Martin mentioned he's hosting virtual office hours on Feb 11 and 16, I don't have Zoom installed on my phone so I can't see the time at the moment, but it might be worth trying to ask him about Kaplan at those.

https://tribeathletics.com/news/2021/2/4...im-ad.aspx

The Alumni Gazette does feature the renovation, using the original design presented last year, of Kaplan in the
the latest issue that arrived last week.

Wish we had an official update on this from the College.

Possible that this is related. Usually, there is clear staggering of the seasons and that is how they had planned to complete the renovation without interruption to access. Everyone competing at the same time means that too many athletes need access to the facility...logistical nightmare.
https://tribeathletics.com/news/2021/2/4...im-ad.aspx

(02-14-2021 12:41 PM)nogretheogre Wrote:  Possible that this is related. Usually, there is clear staggering of the seasons and that is how they had planned to complete the renovation without interruption to access. Everyone competing at the same time means that too many athletes need access to the facility...logistical nightmare.
https://tribeathletics.com/news/2021/2/4...im-ad.aspx

Can't they take Woman's basketball off that chart now?

Not Hall related, but here are renderings of Maine's proposed new facilities.
https://goblackbears.com/news/2021/2/17/...-plan.aspx

Hope they answer about the new timeline:


Tribe Basketball Supporters,

Since this COVID pandemic has kept us apart this season, we’re setting up a call to share with you what’s going on with your program and keep you updated and involved with W&M Basketball.

The event will be a live discussion via Zoom with the Basketball staff, where we provide you with a financial update, an in-depth season outlook, and answer your questions about the team. The event will take place on March 1st at 8:00 PM EST.

To register for the event, please click the link below.

Men's Basketball Call: Monday, March 1st at 8:00 pm
https://cl.s6.exct.net/?qs=26efdd38e35cb...c1b1048ef4

Thank you for all that you do to support William & Mary Athletics. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Go Tribe!

Mark Batzel '88, Billy Barnes '82, Mark Boddy '87, Ken Tyler '87, Taylor Mokris '06, Kyle Gaillard '14, Julian Boatner '14

It is my understanding that there have been calls with all the sports to discuss the financial situation facing the Athletic Department and how each sport has done in meeting the target fund raising goal that was set for them by the department. To quote a basketball phrase this is a "full court press" to raise donations.

Jeremy Martin appeared on last night's W&M Basketball Alumni/Contributor Zoom call hosted by Dane and finally spoke a little
about the status of the Kaplan Arena Renovation....and, unfortunately, it remains up in the air and clouded.

Martin referred to "funding problems" delaying the project and would give no clear indication as to when construction would
begin or even if it would start. Said only "I'll get back to everyone in the future", setting no time limit on when we'd get
an official update. Did refer to the covid as halting things.

As I understand it the two substantial contributors to the project gave W&M 41 million for the reconstruction and the entire project
was estimated at 57 million dollars. Have no idea if its the extra 16 million, problems with the 41 million contributions from the two main donors,
the school having second thoughts, or whatever else.

What appears apparent is that there is no start to the renovation in the immediate future or even this year.

Do we have bad vibes from Martin's somewhat non-clarifying, neutral remarks?

Zable/Carry was built as an "agricultural Exposition facility" with federal money as one of the New Deal make work projects.

Perhaps the Kaplan/W&M Hall can be "reimagined" as an infrastructure project/COVID relief pork barrel project. The Kaplan Center for Diversity & Inclusion?

It worked once, maybe it will work again?

(03-02-2021 06:33 AM)bubbadog57 Wrote:  Do we have bad vibes from Martin's somewhat non-clarifying, neutral remarks?

Please!!! What did you expect the guy to say? He told us where things stand and he'll let us know when there are developments. He also clarified that the plan was not finalized at any point. I guess you thought it was so now you know it wasn't.

My biggest takeaway from Martin's remarks was that there was a "misunderstanding" that the project was "shovel ready". Given everything we went through with the previous AD, it's hard not to think that "misunderstanding" was intentional.

(03-02-2021 07:54 AM)Tribe4SF Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 06:33 AM)bubbadog57 Wrote:  Do we have bad vibes from Martin's somewhat non-clarifying, neutral remarks?

Please!!! What did you expect the guy to say? He told us where things stand and he'll let us know when there are developments. He also clarified that the plan was not finalized at any point. I guess you thought it was so now you know it wasn't.

We all understand that Covid has changed life and we must create new visions. However we should not rewrite history in the process. The public was told that the project was being put out to bid in the summer of 2020 and that we would break ground "December 2020".

The official announcement on 2/1/20 from our website stated:

"Construction is expected to begin in fall 2020 and conclude in fall 2022."

The 2/1/20 announcement showed 41 million commitment from two major donors and the projected price tag announced of 57 million. We do not know what the final cost was once the bids came in this summer. Based on other large commercial bidding projects in this area, prices went up dramatically due to Covid last year so we can guess it is over 60 million with only 41 million raised since no other large gifts have been announced for this.

Look no further than the Phi Beta Kappa building project on campus and you can see this is not an issue our AD controls. I do wish we had better communication however!

It is not Martin's fault but kind of sad that last year around this time they had this big ceremony in Kaplan at half time of the basketball game with a big video presentation telling everyone about the new facility that they would be getting..if I am not mistaken a lot of coaches brought recruits down that weekend to show off the new facility that they would have....ugh

Delays are understandable and don't bother me. I just want to be sure that existing targeted funding isn't reallocated into other projects. If more fund raising is needed to reach targeted goals, then so be it.

(03-02-2021 08:53 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Delays are understandable and don't bother me. I just want to be sure that existing targeted funding isn't reallocated into other projects. If more fund raising is needed to reach targeted goals, then so be it.

The donors control the 41 million in funds that are restricted and the College cannot reallocate the money to another project.

This guy is a joke. He is more focused on inclusion diversity wokeism instead of building WINNING programs at W&M. At this point, the school might as well drop down to Division 3 so we can save money on athletic scholarships. Maybe that professor was right about canceling the football program after all.

(03-02-2021 09:00 AM)wmmii Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 08:53 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Delays are understandable and don't bother me. I just want to be sure that existing targeted funding isn't reallocated into other projects. If more fund raising is needed to reach targeted goals, then so be it.

The donors control the 41 million in funds that are restricted and the College cannot reallocate the money to another project.

That's what I figured. Sure, delays in the timeline are frustrating, but I haven't seen anything pointing to a change of plans.

Worst case I guess is we get “stuck” with the current Hall which is still one of the largest and best facilities in the CAA. I’m all in for improvements though thought the makeover was a bit over the top. Get a new scoreboard, some new concessions and build out a new entry pavilion.

The finances of the Athletic Department are upside down right now... coaches are having to spend more time figuring out how to raise money from alumni than getting their teams ready to compete. The model seems broken...