davidnark Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 http://tinyurl.com/39o7l Press conference tomorrow. "Accelerated" fundraising to take place next month. I strongly suspect that the sources have been identified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 David, I'd say from the tone of this article that the arena is a pretty sure thing. Since we know where it will be located then once the donation goal has been reached then the next step would be ground breaking. Anybody want to guess when that will happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 SLU Arena will be at Laclede and Compton By DOUG MOORE Post-Dispatch 12/18/2003 St. Louis University officials will announce tomorrow that a $70 million arena will be built near Laclede and Compton avenues on the eastern edge of campus, the Post-Dispatch has learned. University and city leaders will hold a press conference Thursday morning under a heated tent on the parking lot of the shuttered Waring School, which the university recently purchased from St. Louis Public Schools for $1.25 million. The 63-year-old school would be razed to make way for the 13,000-seat arena. Tennis courts and at least some of the Grand Forest Apartments used for student housing also would be taken out by arena construction. The Rev. Lawrence Biondi, president of SLU, and Mayor Francis Slay are among those expected to speak at Thursday's ceremony. The arena would be home to the university's basketball program. University officials want it open for the 2005 season to coincide with the university's switch to the higher profile Atlantic 10 conference from Conference USA. The university's athletics program is largely supported by men's basketball, which has made more than $17.5 million for the university in the past eight seasons. Biondi has said having an arena on campus will increase game attendance by students and help with recruitment. Basketball games are currently played downtown at the Savvis Center. The university-owned site was chosen over a location in Grand Center, just north of campus. Biondi said it was becoming too expensive to acquire the properties in the nearly 11-acre area bounded by Olive Street, Washington Boulevard, Theresa Avenue and Leonard Avenue. The city created a tax incentive for the arena to be built north of Lindell Boulevard and in Grand Center, the city's arts and entertainment district. By building there, about $15 million in new taxes from development in the district would have been contributed to the arena project. The arena still will be in the taxing district. But SLU stands to get only $5 million because less money is needed to acquire property. Still, university officials, said the additional $10 million would not have covered the costs to buy property. The university has raised $10 million of the $40 million in private finding for the arena with an accelerated fund- raising campaign to begin in January. The university plans to borrow about $25 million to be paid off with revenue generated by the arena. In addition to basketball, the arena would be used for concerts, circuses, rodeos and boxing matches as well as small exhibitions. Renderings of the new arena can be found on SLU's Web site, www.slu.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted December 17, 2003 Author Share Posted December 17, 2003 Band, I only post the link because technically it is a copyright violation to paste the entire article. Nate or Joe B., does the post get worked up over these things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 They might if they catch you. Such posting (of a whole article) is specifically forbidden in the copyright statement on StLToday.com. I was about to post something about copyright law, but you beat me to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 The movie posted on the web site, make a real push for a corporate donor, particulary in the last "scene" if you will it shows how easily visible it will be from Highway 40. Very Interseting....if only I had 20 million.....Billiken.com Dome(with short o sound) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Granted, many here dislike the place of my birth, but taking a cue from Notre Dame, we could always call it the Billiken Athletics and Dot-Convocation Center. (That also has a nice Catholic ring to it, and Biondi *does* want to displace a certain other institution as "the premier Catholic university in America.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted December 18, 2003 Author Share Posted December 18, 2003 January 1 marks a new fiscal year. I have heard through sources who may or may not be reliable that one or two donors will be cutting some very large checks to the university in the next month or so. It sounds like the details of those checks will be worked out next month. Otherwise, I am not sure what "accelerated fundraising" means. Can you really, really, really want donations instead of just really wanting donations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 they will start asking the average Joe fan for money. Whether that means a PSL or something along that line I don't know but I have a feeling if people want to remain at the head of the Billikens table when it comes to points and the whatnot it is going to cost some dough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 It seems to me that I heard - I could be wrong - that SLU was not planning on PSLs but would lean more towards priority seating fees for the better seats. If this is true then those of you who sit close to the court will be most impacted. I am in the top 3rd of the points but made a decision to not pay the double ticket price to sit there but have good viewing seats - about center court across from the benches first row second level- actually better than those who sit on the wings of the floor level, at least in my opinion. For the money, they are bargains for viewing the game - I do admit when I do get a chance to sit on the lower level close to the court that those seats are really nice. For me, having the best seats are not critical just as long as I have a good viewing location is all I need so my position in the points system will probably still allow me to do this. Like I said for those of you who need to sit close to the action, you will probably have to pay more for it and if you are not high enough on the points system you might find that the next level of good seats might not be available. Sorry but that is the way of big time college sports now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted December 18, 2003 Author Share Posted December 18, 2003 It is my understanding that the worst seats in the upper bowl of the new arena will be as good or better than the worse seats in the lower bowl of Savvis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 That does not surprise me about the seats - I hope you are correct. It does make sense since it will be a smaller venue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 does anyone have any inside on how the order will be determined for picking seats? are they going to be faithful to their last 15 year promise that this point system is it or are they going to change the rules and allow any johnny come lately with a checkbook cut in line? are those willing to pony up for psl money going to get to go in line ahead of us longtimers as well? my crystal ball says there is a lot of tightrope pr work that will come about with this "opportunity". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 My understanding of the rules was that you accumulate points based on longevity of season tickets, billiken club membership, donations to the athletic department, etc. If some Johnny come lately donates enough money to move ahead of a long time season ticket holder than so be it. The rules have not changed, rather some people may accumulate their points in a different manner than others. The new arena will not be built on the good will alone of past season ticket holders, expect to pay some money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 kshoe, i have heard rumblings that just by purchasing a psl that person might be entitled to better seats than you or i assuming we do not purchase a psl. over the last 15 years, my total dollars donated would have surpassed the prospective psl holder, yet he will get the better seats simply because he bought a psl. that is what i am talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 My guess is they are going to be true to the point system - lesson learned the hard way. The problem is going to be that you will get a chance to buy your tickets according to the point system but you may not be able to afford the best seats like now so you will pass them up and move to the next tier thus leaving the really good seats available for those who have the big money. Kshoe is right - be prepared to pay something if you want the good seats - to build this arena is going to take more than just season ticket sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted December 19, 2003 Author Share Posted December 19, 2003 Under the current system, a person with real big bucks can make a very large donation to the Billiken Club to earn the points that are necessary to leap frog the Billiken Roys of the SLU world. This will not change with the new arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 That is one way to look at it and you are correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.