http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/football/2018/01/16/florida-states-football-only-facility-project-gets-reboot/1035328001/
FSU is in the process of completing a feasibility study to decide whether to renovate the Coyle E. Moore Athletics Center — where the FSU football program is currently based — or creating a new facility.
The Moore Athletics Center has been updated recently — with the addition of the players lounge on the second floor and renovated locker rooms — but it hasn't undergone a major renovation since 2004.
“This feasibility study is not ‘let’s just draw the nicest rendering of a building that we can,'" FSU Senior Associate Athletics Director for Governance and Compliance Jim Curry told the Tallahassee Democrat.
"We’re really getting into the finer points of this. If we do option one, what’s the impact? What’s the financials? Is there potential disruption of department operations? And let’s look at option two and ask ourselves the same questions.
"It’s a much deeper dive than just where can we put a shiny new building and what do those renderings look like."
A football-only facility, or an updated facility in the Moore Athletics Center, is something many believe is desperately needed.
FSU's facilities are much smaller than comparable programs around the Southeast, and that's something that the administration is taking into account.
“We have an academic support space that’s about 14,000 square feet," Curry said.
"You look at Louisville, who’s got 43,000. Can we expand our training table? Our current space is about 2,800 square feet. When you go out to Florida, it’s over 13,000 square feet.
"Right now our weight room is about 12,000 square feet and shared amongst all sports. But if you go out to Florida or Clemson, they’ve got football-only weight rooms that are about 20,000 and 27,000 square feet respectively."
Taggart met with architects last Friday to discuss his vision for what he believes that the FSU football program needs to be successful.
Taggart has a unique view on the issue after spending a year coaching Oregon. The Ducks have nearly every facility imaginable -- including one of the country's first football-only facilities at the collegiate level -- courtesy of Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Taggart was able to draw on what he liked about Oregon's facility, and what he thought could be improved.
FSU's project is going to affect far more than just football operations.
Nearly every other sport at FSU is based out of the Moore Athletics Center. It also houses the athletic department, the College of Communications and Seminole Productions, which handles many of the professional video production needs for FSU athletics.
If the administration does decide to go with the renovation of the Moore Athletics Center rather than a new stand-alone football facility, it still could displace the other programs. How FSU accommodates those programs still must be answered.
FSU is exploring all options before moving forward with the project.
“Can we do some things with this project that positions football for sustained success long term and able to compete for championships, but also address some things in our department that can benefit not only football but all of our student-athletes?" Curry said.
"If we address those three areas that’s a win for all sports, including football.”
Since Taggart’s introduction at FSU on Dec. 6, the organization has signed $3 million in leadership commitments earmarked for an upcoming investment in day-to-day football operations space.
Seminole Boosters is encouraged by positive conversations with a number of interested major gift donor prospects.
The group received its first seven-figure leadership gift for the football-only facility a few days prior to coach Jimbo Fisher’s departure to Texas A&M.
The organization annually transfers approximately $22 million to the athletics department to help fund its annual budget.
It also pays approximately $10 million a year in bond debt on previously built facilities and raises money for future facilities and endowed scholarship funds.
Last year, the Boosters’ major gift team – it focuses on gifts $50,000 and higher -- generated $19.5 million in pledges, cash, real estate and deferred gifts, according to Dasher.
Dasher said that number could reach between $20 to $22 million by Jan. 31, when the organization’s fundraising year ends. (The fiscal year ends in July).
That excitement also has spilled into the sale of football season tickets.
As of Wednesday, FSU had sold 806 new football season tickets, 121 in the Dunlap Champions Club.
Last year at this time, FSU had sold less than 500 new season tickets (440 regular/50 Champions Club) despite tickets going on sale a month earlier.
“It has been a huge turnaround, a very, very positive interaction,” Mark Cameron, director of ticket sales at FSU, said of the Taggart transition.
“The conversation pretty much changed overnight.”
Greg Hulen joined Seminole Boosters, Inc., last July as its Executive Vice President.
The FSU graduate was hired away after 12 years at Tennessee, where he served as the associate athletic director and chief development officer for the Tennessee athletic department.
Hulen, who served in FSU’s Sports Information Department while a student in the late 1990s, agreed that Taggart’s arrival has been a rallying point for boosters and fans.
Hulen also pointed to the Seminoles’ entertaining home football schedule next fall and the strong working relationship between the athletics department and Seminole Boosters, Inc., as ways to help maximize fundraising opportunities.
“Our cash contributed is over double what it was at this time a year ago,” Hulen said
No comments:
Post a Comment