New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

[aaron_j01]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

A couple of points to pass along that are related to the new stadium, the first is a bit long-winded but eventually gets into the SDSU/BHS joint usage as it currently is:

The baseball organization in Brookings (Friends of Baseball) is desperately trying to find land for a new Little League complex and is working actively with the city to find the land and get that built as quickly as possible. With the enrollment numbers rising significantly in Brookings over the next few years the amount of space that is allotted for Little League is no where near enough to hold the upcoming enrollment numbers. At present they get essentially 3 hours a day on the four fields near Bob Shelden Field at the corner of 8th Street South and Medary Avenue, twice a week. Anything beyond that is scheduled by the specific team and is dependent on field availability which there isn't much of. That's for approximately 160 players and it pretty much maxes out that complex with no room for growth. Projections in the next few years are putting those numbers well over 200 which is prompting a fast-tracking of a new complex. If they can find enough land (so if anyone knows of some available...)

When that complex comes to be (absolute best-case scenario is summer of 2015 if everything falls in place, which probably won't happen) there are talks about tearing the old Little League complex out and replacing it with the new Brookings High School football stadium which will run parallel to 8th Street South. Bob Shelden Field which is currently a sub-varsity football field from September 1-November 1 and a baseball field from March 15-August 15 will be converted to a full-time baseball field. The city just put a large sum of money in their budget for a new concession/bathroom building at Bob Shelden Field which is currently being built (good riddance to the old building) so they're planning on that facility as a whole being there for awhile.

Brookings desperately wants to be back on their own campus for football games. Coughlin-Alumni has been a great host since 2000 but admittedly there is no atmosphere for high school games. The crowd is too spread out and it feels empty even when there are 4,000 people at the game.

All this stuff is just rumors at this point so take them with a grain of salt...

That new complex would take care of those that don't like BHS playing on SDSU's field. On a side note, argue all you want, but with the weather the way it was, SDSU/SIU would have done the exact same amount of damage in warm-ups that Brookings/Harrisburg did to it the night before during the entire game. That field would've been awful no matter what since it's a poor excuse for a grass field to begin with.

Related to Daktronics, awhile back I'd heard that Daktronics won't do much for "demo" products in Brookings because it does them no good to advertise in a town where their products are built, and to that I see their point. They do cut them some breaks but it's not as much as one would think with them being in the same town. But it definitely is frustrating with them being across town yet not doing as much for the city they share as a lot think they should.

[JimmyJack]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

Regarding Daktronics, the company and its (tightwad?) leadership donated $5 million to help build Daktronics Engineering Hall.

[2002jack]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

Daktronics, the Kurtenbachs, and the Sanders family have been very generous to SDSU and South Dakota. Daktronics is a high level sponsor of athletics.

Remember, there are other great causes beyond SDSU athletics.


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[Kemo]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

A couple of points to pass along that are related to the new stadium, the first is a bit long-winded but eventually gets into the SDSU/BHS joint usage as it currently is:

The baseball organization in Brookings (Friends of Baseball) is desperately trying to find land for a new Little League complex and is working actively with the city to find the land and get that built as quickly as possible. With the enrollment numbers rising significantly in Brookings over the next few years the amount of space that is allotted for Little League is no where near enough to hold the upcoming enrollment numbers. At present they get essentially 3 hours a day on the four fields near Bob Shelden Field at the corner of 8th Street South and Medary Avenue, twice a week. Anything beyond that is scheduled by the specific team and is dependent on field availability which there isn't much of. That's for approximately 160 players and it pretty much maxes out that complex with no room for growth. Projections in the next few years are putting those numbers well over 200 which is prompting a fast-tracking of a new complex. If they can find enough land (so if anyone knows of some available...)

When that complex comes to be (absolute best-case scenario is summer of 2015 if everything falls in place, which probably won't happen) there are talks about tearing the old Little League complex out and replacing it with the new Brookings High School football stadium which will run parallel to 8th Street South. Bob Shelden Field which is currently a sub-varsity football field from September 1-November 1 and a baseball field from March 15-August 15 will be converted to a full-time baseball field. The city just put a large sum of money in their budget for a new concession/bathroom building at Bob Shelden Field which is currently being built (good riddance to the old building) so they're planning on that facility as a whole being there for awhile.

Brookings desperately wants to be back on their own campus for football games. Coughlin-Alumni has been a great host since 2000 but admittedly there is no atmosphere for high school games. The crowd is too spread out and it feels empty even when there are 4,000 people at the game.

All this stuff is just rumors at this point so take them with a grain of salt...

That new complex would take care of those that don't like BHS playing on SDSU's field. On a side note, argue all you want, but with the weather the way it was, SDSU/SIU would have done the exact same amount of damage in warm-ups that Brookings/Harrisburg did to it the night before during the entire game. That field would've been awful no matter what since it's a poor excuse for a grass field to begin with.

Related to Daktronics, awhile back I'd heard that Daktronics won't do much for "demo" products in Brookings because it does them no good to advertise in a town where their products are built, and to that I see their point. They do cut them some breaks but it's not as much as one would think with them being in the same town. But it definitely is frustrating with them being across town yet not doing as much for the city they share as a lot think they should.

Thanks for the insight. Unless one is active in the Brookings community, this is stuff your average SDSU alum/fan would not know.

While I don't think the effect of Brookings High School playing on the field is a little more than wear and tear from SDSU's warmups, I do think the Bobcats damage to the field is overblown by many. Ultimately, it comes down to drainage, maintenance, and weather that cause conditions like we had against SIU. I do prefer grass over field turf if it is well taken care of, however, we have proven time and time again that we can't do it for whatever reason, so I'll welcome field turf into the news stadium with open arms.

And for those who are worried about losing our home field advantage once we go to field turf, look at it this way:

The worst that I can remember the field looking at Coughlin-Alumni were against SIU and against some DIII team that there was no possible way we could lose to... yet both of these games we losted.

We may have a slight advantage on grass, but definitely not in the mud.

[jackdaniel]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

My thinking on Daktronics scoreboards,is they have a lot of parts and labor in them,just by their sheer size alone and therefore money invested in them,as well as time,and the number they sell for the entire fiscal year isn't a lot,so, they have to make enough on each one to make a small profit and stay in business.It would be different if they manufactored something like TV's that they can sell thousands or tens of thousands of.Kind of like selling Ferraris (limited number produced) vs Chevrolet (mass produced).It's harder to give big discounts.I could be wrong,but that's what i think.

[TK22867]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

I would love a huge video board on the side performance center above the Dykhouse Center. Not to get too much into the whole game presentation aspect again, but I don't like the fact that during our "tunnel walk" you are supposed to look at the screen (the only one) that is opposite of where the players are going to run onto the field.

IMO, Nebraska has this down to a T with the position of the video board and everything that goes along with it.

[Prairiehaas]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

Regarding Daktronics, the company and its (tightwad?) leadership donated $5 million to help build Daktronics Engineering Hall.

I dare say there are hundreds of State grads that have interned and gotten a head start on successful careers at Daktronics. The contribution to SDSU by Daktronics is hard to measure and very large.

[GoJacks]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

A couple of points to pass along that are related to the new stadium, the first is a bit long-winded but eventually gets into the SDSU/BHS joint usage as it currently is:

The baseball organization in Brookings (Friends of Baseball) is desperately trying to find land for a new Little League complex and is working actively with the city to find the land and get that built as quickly as possible. With the enrollment numbers rising significantly in Brookings over the next few years the amount of space that is allotted for Little League is no where near enough to hold the upcoming enrollment numbers. At present they get essentially 3 hours a day on the four fields near Bob Shelden Field at the corner of 8th Street South and Medary Avenue, twice a week. Anything beyond that is scheduled by the specific team and is dependent on field availability which there isn't much of. That's for approximately 160 players and it pretty much maxes out that complex with no room for growth. Projections in the next few years are putting those numbers well over 200 which is prompting a fast-tracking of a new complex. If they can find enough land (so if anyone knows of some available...)

When that complex comes to be (absolute best-case scenario is summer of 2015 if everything falls in place, which probably won't happen) there are talks about tearing the old Little League complex out and replacing it with the new Brookings High School football stadium which will run parallel to 8th Street South. Bob Shelden Field which is currently a sub-varsity football field from September 1-November 1 and a baseball field from March 15-August 15 will be converted to a full-time baseball field. The city just put a large sum of money in their budget for a new concession/bathroom building at Bob Shelden Field which is currently being built (good riddance to the old building) so they're planning on that facility as a whole being there for awhile.

Brookings desperately wants to be back on their own campus for football games. Coughlin-Alumni has been a great host since 2000 but admittedly there is no atmosphere for high school games. The crowd is too spread out and it feels empty even when there are 4,000 people at the game.

All this stuff is just rumors at this point so take them with a grain of salt...

That new complex would take care of those that don't like BHS playing on SDSU's field. On a side note, argue all you want, but with the weather the way it was, SDSU/SIU would have done the exact same amount of damage in warm-ups that Brookings/Harrisburg did to it the night before during the entire game. That field would've been awful no matter what since it's a poor excuse for a grass field to begin with.

Related to Daktronics, awhile back I'd heard that Daktronics won't do much for "demo" products in Brookings because it does them no good to advertise in a town where their products are built, and to that I see their point. They do cut them some breaks but it's not as much as one would think with them being in the same town. But it definitely is frustrating with them being across town yet not doing as much for the city they share as a lot think they should.

Sorry to say but there was no atmosphere when Brookings High School played there games at Bob Sheldon Field. BHS is crazy to think moving to its campus is a good idea. They need to be a partner in this new stadium and play in the BEST stadium in South Dakota. BHS like many high schools do nothing to market the athletic programs. Marketing and game promotions could go along in creating a buzz in Brookings for the "Bobcats".

[mitchellrabbit]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

Sorry to say but there was no atmosphere when Brookings High School played there games at Bob Sheldon Field. BHS is crazy to think moving to its campus is a good idea. They need to be a partner in this new stadium and play in the BEST stadium in South Dakota. BHS like many high schools do nothing to market the athletic programs. Marketing and game promotions could go along in creating a buzz in Brookings for the "Bobcats".

Im not sure there is any kind of marketing or game promotions that would get people to go to high school football games in the bigger cities. In small towns, most people go to games but in the Brookings and Mitchells you go to games if you have kids that want to go, have kids that play or maybe know a kid that is playing. I started going to Mitchell games when my kids were in 4th or 5th grade and went to games a couple years after they graduated. At that point i knew nobody who played so it was easier to stay home and listen to it on the radio. And now Mitchell has their home games on cable tv , so there really is no reason to go.

And of course, having a winning team helps getting fans to the game. Then you dont need to market or promote the game

[Nidaros]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

Im not sure there is any kind of marketing or game promotions that would get people to go to high school football games in the bigger cities. In small towns, most people go to games but in the Brookings and Mitchells you go to games if you have kids that want to go, have kids that play or maybe know a kid that is playing. I started going to Mitchell games when my kids were in 4th or 5th grade and went to games a couple years after they graduated. At that point i knew nobody who played so it was easier to stay home and listen to it on the radio. And now Mitchell has their home games on cable tv , so there really is no reason to go.

And of course, having a winning team helps getting fans to the game. Then you dont need to market or promote the game

I was a student at BHS 1955-59, and at that time all football games were played at State Field, the predecessor to CAS and now named Sexaure Field. All basketball games were played at the SDSU Fieldhouse aka The Barn. This had been going on for a long time before I was student, but I think a new age is upon us and Aaron 101 outlined what is to happen at Brookings High School in the future and its about time. Bob Shelden who the current facility is named was a class mate of mine. He succumbed to Hodgkins disease in 1962. Bob was a member of the SDSU basketball team that finished 3rd in D2 in 1961.

I think SDSU will be looking for extra revenue for the indoor facility and no doubt 9man games could be played on the field, something that is not current possible at Swiftel Center. The Swiftel Center does provide a neutral facility for district and regional bb games and does rent cheaper than say Frost Arena.

To some it appears lame that high schools use SDSU facilities, but it is a reality something that does come in handy when needed.

I agree with Mitchellrabbit, its hard to market high school events. I always had the feeling that BHS games were second fiddle to SDSU events, and they are. If you go north 45 miles from Brookings to Watertown, the high school is the center piece of community events, mainly because Lake Tech does not sponsor any sports. Pierre seems to be another community where this is true.

[leeshajo]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

I was a student at BHS 1955-59, and at that time all football games were played at State Field, the predecessor to CAS and now named Sexaure Field. All basketball games were played at the SDSU Fieldhouse aka The Barn. This had been going on for a long time before I was student, but I think a new age is upon us and Aaron 101 outlined what is to happen at Brookings High School in the future and its about time. Bob Shelden who the current facility is named was a class mate of mine. He succumbed to Hodgkins disease in 1962. Bob was a member of the SDSU basketball team that finished 3rd in D2 in 1961.

I think SDSU will be looking for extra revenue for the indoor facility and no doubt 9man games could be played on the field, something that is not current possible at Swiftel Center. The Swiftel Center does provide a neutral facility for district and regional bb games and does rent cheaper than say Frost Arena.

To some it appears lame that high schools use SDSU facilities, but it is a reality something that does come in handy when needed.

I agree with Mitchellrabbit, its hard to market high school events. I always had the feeling that BHS games were second fiddle to SDSU events, and they are. If you go north 45 miles from Brookings to Watertown, the high school is the center piece of community events, mainly because Lake Tech does not sponsor any sports. Pierre seems to be another community where this is true.

I don't know, I think Brookings might be unique in that the high school is not top dog, I think even in Vermillion the High School probably gets more attention. I have lived in the smallest (Cresbard) to the largest (Sioux Falls) towns in the state and if there is a high school, it is usually very well supported. at least that I have seen

[slosho]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

I grew up in Sioux Falls, and my take is: unless you have someone you know playing hs sports. why would you go? Hs sports are hard to watch.

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[goon]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

I grew up in Sioux Falls, and my take is: unless you have someone you know playing hs sports. why would you go? Hs sports are hard to watch.

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Coming from the same high school as you, I still find myself paying attention to the football and boys and girls basketball teams since graduating college. I think the point is more people would go if its advertised more. people in the SF area only know presidents bowl or dakota bowl time and dates. otherwise trying to know a HS sports schedule is not easy to find. My wife and I have gone to a few HS football games beacuse its a cheap fun time. If I didnt go to the school I probably would have no desire to go watch unless my son went to that school or a family member was involved in some way.

[UWMandSDSU]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

Coming from the same high school as you, I still find myself paying attention to the football and boys and girls basketball teams since graduating college. I think the point is more people would go if its advertised more. people in the SF area only know presidents bowl or dakota bowl time and dates. otherwise trying to know a HS sports schedule is not easy to find. My wife and I have gone to a few HS football games beacuse its a cheap fun time. If I didnt go to the school I probably would have no desire to go watch unless my son went to that school or a family member was involved in some way.

All SD HS varsity sport schedules can be found on www.sdhsaa.com website (far left).

[aaron_j01]

Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised that when Brookings moves their games back to their own campus that they still play one game a year at the new stadium as part of a "classic" of sorts. Before moving up there full-time Brookings used to schedule one game a year at CAS to be played on a Saturday when SDSU was out of town and could go back to that as part of a classic, except go on a Friday night now that there are lights.

Sioux Falls has it with the President's Bowl and Dakota Bowl; Aberdeen does that with their Hub City Bowl; Brookings could have Sioux Valley play at 5 and Brookings at 8 as part of a SDSU Bowl or something along those lines.