Anything new with Stadium Rennovation?

vike_king · Post by **vike_king** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:51 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:oooooooh......the lacrosse and ultimate frisbee contingent will have a fit!

The damn commie hacky-sackers will want something next........get them off the intramural softball fields!

Egg Salad · Post by **Egg Salad** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:25 pm

So what part of campus are they going to put the indoor practice building?

grzh8r · Post by **grzh8r** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:40 pm

I personally would like to see the endzone seating closed in somehow... possibly curve each current grandstand around the corner, build permanent grandstand seating in the endzone and then build a partial roof covering those new sections... something that would keep a little bit of the sound in the stadium and make the noise unbearable when the opposing offense is on that end of the field. If you've ever been to denny's den in missoula, you've noticed the difference in crowd noise.

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:22 am

Yes we would host track meets in the new building. I have seen a model that shows the building in the current football practice field. It could also go across Kagy but there's already a problem with heavy traffic on Kagy moving at 35 mph. I have also heard of the new building housing a weight room, and more.

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:10 pm

Capital campaign,etc.- maybe it's time to $hit or get off the pot.

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Glob ... ?S=5549127

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:24 pm

I think UM will have little problem in getting the private funding to help with the expansion.

I've heard that they really want to upgrade the luxury suite aspect a bunch.

catsrback76 · Post by **catsrback76** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:08 am

I posted this from the Tribune today giving the history and impact of WAGriz stadium.

Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 20: UM has a gem, and fans love it
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor

SOME FOOTBALL FANS view Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula as a shrine, to be treated with appropriate reverance and awe.

For others, it's a playground to be enjoyed seven or eight times each autumn — preferably with 23,000 good friends, and plenty of good cheer.

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Even many non-sports fans see the University of Montana's on-campus facility as a symbol of excellence in a state where national acclaim is hard to get.

Washington-Grizzly Stadium opened on Oct. 18, 1986, and that first victory — a 38-31 thriller over Idaho State — jump-started two decades of unprecedented success on the football field, and in the hearts of Treasure State sports fans.

Few structures deserve a birthday party, but Washington-Grizzly Stadium clearly is no ordinary building. Before the Grizzlies moved into their new digs, football attracted lukewarm support, mostly from Missoula-area fans. From 1897 through 1985, UM never won a national title, and few people expected one.

Since the new stadium was built, UM has won two national football titles and has played for three others. Crowds pour into Missoula every Saturday from across this huge state to watch one of the most successful NCAA Division I-AA programs in the nation.

In this special report, the Tribune examines the past, present and future of the stadium, and what it has meant to a generation of Montanans.

MATERIAL MEASURE:"The stadium is merely concrete and metal. It's what you put on the field that makes it so much fun and draws the sold-out crowds."

Those words belong to Dave Paoli, a former Griz player who was involved in the stadium project even before the footings were poured.

"Certainly, the evolution of Washington-Griz has paced the success of the team. The venue is no doubt a huge advantage. But the Field of Dreams mantra — build it and they will come — doesn't apply to fans," said Paoli, a Missoula attorney who was raised in Great Falls' rich prep football culture.

"Really, coaches Don Read, Mick Dennehy, Joe Glenn and Bobby Hauck have all put great players on the field year in and year out. As a result, the Griz play to packed houses and the athletic director has the ability to schedule based on the very best interests of the program. None of this would have occurred if we were still at Dornblaser. The stadium is clearly the cart and the players are the horses."

# * * *

BIG NUMBERS: Watching UM football games has become a happy habit for many Montanans.

Almost 160,000 fans watched the Grizzlies play at home last season, and more are expected this year. UM Athletic Director Jim O'Day said those numbers translate into at least a $5 million infusion into the Missoula economy for each home game.

Montana averaged 22,479 fans for each of its home games in 2005, leading the nation's almost 120 NCAA Division I-AA schools in attendance. Even though UM has been among the top draws in I-AA football for many years, 2005 was the first year the Grizzlies led the nation. Delaware was a close second at 22,177.

UM's home crowds this season are slightly better, at 23,561 per game. With home games coming up against Big Sky foe Idaho State Oct. 28, nationally ranked Cal Poly on Nov. 4 and instate rival Montana State on Nov. 18, UM has a chance to break the all-time record of 23,362 set in 2003, Bobby Hauck's first season as head coach.

What's even more remarkable is that about 60 percent of the 17,000 season-ticket holders come from outside Missoula. About 3,200 tickets are alotted to UM students ($4 apiece) each week, leaving fewer than 3,000 seats available to the general public.

Tickets aren't cheap. It cost $180 for a six-home-game package this year, including $45 for Homecoming and $50 for the Bobcat-Grizzly Game. Most other games are about $28 apiece.

The kinds of crowds that pour into Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday afternoons are uncommon in this region. Montana State in Bozeman also does extremely well, attracting 13,710 per game a year ago, 14th-best in the nation and nearly 100 percent of capacity at Bobcat Stadium. But the eight Big Sky Conference schools averaged only 10,813, and if UM's crowds are stripped from the figures, barely 8,000 fans attended the typical Big Sky game in 2005.

With the addition of Northern Colorado to the league this year, those numbers are sure to go down, since the Greeley, Colo., school is averaging just over 5,000 fans per home contest this season.

# * * *

PAPA BEAR ARRIVAL: The opening of a new stadium wasn't the only significant thing that happened 20 years ago. In 1986, Don Read also arrived on campus as the new football coach, and he brought a new, highly entertaining passing game with him from Portland State.

By the time Read — UM's beloved Pappa Bear — retired in 1996 with a school-record 85 victories, Montana owned its first national title and the program had established itself among the country's elite.

Would Read have accepted the UM job offer if a new stadium wasn't already under construction?

"Well, it certainly was an enticement," Read said this week from his home in Corvallis, Ore. "Dornblaser was not an ideal situation. We (Portland State teams) had played there before ... the bottom line is, I don't know for sure."

Read said his football program reaped benefits from the new stadium even before it opened.

"Even before down one, it was a (resource) for coaches because when we brought in recruits, we already had plans in hand," he said.

Read said the design of the sunken stadium, which places fans within a few feet of the sidelines, was a stroke of genius.

"The credit goes to (Athletic Director) Harley Lewis and (President) Neil Bucklew and those guys ... it was a very smart thing they did, putting fans right on top of the field. Fans make such a big impact, and the players feel it, too."

Read said the noise generated by UM fans was a matter of concern for the Big Sky Conference office.

"In the early years there, it was so noisy the conference would come after us. That was before (noisemakers) became outlawed, and it was because of us. The point is, other teams were worried about noise and it caused a lot of commotion in the Big Sky office."

Read spent several years after retirement watching games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium as a television commentator, and he also served his old school for a year as athletic director. He said the addition of artificial turf, a big-screen scoreboard and other features such as Monte the mascot makes the football experience special in Missoula.

"With the nice scoreboard, and then the band comes in, and all the entertainment thing for the fans, it's just not a normal football stadium."

# * * *

HISTORY REVISITED: Before Washington-Grizzly Stadium opened, the Grizzlies played off-campus at "new" Dornblaser Field on Higgins Avenue from 1968 until 1986. Before that, UM played on-campus at "old" Dornblaser Field — named for Paul Dornblaser, UM football captain in 1912 — from 1920-67. And prior to 1920, Montana played games at a field downtown near the former Missoulian newspaper building.

The long-time goal of building a modern football facility was spurred by the August, 1985 donation of $1 million by Missoula industrialist Dennis Washington and his employees.

In December of that year, crews began excavation work and the facility was ready 11 months later. In recognition of the gift, the new facility was named Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Bucklew, Lewis and the board of directors of the UM Foundation all were key factors in the project, which cost an estimated $6 million to build, all funds coming through private donations. The stadium opened with a capacity of about 12,500 seats, and the first game attracted 10,580 fans.

catsrback76 · Post by **catsrback76** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:12 am

The point of the previous article is to notice the positive impact that building the stadium in Missoula has had for the state. Imagine the impact on all when Bobcat stadium is stepped up and finished on a level comparable to Missoula's. It will be a regional draw ( no not only for our Stones concerts) but for a series of events.

We have the chance to now raise the bar to a new level of excellence. Missoula raised it first--we can now exceed what they have done. We simply need to step it up, fight inertia and cast the overall vision and begin to raise the millions to do it.

Dr. Evil did why not us?

HelenaCat95 · Post by **HelenaCat95** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:25 am

Now this is a good article on the stadium. It praised the stadium - those who helped construct it - and the advantage that it has given UM. In addition, it was very informative and I learned several things about it that I did not know before.

Why the Gazette had to write one that took shots at MSU and just about every other BSC school is beyond me, and was totally unnecessary.

crazycat · Post by **crazycat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:28 am

HelenaCat95 wrote:Now this is a good article on the stadium. It praised the stadium - those who helped construct it - and the advantage that it has given UM. In addition, it was very informative and I learned several things about it that I did not know before.

Why the Gazette had to write one that took shots at MSU and just about every other BSC school is beyond me, and was totally unnecessary.

Maybe the Gazette author was trying to use reverse psychology to get MSU to do what UM has done. Even if he is a UM fan, he might understand that what's good for MSU is good for UM. Maybe the real bulletin board material isn't for the team, but for the MSU fans.

94VegasCat · Post by **94VegasCat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:35 am

There is more to the article that isn't posted on here. It talks about when the additions were made and the costs involved in those additions. It states that in 2003 when seats were added, they figured it cost about $850/seat for the renovation. They now figure with the cost of cement and such that those very some renovations would be upwards of $1500/seat. In all, um figures that if the stadium were to be built today it would cost as much as $50 Million.

I say we build ours NOW. They will come.

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:40 am

94VegasCat wrote:There is more to the article that isn't posted on here. It talks about when the additions were made and the costs involved in those additions. It states that in 2003 when seats were added, they figured it cost about $850/seat for the renovation. They now figure with the cost of cement and such that those very some renovations would be upwards of $1500/seat. In all, um figures that if the stadium were to be built today it would cost as much as $50 Million.

I say we build ours NOW. They will come.

YES, the more we wait the more expensive it gets! Especially the boxes if they pay for themselves!!

grizbeer · Post by **grizbeer** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:08 am

Bleedinbluengold wrote:I think UM will have little problem in getting the private funding to help with the expansion.

I've heard that they really want to upgrade the luxury suite aspect a bunch.

I've heard the same thing, the boxes are key, along with new press boxes. Also need a final stadium configuration so lights can be installed.

As far as the 4,000 new seats my guess is if the Griz win out the regular season they will start taking applications for the new seating. If they get deposits for at least 2,500 of the seats they will go to the regents and get approval for the new seats next February. The last expansion should be paid off this yer or next, so the revenue from those 4,000 seats, along with the new 4,000 seats should pay off the expansion in about 4 years. I would guess included in the costs of the expansion will be remodeling of the east boxes, then use the new income from the boxes to fix to upgrade teh west boxes and press boxes the following year.

I imagine what is driving the 4,000 seat expansion is the timing of the last expansion getting paid off, and anticipated success this year and next (the 2007 teams should be one of the best ever for the Griz given the number of starters returning).

Getting back to the Bobcat improvements, anyone who doesn't think a state of the art indoor practice facility would be a big recruiting advantage is either not thinking clearly or has never seen a nice indoor practice facility. When we went to the UM-UO game I was incredibly impressed with Oregon's indoor facility - the whole thing was really unbelievable. I hope the Cat's do get one, because within a year I believe some Griz booster will make a huge donation so the Griz add one as well in order to stay competitive.

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:34 am

I have it on good authority that the silent fundraising portion of the capital campaign is almost complete. It is my understanding that this information will go public fairly soon and that the public portion of the campaign process will begin.
I can't reveal specifics, but pleae know that my source is very well informed/involved with the initial process and that it has gone EXTREMELY WELL!
We will all have to dig into our pockets for some extras to get this done. But, I think it's doable.

I was talking to my wife's uncle about the project. He had a great idea that I thought should be passed along to everyone else. We're going to try to get about 6-8 family members together and each member is going to commit to a $ figure they can afford to donate annually to this cause over the next five years; now if we can just get certain members to agree to go off a % of our income

Anyway, I thought it was a great idea and if others followed suit, we could have some healthy donations in place by the time it does go public.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:47 am

Exactly ... when the time comes to donate to the cause, everybody in here should be ready to step up and give what they can. The opportunities to do so will be coming.

My understanding of the current priorities are:

1. Build 30 more luxury boxes (current demand far outpaces that number).

2. Build indoor practice facility.

It doesn't sound like debt will be used for any upcoming improvements, so they will need cash in hand before they start construction.

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:00 am

Bay Area Cat wrote:Exactly ... when the time comes to donate to the cause, everybody in here should be ready to step up and give what they can. The opportunities to do so will be coming.

My understanding of the current priorities are:

1. Build 30 more luxury boxes (current demand far outpaces that number).

2. Build indoor practice facility.

It doesn't sound like debt will be used for any upcoming improvements, so they will need cash in hand before they start construction.

Personally, I think that's a mistake. With where rates are now and how building costs are increasing it seems fiscally sound to get this work done sooner then later.
But, I'm not much of a conservative either

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:41 pm

Honestly, if the luxury boxes are in such high demand that the number on the waiting list exceeds the number of total boxes, why the heck aren't we charging more $$$ for them?

I am getting sick and tired of seeing UM continually think and act so aggressively in upgrading their facilities while we watch ourselves fall further behind. At least, that is true for football - we have UM beat in most other (auxiliary) sports. But, if we are being honest, the football stadium is by far the most visible and has the most potential to make money. Even the basketball arenas don't compare in that regard.

I don't want to see us do this on the cheap, either. Do it right. I don't care if it costs more money, people will see right through the project if it comes off looking like they cut corners just to get it done. I want Bobcat Stadium to become something all of us Bobcat fans are as proud of as griz fans are of Wash-griz.

catatac · Post by **catatac** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:54 pm

Our skyboxes are quite a bit better than what UM has from what I've been told...

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:11 pm

catatac wrote:Our skyboxes are quite a bit better than what UM has from what I've been told...

Easily true, MSU's are top-notch. But what about the amenities for the vast majority of the people in the stadium?

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:19 pm

Just for a quick compare/contrast ... I was at the Sac State game, so I got to buy tickets from a trailer, pee in a dark porta potty, and wait in line to buy a hot chocolate from one of two trailers selling it (for the entire stadium). Fortunately, my backpack didn't fall to the ground under the bleachers ... but it could have, because it is not a solid structure (like our endzone, but with a green mesh tarp over the outside).

MSU's stadium is simply awesome by comparison ... but I agree that we can and should make it better.