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Message: [QUOTE="reedny, post: 1658384, member: 1423"] You both make good arguments for starting fresh. But there are some issues with the new stadium option that I'd like to hear your thoughts on: 1. The University needs support from the central NY community to run successful FB and BB programs. Making our facility accessible to the public is obviously an important concern. That said, Syracuse University's first responsibility is to its own sports programs, students and alumni. The Dome is a unique part of SU campus life, and (to my mind) a big part of SU's sports brand. The U has spent millions to build and project this image to the public (and potential recruits), to the point where SU sports and the Dome are joined at the hip. All that would be lost by moving to an off-campus building (especially at the Mall), even though doing so might be more convenient in the short term. However, your mention of Drumlins (which I think is very close to campus, if not right on its border) is intriguing. Were you suggesting this as a building site, or parking? 2. Go's arguments seem to be centered on the use of public funds. And I get that. A huge investment by taxpayers would (and should) entail State (or authority) ownership and heavy community access and use. With that, obviously, comes sacrifice. Not only would SU be just a tenant, it would have to compete with a variety of other public uses for the space, from local semi-pro sports to concerts and other events. Louisville tried this with the Dumb center and for a number of years the facility hemorrhaged money. So on top of the fact that a public (off-campus) facility would deprive SU of access and control for practices and other needs, it's quite possible that a public facility would lose money and need ongoing taxpayer support. 3. Following the "money" a little further, I've never heard any suggestion for a new stadium accompanied by a viable solution for what to do with the Dome. It's not going away, even if we build new. Unless SU plans to bulldoze it, it's going to need a multi-million dollar roof and a bunch of improvements to remain viable. Therefore, any new stadium investment must be considered ON TOP OF many millions invested in the Dome. This seems impractical and unnecessary -- why spend so much on a new facility when we could re-do the existing one at half the price (or less). 4. Tom's arguments seem to be centered on parking, convenience and disruption. All good points. However, parking on South campus has been working fine for years and I can't envision bussing SU's teams to a NYS field house somewhere just because of parking. Other solutions are available and can be worked through -- Tom and O-Extreme (and T-Mark) know these options better than I. As far as disruption, no doubt this is an issue, but again temporary. [/QUOTE]

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