k. We can easily sell out the place well beyond capacity but we don't want 10-15,000 Coogs turned away or forced to sit in the parking lot.

Good luck. If UH shows 32,000 to 37,000 attendance at the Reliant stadium games, I will support these statements. I do think that limiting ticket sales to 22,000 would create a scarcity and guarantee a sell-out, perhaps even for a clunker like Rice-Tulane.

(06-11-2013 11:58 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  No. There IS a plan. The plan involves the north complex and scholarships. Scholarships increases revenue... though at a small amount per year... i,e, a 1mm endowed scholarship donation generates like 50k per year to spend.... so 50mm in endowed scholarships solves our immediate problem... and $100mm would allow us to be first class across the board.... but we're at like $5mm.... though we should certainly be able to raise $100mm... too bad we didn't ask for it during centennial... that REALLY sucks.... and the committment to the building would increase interest and results... and thus somewhat revenue... but IMO, not enough because we have to reward what gets us there... so we STILL need more revenue.

If we can endow $100mm in scholarships and fund the stadium renovations, which is the plan... then we may not NEED any "money" games. We can insist on home and homes with good teams because we expect to beat them.... and we can get poor/small teams to come play us at home with no return for the chance to recruit in Houston.

Why is this plan not being pitched by the AD? That would do wonders for morale and help increase their fundraising effort.

(06-12-2013 08:53 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 10:33 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 10:12 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-11-2013 09:55 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  I keep hearing that our locker rooms have leaks, vermin, and no hot water. I don't know whether that is true but I don't question it.
What I want to know is, if it is true, then why aren't these issues at the top of the priority list? Surely these things could be fixed for less than the $45M and who-knows-how-many years an entirely new building will take.

There is no money to fix them. That's what I've been trying to explain.
The only way they can figure out how to get money to fix them is a capital campaign to build a new facility. That's what's wrong here. I don't think there's anybody around who understands operating revenues.

I can't understand why fixing/maintaining those facilities was/is not a higher priority.

Are these issues serious enough to get a City of Houston code violation? Maybe that would be enough of a Chronicle Page 1 embarrasment to get something happening.

Code violations come into play far more for new facilities than for maintaining old facilities. There are even situations where codes prevent fixing problems that arise over time. You couldn't get a new facility through code certification with the current problems, but they are not likely to come up as maintenance issues.

And a Chronicle page 1 embarrassment would probably do more to kill recruiting than anything else.

(06-12-2013 09:00 AM)Antarius Wrote:  Why is this plan not being pitched by the AD? That would do wonders for morale and help increase their fundraising effort.

It is... but quietly/poorly articulated. PERHAPS it is because the plan is so grand they don't want to raise $25mm for scholarships and have that be seen as a failure? I suspect what they want to do is get $25mm from insiders and loyalists on top of the facility... and then have the BOT go "community wide" in a grand push like every other fund raiser we do. You don't start a plan to raise $1byn unless you believe you can raise MORE than that.... so you start by talking to insiders and see how far you think you can get. Just a guess, and a hope.

(06-12-2013 09:10 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Code violations come into play far more for new facilities than for maintaining old facilities. There are even situations where codes prevent fixing problems that arise over time. You couldn't get a new facility through code certification with the current problems, but they are not likely to come up as maintenance issues.

And a Chronicle page 1 embarrassment would probably do more to kill recruiting than anything else.

Yep... Many of our violations (like bathrooms) are exempted by time. We can't make MINOR improvements without being forced to make MAJOR ones. This MIGHT explain some of the south end issues. This is one of the reasons I wanted to expand the concourses and add bathrooms technically OUTSIDE the confines of HRS so as not to open that can of worms. If we can take the pressure off of the old plumbing by pushing most of the use to new facilities, perhaps we can avoid having to rip out the amazingly stable concrete foundation.

Big capital campaigns often start with a quiet phase that targets high-dollar donors. If we're in a quiet phase, great. I'm just worried that this quiet phase will outlive Rice Athletics itself.

Wow we've jumped to a number of conclusions here - have we considered the fact that our team, trainers, coaches, etc basically live in the locker room during football season? It would be quite an effort to remove everything they don't want to be damaged or stolen for a weekend when they're traveling for a game themselves that weekend.

(06-12-2013 12:53 PM)lou Wrote:  Wow we've jumped to a number of conclusions here - have we considered the fact that our team, trainers, coaches, etc basically live in the locker room during football season? It would be quite an effort to remove everything they don't want to be damaged or stolen for a weekend when they're traveling for a game themselves that weekend.

I certainly don't know if you are right, but your logic seems good to me.

(06-12-2013 01:26 PM)RiceDad Wrote:  

(06-12-2013 12:53 PM)lou Wrote:  Wow we've jumped to a number of conclusions here - have we considered the fact that our team, trainers, coaches, etc basically live in the locker room during football season? It would be quite an effort to remove everything they don't want to be damaged or stolen for a weekend when they're traveling for a game themselves that weekend.

I certainly don't know if you are right, but your logic seems good to me.

Could it also be that the tents are for equipment managers, training rooms, meeting areas and other essential services required to support a football game? HRS never had good facilities for visiting teams as far as I remember. Vacating the facilities with a short timeline would be very difficult and potentially costly. High school games are easy because most HS facilities have limited, and often shared, support staff and resources across a district. College programs come with a lot more need. Just a thought.

Minute Maid is not an option unless you want to play 1 way football like that ridiculous Northwestern game at Wrigley a few years ago. The UH games not at Reliant will be at either Rice or BBVA.

It wouldn't be in Rice's best interest to deny UH use of the stadium.

(06-13-2013 04:56 PM)Cougar Hippy Wrote:  It wouldn't be in Rice's best interest to deny UH use of the stadium.

Your Jedi mind trick will not work on this board. This is no the board you are looking for. And, nobody said stadium use was denied, just a locker room.