davidnark Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 http://www.unewsonline.com/vnews/display.v...2/40890d31efbcb The article says only $12 of the necessary $40 million has been raised and that the earliest possible opening date will be the fall of 2006. At least $30 million must be in hand before construction will begin. Billkan, please tell us that there is some good progress taking place behind the scenes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 The lack of committed dollars to the arena is not particularly good news. However, the long silence, I suspected was due to a less than expected supportive response which also is most likely affecting the naming rights. And the underground water issue will no doubt add additional costs to the project. I would think that Fr. Biondi is not a happy camper :-( . SLU's fund raising goal of $300M is very aggressive and two major building projects: the arena and the science building. I think both will come to fruition just not as soon as hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Disappointing news David. I had assumed that if Fr. Biondi gave the project a green light that he had already vetted it with the large donors of the university and received positive feedback. I am sure that trying to raise money for two huge university building projects at the same time (the other is for the medical school) is a drag on both. If this thing does not happen after we already went public with it ... we'll take a hit in the court of public opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Fr. Biondi will get this done. Love him or hate him (personally I love him for what he has done at my alma mater) the man gets the job done. We will have a new arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I agree. Biondi's not a fool. He wouldn't make a big splash about this only to fall on his face. The naming right's thing will probably bring another $5mil or thereabouts. I would imagine the publicity generated by the big donor will generate more $$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 My complaint on the fund raising is I don't know who has been contacted. How do they know how much support is out there? I don't know anyone who has been contacted . How do they know I haven't won the lottery or my great aunt Minnie just died and left me $100 mill. Maybe they have some secret formula that hasn't been met but from my eyes they haven't been very out front in the money game. I just hope this doesn't hurt recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 interesting point willie. i know i am not a big donor, however, i am a consistent donor. one would think by now ALL donors would have been contacted for at least a feelout of what they are thinking. is it a matter that they think that a few will be able to cover the whole thing and they are negotiating just with them? if so, hasnt enough time went by to move on to the next level (which i assume the likes of willie is on)? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 27, 2004 Author Share Posted April 27, 2004 What bugs me about this process is that once again the athletic administration has provided very little information on this topic. In fact, it was the Residence Hall coordianator at SLU who broke the news that the arena construction was well behind schedule. It is downright silly that the best arena news is coming from the residence hall coordinator in the student newspaper. If anyone involved in the athletic administration or fundraising efforts reads this board, we would really appreciate a factual arena update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I know I have not been contacted. I am not a fund raising expert but I would think that a claim of 1000 or 2000 gifts in the range of $100-$1000 would look very nice in encouraging some corporation to pay for the naming of the arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 david, imo no news, is bad news. and this latest little leak backs that up. it is my opinion (opinion not fact) that reading between the lines this most likely was a project that father biondi shouldnt have taken on without first having the pledges in hand to be a success. could it possibly be a scenario whereby father biondi misjudged his own ability to go "to the well"? if it was going to happen, it should have by now. unless our own "bill laurie(s)" step up soon, this isnt going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 27, 2004 Author Share Posted April 27, 2004 The problem is that 1,000 donations of $1,000 only adds up $1,000,000. There is no sense in rounding up the masses if you don't have the other $40 million in hand first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 You might find 1000 donors willing to pledge $1000 for 5 years. Thats some real money. I also think there are some $10,000 to $100,000 gifts out there. My point is this thing needs to fly. We can not back off this project. You ever tell your kids you will give this something or allow them to do something and then say no. Not a pretty sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Billiken-Roy? The arena will happen. Biondi is too powerful and successful to let such a public building not happen after stating it would. Here's a psychology thought for you guys...if your were a potential donor and you knew they needed $40mm or this thing wasn't going to happen and you were told "we've already got $39, just give us 1 more would you be more or less likely to give them the one than you would be if you were told we have 12 and your 1 would help." Assuming you believe that there are 50 others just like you out there how much would you give? Seems to me you would say "somebody else can finish it off, I'll just give $100k." Its an intersting idea although I have no actual reason to believe SLU is closer to the $40mm than we are led to believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Most capital fundraisers of this nature try to achieve a percentage of the total goal prior to publicly hitting the streets for funds. It is a standard process. This is one case where criticism about University openness is a non-starter. Fundraisers do this for a number of reasons, most notable of which is the desire to keep any lack of success out of the press. If they had a giant tote board on campus and it never moved, interest could be hindered. Make no mistake that anyone who has ever had an affiliation with the athletic program will be contacted for contributions. Also do not forget that raising money, particularly the last 20% of the money in these campaigns is very expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I wonder the same thing - the arena news is a by-product of an article rregarding on-campus housing. The lack of information from the University or the athletic department increases the degree of speculation rregarding the project from it won't happen to it will happen jsut more slowly than hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Do you think that maybe the hold up might be that they just realized that they were not planning on having the coaches offices in the new building and all the other support space needed? I agree it is frustrating not hearing any news but I do understand that this a complicated project. It would be nice if they would just put out a brief update - status report. The little information have gotten keeps leaking out from disconnected sources which makes wonder is the info true or just speculation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Majority Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 How come we are so far behind the arena project. It is all find and dandy that we are building a arena and a science building. But the science building is not going to bring money to the campus, the arena will. But until Biondi figures that out nothing will be different. How come none of our other big doners will give us a lot of money. How come Kim Tucci hasn't made a big donation.If he does I never read about it or hear about it. Hell he owns the Pasta House and he seems to be at all the functionthat cocern the arena. question is does he even give any money to SLU. I mean not just a couple hundred dollars or thousand doolars. If he gives a large amount we could name the arena after him. TUCCI ARENA. Another idea is what about lowering some of the head coaches salaries that their programs don't win. I don't know how much WBB HEad coach makes, but we could take a chunk her salary out. The program is no good and Slu is just paying her to coach and lose. Hell anybody can do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 What makes you think Tucci is that wealthy? The other facilities are just as important to the University as the arena. Though I have not seen any of the financial numbers, my guess is that an arena at best is a mild money drain for a university. Any revenue it brings in from outside events will be used to subsidize operational costs. A science building actually can bring in more money than an arena. If the facility allows for more research then it can generate interest from skilled faculty and can help generate grant income. The University is a leader in research nationwide, a building like this helps to continue that leadership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 27, 2004 Author Share Posted April 27, 2004 We have heard about financing problems, engineering problems, general contractor problems, design/office administration issues, and property acquisition problems. Which of these issues are true? Which issues have been solved and which remain? Is the project moving forward as planned? Will someone with the school please shed some light on these issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLouBlue Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I agree the Science building probably has a much greater chance at making the university money than the arena. Both are important to the university for different reasons and I hope both will be completed. Other than men's basketball & men's soccer coaches, I doubt any other coach makes enough to where slashing their salary would even matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 For stating my intended sentiments more clearly than I did. They are both important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Like other replies, I haven't been contacted and I plan on making a significant contribution to the project, BUT NOBODY KNOWS THAT BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T ASKED ME. This seems like a strange way to run a railroad-talk about having trouble raising funds without having asked most people to contribute!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SluSignGuy Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 If you are in such a hurry, mail it in. Now don't expect to get questions answered about how your donation will influence your seat selection, or if your name will be on a brick because that likely has not been determined. Why you ask? Because they do not know how much money they need to raise from donors who will give less than say $20K. Say they need $10,000,000 to finish. They can raise that by asking for $833 per seat as a license fee or ask 2,000 people to give $5,000 or any other possible scenario. The problem is they do not know how muh money they need to raise. The number is not $10,000,000, but much higher at this time. Until they know what they need to raise, they cannot ask for the money. You can send in your check and the university will be happy to collect interest on it in the event they are not able to start construction for 3 more years, but I imagine if they did that it would only alienate donors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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