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FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

Will the on-campus stadium be ready in time for the 2011 home opener?

Signs point to yes
Don't count on it
Ask again later
I bet Angelos' job, it will be
Lockhart 4 Life

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Florida Atlantic not ready to present final stadium financing plan to trustees; but hopeful project remains on time | FAU Focus blog: Florida Atlantic University Owls sports | The Palm Beach Post

Florida Atlantic not ready to present final stadium financing plan to trustees; but hopeful project remains on time
by Tom D'Angelo

Florida Atlantic University is not ready to present a stadium financing plan to the board of trustees.

But don’t panic just yet; the hope is the project remains on time.

Officials were hoping the financing would be in place for the trustees to vote to approve the project on Wednesday. It then will be presented to the board of governors in June, which would allow construction to start by the end of June.

That would have made it possible for the Owls play in their 2011 season-opener in a new 33,000-seat, on-campus stadium.

But the university has gone back to the six institutions interested in financing the $63-million stadium and asked for their best and final offers. Those are expected to come in Friday before being whittled down on Monday.

The catch is, these best and final offers still can be negotiated, which is what FAU could - and probably will - do after looking over the offers on Monday.

Athletic Director Craig Angelos said expects Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting to turn into an informational session.

“We’ll make a distinction pretty quickly as far as what’s viable or what’s not. I don’t think it’s going to be a long and drawn out process,” Angelos said about narrowing down the offers.

“We may chose one or two or three and say, ‘this one or these look favorable, let’s start negotiating.’ That’s when the heavy lifting and decision making has to start working.”

The full board meets again in late May, which would give the trustees time to approve the project for the board of governors to give a final approval on June 16-17.

“Were on track so far,” Angelos said. “But again, we’ve all heard that before.”

Any delay past the mid June board of governors meeting likely would mean a delay in the stadium’s opening.

FAU has been told construction must start in June for the Owls to play their 2011 home open on-campus. Angelos has not dismissed the idea that the stadium will not be ready until October or November of that season, forcing the Owls to play some home games at Lockhart Stadium.

“Maybe we get it done during the season,” he said. “That’s always the backup plan.”
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

I'm shocked… ::)

This doesn't sound like a major delay so long as they are ready to go to the Board of Governors in June, but this is FAU so you know they will find someway to stretch this out even longer.

Man this is frustrating.  This thing should have been built a decade ago! 
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

Frustrating..Ten years ago… Sounds like the Marlins stadium all over again.  But their stadium is now 30% built. So I guess I'm still confident.
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

MSW1818 said

Frustrating..Ten years ago… Sounds like the Marlins stadium all over again.  But their stadium is now 30% built. So I guess I'm still confident.

True.  The only difference is that we are the ones doing this to ourselves.  There is no public money being used here.  This shouldn't be this complicated.  Get it done already!!  >:(
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

What a mess. We've been playing football for a decade, with still no concrete plan for a place to play. Until we play a game in the new stadium, the administration has been unable to move our program out of the worst stadium in Division I.

How many more years can this keep up? Before contemplating that, you may want to check the archive of "Ask the AD" from years past: Florida Atlantic Owls Official Athletic Site - Athletics

The answers at the bottom are from early 2006. It's the same line… "we are making progress and will have it done in the next few months".

Question from Justin
When are we going to have an on campus stadium? I know your working on it but the longer it draws out the tougher its going to be to stay competitive. Can you make a statement say we will have something by 2008?

Response from Athletics Director Craig Angelos
The dome stadium project is moving along. We have selected the development group that we wish to use, which is the same group that has done the project at UCF. Currently, we are in an exclusive negotiation period whereby they are crunching all the numbers which will allow them to give us the full picture of what it would look like and how it would be financed. This should be completed by late May or early June. As soon as we get that plan, we will then review the feasibility of it and present it to the Board of Trustees. Hopefully at that time we will start the construction of dorm space and retail space and then start the construction of the dome stadium which we hope to have completed by the fall of 2009. I am very hopeful this project will come together and the next two months will be very pivotal for us. Thanks for your interest.

Best wishes,
Craig

Four years later, we're still awaiting the financing presentation to the Board of Trustees.
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on tim

Construction is always delayed, it will be ready during that season, just not the opener… IMO.

The crappy part, I wanted to plan ahead to come down for the opening, looks like a last minute decision to make the trip, because you can never predict delays.  ::)
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

Honestly,  I will not join the alumni association until this school gets it's s**t together and has a game on campus.  We have to have some of the worst leadership as far as marketing, planning, and athletic operations go.  Enough of this "well you know the economy blah blah blah"  GET IT DONE!!!!
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

I think they should plant money trees on campus and harvest them.

Where do you all think $65M comes from, the sky?  Why do so many feel entitled to just have this kind of money bestowed on them as a fan?

Don't join the alumni association or donate any kind of money, that will help.  Take the money you save by not donating to FAU and buy a clue.
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

fauowl said

I think they should plant money trees on campus and harvest them.

Where do you all think $65M comes from, the sky?  Why do so many feel entitled to just have this kind of money bestowed on them as a fan?

Don't join the alumni association or donate any kind of money, that will help.  Take the money you save by not donating to FAU and buy a clue.

Yup, here we go…..The "fau can do no wrong" crowd…..All you need to do is look at "Your next burrow will be completed in" sign that is still erected across the street from the fitness center to see the track record.  Don't get me wrong FAU has grown by leaps and bounds since I came here but seriously it's like a broken record when it comes to this damn stadium.
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Re: FAU not ready for stadium financing plan; but hopeful project remains on time

The said

fauowl said

I think they should plant money trees on campus and harvest them.

Where do you all think $65M comes from, the sky?  Why do so many feel entitled to just have this kind of money bestowed on them as a fan?

Don't join the alumni association or donate any kind of money, that will help.  Take the money you save by not donating to FAU and buy a clue.

Yup, here we go…..The "fau can do no wrong" crowd…..All you need to do is look at "Your next burrow will be completed in" sign that is still erected across the street from the fitness center to see the track record.  Don't get me wrong FAU has grown by leaps and bounds since I came here but seriously it's like a broken record when it comes to this damn stadium.

Actually I criticize FAU whenever they need it.  This isn't one of those times.  I also criticize fans that feel this entitlement because they buy a ticket and think they deserve something for nothing.  Business does not work that way.  If you make $40k a year, you don't buy a $4M home.  Its common sense.  There needs to be a plan and frankly, I am proud that my university wants to ensure fiscal responsibility before acting.  This will get done.  And we should all be thrilled it only took a decade, honestly.  We should be happy it happened at all.  To advance to where we have advanced in 10 years has never ever been done before.  There is a reason for that.  It is not easy.
With the budget we have, I am amazed we have accomplished most of what we have.

But whatever you do, don't give any money to FAU.  You spend $300 per year on the athletics program and you deserve a $65M stadium.
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