Our neighbors to the North and their facilities

[SDSUFAN]

I have had this contentions all along that the big reason UND would not even consider going to D1AA was the fact that Ralph Englestad and his huge donation of 100 million in the form of a state of the art ice areana stood in the way.
With the Englestad donation, the tail has wagged the dog.  Loyal Ralph passed away about a year ago, and there is been a scramble behind the scenes to deal with a mulitmillionaire's estate and according to the offical press release from the UND alumni site, things are starting to be worked out.  Its interesting that there is still a Nevada connection.  I noticed that the name of Betty has been added to the name of the new facility, more appeasement from UND since Betty controlls the strings of Ralph's estate. She probably hates North Dakota and its to damn cold to live there.

I just dont understand why Ralph did not sit down and write a check for 100 million and give to UND. Let them work out the detail, but Ralph wanted to control UND, and this is the price you pay when one powerful alum gets involved with day to day operations of the institution and athletic program.

Another problem for the Grand Fork area is that the Alerus and REA are competing for the same concerts and outside events, this too seems like a conflict of greater porportions down the road.

And to think all the fans on SiouxSports.com could not justify SDSU's move to D1.  Look in your own back yard Sioux Fans, the fun has just begun.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandf...printstory.jsp

[D]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

I have had this contentions all along that the big reason UND would not even consider going to D1AA was the fact that Ralph Englestad and his huge donation of 100 million in the form of a state of the art ice areana stood in the way.
With the Englestad donation, the tail has wagged the dog.  Loyal Ralph passed away about a year ago, and there is been a scramble behind the scenes to deal with a mulitmillionaire's estate and according to the offical press release from the UND alumni site, things are starting to be worked out.  Its interesting that there is still a Nevada connection.  I noticed that the name of Betty has been added to the name of the new facility, more appeasement from UND since Betty controlls the strings of Ralph's estate. She probably hates North Dakota and its to damn cold to live there.

I just dont understand why Ralph did not sit down and write a check for 100 million and give to UND. Let them work out the detail, but Ralph wanted to control UND, and this is the price you pay when one powerful alum gets involved with day to day operations of the institution and athletic program.

Another problem for the Grand Fork area is that the Alerus and REA are competing for the same concerts and outside events, this too seems like a conflict of greater porportions down the road.

And to think all the fans on SiouxSports.com could not justify SDSU's move to D1.  Look in your own back yard Sioux Fans, the fun has just begun.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandf...printstory.jsp

Actually, Betty Engelstead is from NW Minnesota, so she is used to the cold. The new addition was going to be named after her from day 1 to create an individual identity for the new building, yet at the same time keep it conected with the exisiting buildings, if that makes sense. The squabble and stipulations good ole Ralphy put on his dough isn't very unique, U of Minn is going through some of the same things right now with the $35 million donor out of I think SIoux Falls. And here is what a high ranking Alerus official told me during the football season about the assumed conflict between the Alerus and the Ralph, she said that if you think about it, the Ralph is booked literally every single Thurs-Mon from early November until early March with hockey, either the men, woman, city high school games, or tournaments of any nature, so for almost half the year there is no competition whatsoever. When you think about it like that and actually check out the Ralph's schedule, she is exactly right. I thought the same thing about scheduling competition until she told me that. I don't like hockey, strongly dislike would be a better word (are they athletes? I'd pay to watch Wayne Gretzky run), but now with the Ralph more in UND's grasp with the transfer, I've been told that the moving to DI is a matter o ftime.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

I would bet its been a long time since Betty spent a winter in Grand Forks, but thats a red herring.

With winter schedule, I can see there not being a conflict with Alreus, but both facilities require maintence 24/7 12 months a year.  You have to have money to pay  the low wage winos who sweep those big floors at both facilities.  So who gets what concert during the summer months?  Are they not both bidding for the same events?

I just think its a mistake to let one single alum wag the the dog and maybe I will be eating my words. But I dont think so.

We' ll see

[D]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

I would bet its been a long time since Betty spent a winter in Grand Forks, but thats a red herring.

With winter schedule, I can see there not being a conflict with Alreus, but both facilities require maintence 24/7 12 months a year.  You have to have money to pay  the low wage winos who sweep those big floors at both facilities.  So who gets what concert during the summer months?  Are they not both bidding for the same events?

I just think its a mistake to let one single alum wag the  the dog and maybe I will be eating my words.  But I dont think so.

We' ll see

Just to answer your ???, not that I know, but you'd have to think that there is competition in the summer, I just don't know if there is a tension there between the two buildings that some would have you believe. They really only compete for half the year, so I'd assume that eases things, then again that is an assumption on my part. Now is the time that, if a conflict should arise, it would begin. With the Ralph out of the hands-on care of the Engelstead family, their hundreds of millions aren't there to pay the employees if things start going bad. Things, as in money, have been so good from that end that it is questionable whether that problem would arise. If that ugly competition would arise, you'd think it would raise it's head up beginning with the change of hands, I hope not, though. And I hate to say it, but with Ralph himself passed, the effects of his strings, whatever and however many there were, should be lessened.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

Here is an article in today's Fargo Forum about the working agreement with the City of Fargo and NDSU. NDSU wants to add locker rooms and a few other things at the Dome. I wish SDSU had worked closer with the City of Brookings in building the Swiftel center. But then again, those who like football in Brookings insist it should be outdoors.

Dome may fund locker rooms
By Mary Jo Almquist
malmquist@forumcomm.com
The Forum - 01/14/2004

Whether you’re a Bison fan or not, the money you spend in Fargo this year may help the North Dakota State University football team in its quest for new locker rooms in the Fargodome.

Early plans call for the dome to use some of the 2004 money it collects from the half-cent city sales tax to build the $1.5 million project, including locker rooms, multiple meeting rooms and a handful of coach’s offices.

NDSU would pay back the money over time, along with a yearly rent of $100,000 or more for use of the space.

The project’s estimated price tag -- $1.5 million -- will pay for structural changes inside the dome. Furniture, equipment and other amenities will be an additional cost for NDSU.

A Fargodome subcommittee concluded the dome should pay for the proposed project after two hours of discussion Tuesday.

This way, the dome will not give up ownership of the space, said Keith Bjerke, Dome Authority member and NDSU vice president for university relations.

The dome is a public facility, and it’s not likely the community would favor the university owning a portion of it, said Bjerke, also a committee member.

Still, committee and Dome Authority member Marilyn Guy said she thinks it would be easier to have NDSU pay for the project up front so it could do with the space what it needed -- be it sound-proof the walls or hook up rooms to the Internet.

Other committee members -- Bjerke, real estate broker Konrad Olson, insurance salesman Tom Dawson and consultant Craig Johnson -- said they were comfortable with the dome financing initial costs of the project.

Anything beyond the estimated $1.5 million project cost would come from NDSU.

No official vote was taken.

Fargodome Finance Manager Susan Thompson estimates the dome will have $2.7 million left over after paying its 2004 depts. The dome expects to collect $7.7 million in sales taxes this year.

Paying for the locker room project might present a slight cash flow problem for several weeks during January 2005 because of the dome’s debt payment and sales tax collection schedule.

But it’s too soon to know exactly how the year will go, Thompson said. There may not be a problem, for example, if city sales tax collections are higher than expected.

The proposed locker room and meeting rooms will be in a field-level basement now used for storage, and the coaches offices will be on the second level of the dome’s entryway addition, where meeting rooms now exist.

Fargodome General Manager Paul Johnson said this meeting space is under-used anyway. Although the dome would lose three public meeting rooms on the upper-level, it would gain 10 rooms downstairs, Johnson said.

The current Bison locker rooms at the old Dacotah Field are in disprepair. And though the football team has access to a Fargodome locker room on game day, players can’t keep equipment there.

Exact terms of the lease between NDSU and the dome, along with the amount the university will pay to the dome per year, has not yet been determined. The biggest issue Tuesday was figuring out who was going to pay for the project.

The Fargo Dome Building committee will consider the issue at its noon meeting Monday, and the Dome Authority will weigh in at its 5:30 p.m. meeting Jan. 26.

The project also must pass through Fargo city commissioners and will likely be on the Feb. 2 meeting agenda.

Time is of the essence, Bison Football Coach Craig Bohl said Tuesday. NDSU’s goal is to be in the new space by August.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Mary Jo Almquist at (701) 241-5531


© 2004 Forum Communications Co., Fargo, ND, 58102, All rights reserved

[Alumguy]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

Thanks for sharing this article SDSUFan. With respect to facilities, SDSU/Brookings will never be able to keep up with NDSU/Fargo. It just won't happen. It will require a "South Dakota effort."

We can sit around and lament the fact that there are 8-10 times more citizens in the greater Fargo area. Obviously this brings in more corporate partners, more potential ticket buyers, and of course, the ability to use city funds for athletic ventures.

What we need to do it convince the people of South Dakota that SDSU is now THEIR university. It is absolutely shameful that state officials constantly look at SDSU and say, "If you want to build something (this is for any building) then you have to go out and raise the money." Then, those same people are the first ones standing in line to cut the ribbon on a new building. It is shameful and if I were a member of the Board of Regents or the State Legislature I'd be too embarrassed to come to such an event. To have any type of praise heeped on these people is a sin. For them to even accept praise condemns them to hell.

Where is state pride in all of this? Well, thank God for Sid Bostic and every other SDSU donor who feels strongly enough about State to give a part of their treasure. At least these people care about the future.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

Alumguy:
Those points were well stated, I could not have said them better.

I only get envious of the FargoDome during the Week of Halloween and the first two weeks of November when the frosty man from the North has taken over our weather in Brookings and the Jacks have a home game to be played. For a fair weather fan who loves to watch a football game in comfort, I have not been overly disappointed because we never hosted a D2 playoff game. The hardware and tradition in particpating in the playoffs are nice, but not if you are hositpalized with Pneumonia the following week. Its just that short time span when indoor facilities have appeal. I sat in the Dakota Dome when its been hot. I give the FargoDome credit for having controlled temps.

Yes and thank God for Sid Bostic. When things slow down for me, I plan to sit down and write Sid a thank you letter for all his efforts so far.

I sure you will agree, but the D1AA move has force the SDSU family on campus to rethink how we relate to the entire state. Being a land grant university with extention service, its easy to get caught up in the population centers and ignore the rest of the less populated areas. This will not happen if we strive as you said above to make SDSU the state's university meaning all the counties. (Are their 68 counties? I seem to have forgotten the exact number.)

[jackmd]

Re: Our neighbors to the North and their facilitie

I believe there are 67 counties. I like football outdoors, the key to keeping warm includes layers and hand and foot warmers. It would be nice if some form of indoor or more protected corridor closer to the stadium could be accessed by fans during the game. Perhaps that is planned.