SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

[Jacked_Up]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

With due respect to the late and great Charles Coughlin, a renovated stadium should carry the name of the new primary donor or donors. Historical accounts report that Mr. Coughlin contributed $50,000 for the football stadium and that other alumni, students and friends contributed $250,000. (The "friends" have probably never gotten their due.) Appropriately, the Campanile stands as a historically prominent and lasting tribute to Mr. Coughlin.

[SoDakJack]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

With due respect to the late and great Charles Coughlin, a renovated stadium should carry the name of the new primary donor or donors. Historical accounts report that Mr. Coughlin contributed $50,000 for the football stadium and that other alumni, students and friends contributed $250,000. (The "friends" have probably never gotten their due.) Appropriately, the Campanile stands as a historically prominent and lasting tribute to Mr. Coughlin.

I tend to agree. However, if the name of the stadium does get changed because someone had a few million burning a hole in their pockets, perhaps the Coughlin name could be moved elsewhere. Perhaps a gathering area in front of the renovated stadium called "Coughlin Park at Rich Guy/Rich Company Stadium."

[zooropa]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

I tend to agree. However, if the name of the stadium does get changed because someone had a few million burning a hole in their pockets, perhaps the Coughlin name could be moved elsewhere. Perhaps a gathering area in front of the renovated stadium called "Coughlin Park at Rich Guy/Rich Company Stadium."

Maybe Briggs & Stratton could donate something in his name.

Or another wealthy alumni named Coughlin could cough up some dough.

"Coughlin-Coughlin Alumni Stadium"

[89rabbit]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Friends are very important and I do think that they deserve their due, I did however want to point out that Alumni remain the single largest group of contributors to SDSU.

The last published reports from the SDSU Foundation show that Alumni represented 49% of all the gifts that SDSU received in terms of dollars.


Go State!

[SoDakJack]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Maybe Briggs & Stratton could donate something in his name.

Or another wealthy alumni named Coughlin could cough up some dough.

"Coughlin-Coughlin Alumni Stadium"

What we really need to do is get the Jackrabbit Bus company to donate the money for the stadium.

Jackrabbit Stadium makes everyone happy.

[KUlawJack]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

I would like to see State put more out in terms of advertising what your donations can get a person. Perhaps some small spots during game broadcasts would bring in money from those fans of the program that don't have ties to the school.

I am sure we will see some more advertising in the future. As Jacks#1 pointed out earlier, the general public will not be made aware of much of what is happening until about 70% of the funding is in hand from large donors. I just wish I could give the 70% needed - I got my lotto tickets for Saturday.

[SoDakJack]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Maybe a nice, fat television contract will help the effort.

[Nidaros]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

With due respect to the late and great Charles Coughlin, a renovated stadium should carry the name of the new primary donor or donors. Historical accounts report that Mr. Coughlin contributed $50,000 for the football stadium and that other alumni, students and friends contributed $250,000. (The "friends" have probably never gotten their due.) Appropriately, the Campanile stands as a historically prominent and lasting tribute to Mr. Coughlin.

If you used indices to update the current value of $50,000 that was given about 1958 by Charles Coughlin, you find that amount as multiplied in value many times over $50,000 in the past 50 years. IT may seem like peanuts to some of you kids, but was a big amount of money when IT was gifted. I am not worried nor DO I care about whose name is on the rebuilt facility. It just bothers me that some one would imply that it was a small gift. It was a major gift towards the current CAS. It was nearly 20 per cent of the orignal cost of construction. If the current facility cost 40 million and some one gives 20% of that amount, they have gifted 8 million dollars. A considerable amount just as was Charles Coughlin's gift was. So lets not judge everything by current values.

I believe a 12 oz class of tap beer was 10 cents in 1963, and I noticed that Sully's big bargin was 75 cents per glass, so prices and price levels have to be adjusted if you want to make comparisons.

89rabbit is right, without alums, a number of new things would not happen. I have no reason to question is 49% figure as a source of gifts to the SDSU Foundation, so all of alums are important and small and big gifts are always welcomed.

[filbert]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

According to this inflation calculator, $50,000 in 1958 is worth $380,191 today.

Considering we're looking at $50 million+ minimum in 2010 dollars to re-build CAS out to 22,000 seats, $380k is nothing to sneeze at, but also doesn't get you anywhere near what you need. I'd guess you're talking $1 million or more for naming rights for the stadium.

[MaddogJack]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Stimulus money......

I've seen some more ridiculous uses of OUR money <snip>

[JimmyJack]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Stimulus money......

I've seen some more ridiculous uses of OUR money <snip>

For the record, the stimulus act explicitly prohibited use of any of the higher education money for athletic facilities.

[zooropa]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

According to this inflation calculator, $50,000 in 1958 is worth $380,191 today.

Considering we're looking at $50 million+ minimum in 2010 dollars to re-build CAS out to 22,000 seats, $380k is nothing to sneeze at, but also doesn't get you anywhere near what you need. I'd guess you're talking $1 million or more for naming rights for the stadium.

OTOH: c. $300k to build the stadium back then means that Coughlin gave 1/6th the total, or c. $8.3M, which would probably get you naming rights on the new _________ Alumni Stadium

[filbert]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

OTOH: c. $300k to build the stadium back then means that Coughlin gave 1/6th the total, or c. $8.3M, which would probably get you naming rights on the new _________ Alumni Stadium

Which just highlights that stadiums have gotten much, much more expensive, too (more amenities, wider aisles, wider seats, stricter building codes, etc., etc.)

Building CAS in 1960 vs. re-building it in 2010-20 are projects that really aren't comparable in any realistic way--except that they have in common a football field. (And if the new stadium gets field turf, not even that )

[Nidaros]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Which just highlights that stadiums have gotten much, much more expensive, too (more amenities, wider aisles, wider seats, stricter building codes, etc., etc.)

Building CAS in 1960 vs. re-building it in 2010-20 are projects that really aren't comparable in any realistic way--except that they have in common a football field. (And if the new stadium gets field turf, not even that )

Yes, its hard to make comparasions, but my friend VJ Smith did a great deal of research on Staduim for State and its documented in The College on the Hill book pages 151-158. I feel its worth discussing and worth reflecting upon in order to go forward with the new project which will be a challange for everyone concerned

VJ tells on subsequent pages that the first bid did not include the building of dressing rooms and that Charles Coughlin made an additional gift and that amount was not disclosed by VJ. Here is his direct quote:

"Amid this final wrangling over financial details, distinguished alumnus Charles Coughlin stepped up to the plate as he would do so often. Having already donated $50,000 to the staduim project, Coughlin gave a "substantial gift" which along with other contributions, foot the bill for 4000 square-foot dressing room. The concrete block building included space for both home and visiting teams, officals, coaches and equipment storage for baseball and intramural athletics."

My point and maybe a nebulous one is that Mr Couglin gave more than $50,000 and possibly as much as $80,000 in total. It was very generous for the time and the purchasing power certainly went much further than today. I can not argue that the game of football has changed along with facilities, building codes have changed and even the size of a travel football team has changed. In the 1960's you had a number of players who played both ways, and a travel team would probably maybe 40 or 45. Today I believe it is 65. I am shooting from the hip on the numbers as far as team size home and away. Also freshmen did not play, and redshirting was probably very rare and unheard of so you did not have the squads of 99 people or 115 as USF was reported to have this past season.

Using the numbers mentioned in this source on page 155, I put togather a table of where the money came from and the total pledges. Note Alumni and Friends. Since we don't know the exact amount that Charles Coughlin gave, it could have been as much as 35 percent of the total pledges

STADIUM FOR STATE PLEDGES

24,853.74 9% Students
20,011.11 8% Faculty
35,836.06 14% Local
181,799.20 69% Alumni and friends

262,500.11 100%

One of the reasons reasons I would like to see a new facility is because of the building codes that were enforce in the 1960's which gave the architects a lot of freedom in design. The aisles at CAS are way too narrow and almost dangerous for older people because there are no hand rails and when we get crowds and everyone exits at the same time, it becomes a hazzard as if one falls forward, its like a row of dominos. SDSU has been lucky so far that no bad things have happened when crowds exit. The older I get, the more frighten exiting is. So not only does west CAS have structure concerns, in my opinion there are safety concerns as well.

Being a high school lad when all this was going on, it was very disappointing how people fought the need of a new staduim.(CAS) Some today feel its a dump and I find myself agreeing, but then again, it reflects a negative attitude towards facilities at that time.

Fifty years forward, the need has manifested it self in a more expensive form. What kind of attitude in general will we find? This is the part that really scares me and I sit here thinking that bond financing may be the only way out, and heaven help us if the project once again gets pared down to nothing because, people are NOT believers in the project. We got to do a better job of selling the project to people who have the means of making this project a reality.

[BudLight Jackrabbit]

Re: SDSU Stadium-22,000 Seats

Hopefully someone could win the lottery and make a HUGE donation for the stadium