If they have $75 million for Vet Med, then they should give us our better concessions!
Hilton Renovations still on?
- Thread starter Cyclone90
- Start date
If they have $75 million for Vet Med, then they should give us our better concessions!
As much as I'd like to see this stuff done, I'd wait and see how everything falls out after COVID-19 settles down. I've read some scary stuff about how this could affect athletics budgets in the future.
Good catch. Probably cannot afford after the drop in Big 12 distributions from lost TV revenue and upcoming decrease in Cyclone Club donations.
Jamie Pollard shares athletics department financial, project updates
Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard is confident the Iowa State athletics department is in good financial shape going forward.
What's next with Hilton Coliseum renovations?
Hilton Coliseum, one of the most iconic — and oldest — buildings on Iowa State's campus, is in need of an upgrade.
The home of Cyclones was built in 1971, but has gone under construction in 1980, 1994 and 2002. But Hilton's infrastructure is aging and Pollard said it's time to bring the venue into the future — or at the very least up to modern standards.
Before COVID-19 was ever a thought, the athletics department released renderings of potential Hilton renovations on Feb. 27, 2019. The plan was to expand the North and South concourses, glassing the exterior of Hilton, improving concession areas and parking.
Progress had stopped on the project for some time, but Pollard told the Daily the process will start again in 2022.
Photo courtesy of Iowa State Athletics
Pollard said right when COVID-19 hit, the department was starting to modify some of the plans and started to incorporate Scheman into the vision, building out space in Scheman for hospitality and trying to create an indoor connection to Hilton.
"We'll probably within the next six months restart that process so that, you know, we're ready for shovel in the ground as soon as we know what the future television is going to be," Pollard said.
Pollard expects the Hilton project to be $2-2.5 million annual debt service and cost a total of $35 million.
“When I say start the process, that's re-engaging the architects getting everything, the plan, cost estimates, get everything ready, except shovel in the ground," Pollard said. "And then ultimately shovel in the ground would happen at the point in time that you know, the ability to fund it. It would be hard to convince somebody you've got the money to fund it. But the answer to that question is closer now than further away."
But when the future of Big 12 television revenues is factored in, Pollard said it's still a waiting game for what happens next with Hilton. The project will require some bonding, but after using some of the reserve fund, things are in a relative standstill for now.
"I mean, it wouldn't even have been hard, it would have been next to impossible to go to the bonding agency and actually, legitimately say you can support bonds, because there'd be too much uncertainty," Pollard said.
But why renovate Hilton now? Pollard offered up three big reasons.
No. 1: Mechanical fixes
"A big chunk of that $35 million is updating mechanicals, so air handlers and such that there's a life cycle to those," Pollard said. "We're past the life cycle. So you got to deal with it eventually. You can't just not do it."
No. 2: Fundraising
"Number two is strategically, you know, what we need to do from a fundraising standpoint, with a Cyclone Club, we’ve got to continue to add benefits. That's why we're moving forward with the parking. And that's why we ultimately will need to move forward with the hospitality space, you know, in Scheman."
No. 3: Image
"We just feel from a strategy standpoint, modernizing that building and creating the glass and making it more light is important for our image."
I went to a game that had one of those recently, and honestly what would have been 10x better would’ve been if they had the scores/times stats between the upper and lower levels where the ribbon is so you could just see it directly instead of craning up and looking under the scoreboard.
Props to the Daily for the article, but Hilton is nowhere near the oldest building on campus.
Good to hear that the Pollard and Light District project is moving ahead. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it when Jamie is ready to share details.
He talking that scoreboard or suite/press row combo looking things? The suite is more centered but the scoreboard takes up more.
If he’s looking for donations, I’m out of dollar general gift cards but I do have $60 of Casey’s rewards I can donate.
