UA WILDCATS FOOTBALL
Gimino: It's time to upgrade Arizona Stadium
The facilities race never stops in the Pac-10
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ARIZONA STADIUM CAPACITY
1929 7,000
1938 10,000
1947 14,000
1950 22,671
1965 32,000
1976 50,000
1988 56,000
2008 57,400
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The facilities race in the Pac-10 - everywhere, really - is such that Oregon and Oregon State compete over the size of their video boards.
The Beavers, as part of a second phase of improvements at Reser Stadium, put in an 80-foot video board before last season, the largest in the Pac-10.
Oregon countered this summer with a video screen that was 88 feet wide.
So there.
Size matters in college football, and so does speed - and everybody is quick to build, build, build. It's probably true that if you're just standing still, you're falling behind.
"As far as keeping up with the Joneses, that's always going to be with us in athletics - and universities," Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood said.
"I've heard university presidents say that it can be very helpful to have a crane on your campus. It shows you're moving forward and all that."
Arizona is inching forward.
The Arizona Board of Regents approved a capital plan for the UA athletic department that includes construction in the north end zone of Arizona Stadium, as well as improvements to McKale Center.
Livengood and his staff now can get serious about planning, budgeting and dreaming. UA hired an architectural firm, Sasaki Associations Inc., to draw up plans for the construction in the north end zone, which includes boosting capacity by connecting the east and west side seating.
Livengood isn't ready to say much yet in terms of the costs or details or timetables - perhaps later this fall.
"The next challenge here is to look at a more long-range master plan," Livengood said. "What does Arizona athletics need over the next five, 10, 15 years?"
You could argue any upgrades to the stadium are long overdue.
"When we were at Arizona, we were at the bottom of the barrel in terms of facilities," said San Jose State head coach Dick Tomey, who coached Arizona from 1987-2000.
"We just tried to sell (recruits) that people are more important than bricks and mortar. But if you have the facilities, then you show them that."
In a perfect world, you would show them both.
Arizona is completing its most recent capital project - construction of a basketball/volleyball practice facility, swimming pool renovation, and gymnastics practice facility renovation/expansion - so it is ready to move on to the next thing.
UA made some cosmetic improvements to Arizona Stadium in recent years, splashing some paint here and there, but the rest of the league has really been serious about its football plant.
Washington State completed two phases of football stadium renovations before this season, totaling $27 million. Another phase, with luxury suites and extra capacity, is planned.
Stanford is in the third season of its "new" stadium. The school basically tore down the old Stanford Stadium after the 2005 season, raising a cozier 50,000-seat building in its place. Final bill: $90 million.
Oregon State remodeled and expanded Reser Stadium before the 2005 season, with a price tag of $80 million. Further work and expansion, including the video board, cost an additional $35 million.
Oregon never stops spending, and wrote a $90 million check to improve Autzen Stadium several years ago.
Arizona State built an $8.4 million indoor practice facility before this season, although it was damaged in August during a storm.
Cal, after winning its two-year battle against tree-sitters, got the go-ahead last month to start work on a $140 million sports training center on campus.
Two phases of major renovations and retrofitting to Memorial Stadium - which, gulp, sits on top of the Hayward Fault - will follow. The entire project will take six years to complete.
"It just seemed like it was one hurdle after another," Cal coach Jeff Tedford told reporters last month. "No question, people were using that against us in recruiting."
The connection of facilities and recruiting is such a touchy topic that administrators and coaches don't like to talk on the record about what they don't have, lest that ends up in other school's recruiting pitches.
"The best way to answer the facilities question is to say it never hurts recruiting," Livengood said.
"I learned when I was at Washington State that you are who you are, and you can't bemoan what you don't have. You have to accentuate what you do have."
For Arizona, it's time to have more to accentuate.
Lets see if we can get sponsorships to create something more than just blocking the view of the mountains.
6th street is a danger for pedestrians, how about some curved handicap ramps over the top of the street with barriers, permanent and sculpted and painted to prevent people from crossing street between cars. More room for buses to park west bound lanes.
Move the Circle K across the side street
and create a mini mall in the dirt parking lot, revenue sharing for the U of A. (there are already so many captured potential customers walking around)
Additional parking structures as well!
Why is this such a closed off process?
Jim Livengood as you can see from his remark-"I learned when I was at Washington State that you are who you are, and you can't bemoan what you don't have. You have to accentuate what you do have." Is a small thinker, therefore lets open up the process before it is too late!
http://phxwildcatfans.blogspot.com/
The key is a $150 million fundraising drive. No tuition increase or tax increase needed.