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NO facilities announcement until spring

Well, if anyone bothered to look at the links I posted in the "Facilities" thread, the feasibility study was awarded, like, a month ago and is not due for completion until January. So, they do have the ball rolling. At least a little bit. It could be that they want a finished feasibility study and a chance to review it before making any announcement.
 
We have very little choice but to be patient. I know that sucks, and it feels like the world is passing us by. The reality is that this administration is not going to put the cart before the horse in this deal. They are being very careful to have everything in place first. I respect that, even though I really would like to be seeing work done right now.
 
1st a feasibility study for a feasibility study to study the financial impact and then oh yea, we need to make the greenies happy before etc. etc.
 
DBT said:
I am beginning to have hate in my heart. The ones who suffer are the ones who have suffered. We are but a few. The passionate. Oh, but that it were not true! But here, we are. Our hopes renewed. And then dashed. As it were a sneeze suppressed.
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c'mon DBT, you are the ray of sunshine/glass half full member on Allbuffs... I am not liking this
 
Buffnik said:
Like it or not, the situation is that even people who cheer for CU sports as casual fans can't wrap their heads around spending over $100 million on football facilities when the economy sucks and tuition is so high they can't afford sending their kids to a state college. The money may come from a different kitty, but the situation doesn't feel right and the facilities project idea rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
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Sorry, I just don't buy this is the reason for not moving ahead. They just are having trouble getting the deal closed. There is no champion to lead the initiative - Bohn checks the political winds before he does anything. Here it the article from last summer _ Folsom Upgrade - See if you see any resounding commitment from Bohn or Dr. Phil to get the project done. Without that commitment it is not going to get done. When Tharp was planning the last expansion he had a plan for phased funding of the facility and was pushing every day to get it built. Him and John Meadows were committed to getting it done. You do not have that now.
 
BlackNGold said:
Sorry, I just don't buy this is the reason for not moving ahead. They just are having trouble getting the deal closed. There is no champion to lead the initiative - Bohn checks the political winds before he does anything. Here it the article from last summer _ Folsom Upgrade - See if you see any resounding commitment from Bohn or Dr. Phil to get the project done. Without that commitment it is not going to get done. When Tharp was planning the last expansion he had a plan for phased funding of the facility and was pushing every day to get it built. Him and John Meadows were committed to getting it done. You do not have that now.
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Sorry for creating confusion. My post was more the rationale for keeping things quiet until after elections and spring semester checks are received. I have confidence that Solich and Bohn are going to bring this home -- just without the build up of vision messaging we would like. Even our feasibility study was kept quiet. Donor funded & directed to keep it from going public?
 
BlackNGold said:
Sorry, I just don't buy this is the reason for not moving ahead. They just are having trouble getting the deal closed. There is no champion to lead the initiative - Bohn checks the political winds before he does anything. Here it the article from last summer _ Folsom Upgrade - See if you see any resounding commitment from Bohn or Dr. Phil to get the project done. Without that commitment it is not going to get done. When Tharp was planning the last expansion he had a plan for phased funding of the facility and was pushing every day to get it built. Him and John Meadows were committed to getting it done. You do not have that now.
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From what I understand Benson and DiStepheno are very much behind it
 
RuffBuff said:
What, do you think, are going to be the next upgrades announced in the Spring?
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don't know for sure ... some who I think are in the know believe CU will be going to $250 million route
but there's a lot that can happen before then-
 
pabuff said:
We'd all like this to be announced right now. Me included. However, I understand what's happening. The guys in charge want all of their t's crossed and i's dotted before putting themselves out there, particularly with a difficult legislature and a tax-resistant public. Perhaps this is overstaing it, but when the announcement is finally made, the bulldozers should be ready to roll within hours. I get it. Avoid the pushback, the public discussion, the drama. Hold off announcing, and act fast when you do announce.

On the other hand, I can also understand the frustration. CSU talks a big game, gets the press. One after another of the Pac-12 schools lay out their comprehensive plans. All the while, we keep getting dates when an announcent will occur, and then we see a walk-back from that schedule.

Where our esteemed leaders went wrong was to open their mouths in the first place, before they had their ducks in a row. Raising expectations (for example, telling recruits of planned changes, indicating that an announcement would be made in September, etc.) got them in a hole. It looks like their plans to round up the dollars, as well as the political (Regents, legislature) support has taken longer than they expected. So now we're on hold. Once again.

Personally, I'm still optimistic about a landmark announcent. Very optimistic. Even with a football team that's struggling. I'm prepared to wait a little longer. Also, as for how it affects recruits, I think we all know that CU's record on the field will have a lot more to do with attracting blue chips than an indoor facility, parking garage, new weight room, and renovated Folsom/Balch.

It's going to happen. Just not on our schedule.
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I understand your frustration but the Administration has not demonstrated ANY focused or disciplined leadership regarding this issue. It is indicative of the weak and vascillating culture that starts with Benson. In my opinion, they should not be cowering behind a rock trying to avoid the public. They should be leading from the front with inspired visions and funding plans. You cannot whine about financial support without setting out a clear vision and the value proposition behind it. That said, it is difficult to find leadership with the moral strength and values to lead in this way. When an institution is run based on popular consent, this is the result.
 
Wyo Buff said:
I understand your frustration but the Administration has not demonstrated ANY focused or disciplined leadership regarding this issue. It is indicative of the weak and vascillating culture that starts with Benson. In my opinion, they should not be cowering behind a rock trying to avoid the public. They should be leading from the front with inspired visions and funding plans. You cannot whine about financial support without setting out a clear vision and the value proposition behind it. That said, it is difficult to find leadership with the moral strength and values to lead in this way. When an institution is run based on popular consent, this is the result.
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Inspired visions are fantastic for the people who already bleed black and gold. You do understand that is not the majority of people in the state of Colorado, nor the city of Boulder. I agree wholeheartedly with them doing this in the dark if they have to if it means we can avoid the stuff that is going on up in Fort Fun, the things that happened in Berkeley, when you make an announcement of your grand plans and give the opposition ample time to rally people to their cause. Utilize the element of surprise if and where you can. Make the announcement and then break ground as quickly as is feasible (which wouldn't happen right now given we're right in the middle of the season). My sincere hope is that at the recruiting luncheon, they'll be able to make a grand announcement that they'll be breaking ground on the $250 million project in April, that all of the hurdles have been cleared already, and the vision is in action. It is far better than allowing causehead groups in Boulder to have from now until March to hire their own experts and due their own feasibility studies to show why the facilities enhancement would be the worst thing to ever happen to Boulder...don't think for a second that it wouldn't happen, you know the environment in Boulder.

Anyhow, the team won last weekend. Since we can't complain too much about their performance, I'm glad we all still have something to bitch about.
 
BuffaloSoldier76 said:
Inspired visions are fantastic for the people who already bleed black and gold. You do understand that is not the majority of people in the state of Colorado, nor the city of Boulder. I agree wholeheartedly with them doing this in the dark if they have to if it means we can avoid the stuff that is going on up in Fort Fun, the things that happened in Berkeley, when you make an announcement of your grand plans and give the opposition ample time to rally people to their cause. Utilize the element of surprise if and where you can. Make the announcement and then break ground as quickly as is feasible (which wouldn't happen right now given we're right in the middle of the season). My sincere hope is that at the recruiting luncheon, they'll be able to make a grand announcement that they'll be breaking ground on the $250 million project in April, that all of the hurdles have been cleared already, and the vision is in action. It is far better than allowing causehead groups in Boulder to have from now until March to hire their own experts and due their own feasibility studies to show why the facilities enhancement would be the worst thing to ever happen to Boulder...don't think for a second that it wouldn't happen, you know the environment in Boulder.

Anyhow, the team won last weekend. Since we can't complain too much about their performance, I'm glad we all still have something to bitch about.
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I agree with everything you said here. My point is that we should be a lot further along than this. I am not saying the shortcomings are in the day-to-day administration, my view is that strategically over an LRP timeframe, the leadership has been lacking. That is why I am pointing the finger at the upper leadership. They should be the ones setting the long term strategy and agenda. I have not seen that. Maybe it is happening, I am certainly not "on the inside." That said, I have always found your posts to be thoughtful and well informed. We certainly can wait until sping. My preference would be to have a specific long-range plan with mileposts and goals along the way rather than a surprise announcement. I will say that the Chancellor as well as the AD have been very solicitous and responsive to specific concerns from individual alumni such as myself. I symphathize with the challenges in the Boulder and Colorado fanbase and "opposition" but do not believe they are insurrmountable given the right leadership and vision. I think I will continue down the wait and see path with a view towards wanting to see some progress by the spring.
 
Wyo Buff said:
I agree with everything you said here. My point is that we should be a lot further along than this. I am not saying the shortcomings are in the day-to-day administration, my view is that strategically over an LRP timeframe, the leadership has been lacking. That is why I am pointing the finger at the upper leadership. They should be the ones setting the long term strategy and agenda. I have not seen that. Maybe it is happening, I am certainly not "on the inside." That said, I have always found your posts to be thoughtful and well informed. We certainly can wait until sping. My preference would be to have a specific long-range plan with mileposts and goals along the way rather than a surprise announcement. I will say that the Chancellor as well as the AD have been very solicitous and responsive to specific concerns from individual alumni such as myself. I symphathize with the challenges in the Boulder and Colorado fanbase and "opposition" but do not believe they are insurrmountable given the right leadership and vision. I think I will continue down the wait and see path with a view towards wanting to see some progress by the spring.
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Agreed. I was not intending to put you on blast, I just have generalized angst over the whole situation and the reactions I've seen. I totally agree that the opposition is far from insurmountable, but if we can do it without engaging them at this point I think it is all to the better. However, my larger point is that, given the current economic and political environment, and based on the funding for this project trickling in, I would fully support the leadership playing their cards close to the vest and only letting information out to those who truly need to know...if that is indeed what they are doing. It beats the alternative of letting the opposition groups drive the debate while they try to finalize the financing.
 
I don't believe there has ever been a campaign of this magnitude at CU. There has never been a project like this in the athletic department. The idea that they're sitting on their hands is false, IMO. I think they started the fundraising process several years ago, and are just now at the point where they feel like they can come out with their plans. We've seen mock-ups. We've heard stories. We have a general idea of the cost already. Apparently, they've already begun the due dilligence for the general contractor. We're behind a lot of our competition, which means whatever we do will have to be pretty big just to help bridge that gap. It keeps getting bigger, too. I'm optimistic that we're going to have a lot of new facilities in the next 3-4 years. I'm optimistic that whatever gets built will be state of the art and will blow us all away. I wish Bohn, Distephano and Benson would be more vocal and inspiring as well, but there are reasons why they have to keep this stuff close to the vest. If it works out in the long run, none of us will be disappointed.
 
sackman said:
I don't believe there has ever been a campaign of this magnitude at CU. There has never been a project like this in the athletic department. The idea that they're sitting on their hands is false, IMO. I think they started the fundraising process several years ago, and are just now at the point where they feel like they can come out with their plans. We've seen mock-ups. We've heard stories. We have a general idea of the cost already. Apparently, they've already begun the due dilligence for the general contractor. We're behind a lot of our competition, which means whatever we do will have to be pretty big just to help bridge that gap. It keeps getting bigger, too. I'm optimistic that we're going to have a lot of new facilities in the next 3-4 years. I'm optimistic that whatever gets built will be state of the art and will blow us all away. I wish Bohn, Distephano and Benson would be more vocal and inspiring as well, but there are reasons why they have to keep this stuff close to the vest. If it works out in the long run, none of us will be disappointed.
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If this ends up being the case, I will have to give them the benefit of the doubt on the leadership front. It may not take care of the lack of foresight about 7-8 years ago but you could argue that the current administration and AD are less responsible for this. The Hawkins years definitely did not help either although there were definite challenges given the magnitude of the good-will hit CU took during the non-scandal scandal in the late Barnett years. That said, if they truly are waiting until they have a fait accompli, I will be the first to applaud their discipline in keeping it close without a leak especially given the heat they are going to be under until they produce. Perhaps this is just a macro version of wishing they had "underpromised/overperformed" to begin with. You guys have persuaded me to hold my water and hope for the best. There really is nothing we can do at this point, anyway.
 
When Benson wants to build a medical center in Aurora, he knocks it out.....

LOL at Sacky for being the patient apologist.
 
Skidmark said:
When Benson wants to build a medical center in Aurora, he knocks it out.....

LOL at Sacky for being the patient apologist.
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Sure did...and if he had one donor stepping to the plate donating over $100,000,000 to get the football facilities done like he had with the Anschutz family for the med center, I'm sure we'd already have the football facilities done too.
 
BuffaloSoldier76 said:
Sure did...and if he had one donor stepping to the plate donating over $100,000,000 to get the football facilities done like he had with the Anschutz family for the med center, I'm sure we'd already have the football facilities done too.
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Point made. Anschutz is more like a $2B capital project. In relative terms, the CUAD equivalent donation isn't a $100M donor issue, but scaled down to $10-15M.
 
Buffnik said:
Like it or not, the situation is that even people who cheer for CU sports as casual fans can't wrap their heads around spending over $100 million on football facilities when the economy sucks and tuition is so high they can't afford sending their kids to a state college. The money may come from a different kitty, but the situation doesn't feel right and the facilities project idea rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
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I would agree with this if:

A) the state actually cared about CU and gave money to fund the school. What is it, 5% of total funding? CU would actually be better off going private and doing what the hell they want, not worrying about taxpayers who dont support the school.

And

B) the fact that, unless you're a Ivy League school, your football program is your public face across the US. A successful football program increases your exposure, increases the applications to the school which allows the school to get more intelligent students and gets alumni to donate more. $100 mil may seem like alot until you measure all the positives that go along with, monetarily and not.

Go Buffs. Lets keep it going and knock off FUCLA.
 
Wyo Buff said:
If this ends up being the case, I will have to give them the benefit of the doubt on the leadership front. It may not take care of the lack of foresight about 7-8 years ago but you could argue that the current administration and AD are less responsible for this. The Hawkins years definitely did not help either although there were definite challenges given the magnitude of the good-will hit CU took during the non-scandal scandal in the late Barnett years. That said, if they truly are waiting until they have a fait accompli, I will be the first to applaud their discipline in keeping it close without a leak especially given the heat they are going to be under until they produce. Perhaps this is just a macro version of wishing they had "underpromised/overperformed" to begin with. You guys have persuaded me to hold my water and hope for the best. There really is nothing we can do at this point, anyway.
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WTF is this "fait accompli" ****?
 
Creatini said:
$100M is a lot no matter what
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Lets see, I give $200 a year. 200x = 100,000,000. x=100,000,000/200. Therefore, x=1,000,000/2. It'll only take me 500,000 years to donate the money. So, just by myself, we can build the facilities in, around, ... help me here you kids that are good at math. A long ****ing time.

OK, 100 years per century. That is 5,000 centuries. 5212!
 
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