I've been poking around all week on this stuff, and here's what I have been able to piece together. While some of the details may not make complete sense, the view from 10,000 feet is pretty clear.
Cantor was all about growth. Particularly growth in enrollment. In her time here, undergraduate enrollment grew about 25%. That can be viewed as good or bad. Many here lamented the drop in the Universities rankings and blamed it on relaxed admissions. I think you might be able to tie that all together. One person mentioned that 20k undergrad enrollment some day in the future may have been one of her goals. With increased enrollment and future plans to grow further and with SU already bulging at the seams to "fit" all of these students (I was told some transfer students are actually housed in a hotel), University property was of high value for academic purposes. Thus the talk and the plan to use Dome property for academic purposes.
This would necessitate a new athletic building and thus the 2 year old plan shown here. Cantor and Gross were big proponents. I'm not sure why the "new" plan financed mostly by the state and county popped up, but I assumed it was a combo of cost and the state wanting to out their stamp on local economic development. But one or the other were real plans and was supported by Cantors vision at SU. Gave her more real estate and have Gross a new toy.
Now comes the new chancellor and while I don't know his vision, I'm hearing he may be more of the mindset that the Dome property isn't necessarily needed and growth in enrollment should be slowed or reversed. He isn't tossing out any idea but is going to do his own due diligence and slowed down the "decision". The indecision on a new facility may be as much SU as it is the Mayor. But that's not a bad thing necessarily.
Having said that, and the Chancellor even alluded to it, other options are also being considered, such as a major renovation to the Dome. It was mentioned that a $100m makeover could be on the table. Besides numerous changes to the inside of the Dome, the big change could be adding to it with a building attached on the west side of the Dome. This would be a 4-5 story building that would go out from the Dome and over Irving in some way.
The building would serve many purposes, some which I forget, but included offices, classrooms, house Sports Management, changing and/or locker rooms for non-athletic events, media rooms, etc. The idea would also be to increase the number of days a year the Dome is used and be able to handle any type of event. The goal would supposedly be 200 days a year that some have estimated would be several millions more a year to the coffers.
That's all I got. I think every option is on the table. SU facility on SU property, Public facility on county or city property, or a renovated Dome.
Last edited: Jan 18, 2014
rrlbees,
Jan 18, 2014 Report
