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I saw this over on the Bison board:
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/ar...p/21204025.txt
SIU football program in dire need of a new home
By Robert Crow, The Southern
CARBONDALE - Jason King has just wrapped up a tour of McAndrew Stadium, and he's sweating.
To be fair, everybody's sweating. It's another day approaching 100 degrees, and few places at the stadium have good ventilation - or any ventilation, for that matter. But there may be another reason why Southern Illinois University Carbondale's athletic facility guru needs the occasional wipe of his brow.
"I don't like giving tours here," said King, whose official title is assistant athletic director of facilities and game operations. "Out of all our facilities, this is the one I'm least proud of, by far."
For athletic director Mario Moccia, it's a different story. Any time a potential athletic donor is meeting with Moccia, he tries to take them on a tour of the stadium, to show how much improvement can be done with their money.
He points out the chunks of concrete that are missing throughout the stadium, sometimes exposing rebar. He shows them the rusted steel on nearly every row of bleachers.
"If that was happening at somebody's home, you probably wouldn't want to spend time at that person's home," Moccia said.
But the city of Carbondale isn't working with SIU to raise $20 million in revenues for someone's new house; this is about what is called Saluki Way.
On Tuesday, Carbondale City Council members will vote on a proposed 0.5 percent sales tax increase, with funds going to a variety of projects. The biggest portion of that money - $1 million for each of the next 20 years - would go toward the athletic portion of Saluki Way, a project that could cost as much as $80 million, and that features a new football stadium as one of its biggest centerpieces, along with a renovation to SIU Arena.
But this begs the question: How bad is McAndrew Stadium?
'Yeah, it's embarrassing'
McAndrew Stadium was built in 1938, and although there have been some new features added and some cosmetic makeovers done, it's still fairly easy to tell that the stadium is entering its 70th season. . . . (read more)
Go State!
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/ar...p/21204025.txt
SIU football program in dire need of a new home
By Robert Crow, The Southern
CARBONDALE - Jason King has just wrapped up a tour of McAndrew Stadium, and he's sweating.
To be fair, everybody's sweating. It's another day approaching 100 degrees, and few places at the stadium have good ventilation - or any ventilation, for that matter. But there may be another reason why Southern Illinois University Carbondale's athletic facility guru needs the occasional wipe of his brow.
"I don't like giving tours here," said King, whose official title is assistant athletic director of facilities and game operations. "Out of all our facilities, this is the one I'm least proud of, by far."
For athletic director Mario Moccia, it's a different story. Any time a potential athletic donor is meeting with Moccia, he tries to take them on a tour of the stadium, to show how much improvement can be done with their money.
He points out the chunks of concrete that are missing throughout the stadium, sometimes exposing rebar. He shows them the rusted steel on nearly every row of bleachers.
"If that was happening at somebody's home, you probably wouldn't want to spend time at that person's home," Moccia said.
But the city of Carbondale isn't working with SIU to raise $20 million in revenues for someone's new house; this is about what is called Saluki Way.
On Tuesday, Carbondale City Council members will vote on a proposed 0.5 percent sales tax increase, with funds going to a variety of projects. The biggest portion of that money - $1 million for each of the next 20 years - would go toward the athletic portion of Saluki Way, a project that could cost as much as $80 million, and that features a new football stadium as one of its biggest centerpieces, along with a renovation to SIU Arena.
But this begs the question: How bad is McAndrew Stadium?
'Yeah, it's embarrassing'
McAndrew Stadium was built in 1938, and although there have been some new features added and some cosmetic makeovers done, it's still fairly easy to tell that the stadium is entering its 70th season. . . . (read more)
Go State!