Pollard sounds off on critics of recommendation to close C.Y. Stephens indefinitely

[Clonefan32]

Many, perhaps most, people in a university town have at least a passing interest in a facility like Stephens Auditorium. Pollard's messaging will reverberate well beyond the "fine arts" crowd - many of whom are affiliated with the city, university, research park, etc.

I guess I'm curious what "his messaging" was beyond "without fans we don't have money to support all this so here are things we are considering cutting".

I just don't get people being upset about this. Money doesn't grow on trees. He has to make hard decisions and he's being transparent about what would likely be on the chopping block is the deficit is what they are projecting.

 

[isufbcurt]

Guaranteed there's a massive amount of general use funds in the endowment number. The whole thing almost doubled in 10 years and I bet you net donations did not double. We're talking $1million not $500million. Yes there's other factors but there's a portion of that endowment that is meant for this kind of thing. Get the **** out of here saying every dollar is allocated

Most donors don't donate to the general fund, they donate to a specific cause or project. I been involved with enough audits of not-for profits, community colleges and even Iowa State itself to know how Restricted Funds work.

And I didn't say every dollar is restricted, but enough is restricted that the unrestricted won't make a dent in the deficit faced because of Covid.

 

[Trice]

By this, do you mean to borrow to cover and/or defer?

I think what he means is that it's only a $30M deficit IF we have no fans at any games this year, which is not the case yet.

Correct. We're debating the closure of Stephens, which is based on a $30M deficit, the projection for which is based on not having fans all season, the decision for which has not been made.

 

[Urbandale2013]

My experience has been that the more entities involved in these type of projects brings more problems. The project has merits, as mentioned one being a possible revenue source to subsidize other venues. Let private business interests and the city be the driver.

But it has to be driven by the university. The land is university property and it’s going to remain university property. Maybe it doesn’t work but this needs extensive input from the university.

Also the development itself being profitable isn’t even the primary purpose. The goal is to make the ISC a destination. It will help to gain better events at Hilton, Scheman, and CY. The goal is to make it competitive with Des Moines. Instead of mostly only being used for sports you can make it an entertainment area that regularly has events.

Most people who are going to an event at the ISC are going to the event and that’s it. If you have this it becomes easier to make it an entire night out.

 

[Trice]

I guess I'm curious what "his messaging" was beyond "without fans we don't have money to support all this so here are things we are considering cutting".

I just don't get people being upset about this. Money doesn't grow on trees. He has to make hard decisions and he's being transparent about what would likely be on the chopping block is the deficit is what they are projecting.

There's nothing you're asking here that wasn't laid out extensively and repeatedly in this thread over the last day or two.

If after all of that you still want to flatten this into a simple issue of "Pollard making tough decisions" and screw the haters, that's your choice. As many of us have articulated, it's much more complicated than that and Pollard's mishandling of this - not the decision itself but his communication choices around the issue - has made his own job that much more difficult.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

Many, perhaps most, people in a university town have at least a passing interest in a facility like Stephens Auditorium. Pollard's messaging will reverberate well beyond the "fine arts" crowd - many of whom are affiliated with the city, university, research park, etc.

Totally agree. I am saying that everybody other than the fine arts crowd is going to agree with Jamie.

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

Totally agree. I am saying that everybody other than the fine arts crowd is going to agree with Jamie.

How do you define "fine arts crowd"?
And your statement is presumptuous.

 

[Clonefan32]

There's nothing you're asking here that wasn't laid out extensively and repeatedly in this thread over the last day or two.

If after all of that you still want to flatten this into a simple issue of "Pollard making tough decisions" and screw the haters, that's your choice. As many of us have articulated, it's much more complicated than that and Pollard's mishandling of this - not the decision itself but his communication choices around the issue - has made his own job that much more difficult.

So explain to me what it is you wanted Pollard to do?

You seem stuck on the idea that we may still have fans and not have a 30 million dollar deficit. But at the moment, we don't have fans. So why not put it out there what may happen? Again, give me transparency over what Barta did.

 

[Trice]

Totally agree. I am saying that everybody other than the fine arts crowd is going to agree with Jamie.

You're totally agreeing with something I'm not saying. You seem to want to section off the "fine arts crowd" as if these are distinct people who have no other affiliations in the campus or community. I'm sure there are some people who fit that profile but most do not. It's easy to imagine a city council member, for example, being put off by Pollard's tone during the past week and that loss of goodwill complicating Pollard's efforts to complete the entertainment district project.

 

[cysmiley]

Bottom line is that "entertainment" should pay for itself and not need to be subsidized. Comparing entertainment to extension is not apples to apples. Extension is what it means, extending education to the public. For example in agriculture it brings a wide array of information to producers. If one thing good comes out of this Covid mess, I hope it xhit cans the huge entertainment project that was proposed in the parking lot between Hilton and Trice. Those type projects are best left to private developers not Universities.

Des Moines Civic Center and Wells Fargo/Iowa Events Center are both subsidized by Polk County (Prairie Meadows) and Iowa Arts Council!

 

[VeloClone]

So explain to me what it is you wanted Pollard to do?

You seem stuck on the idea that we may still have fans and not have a 30 million dollar deficit. But at the moment, we don't have fans. So why not put it out there what may happen? Again, give me transparency over what Barta did.

I explained it before that he probably would have done himself a favor if he would have said that Stephens would be closed "for the duration of the pandemic" rather than "indefinitely". That would make a lot of the people up in arms at this time a lot more secure that this wasn't a convenient attempt to close Stephens for good.

 

[Gunnerclone]

If nothing else, Pollard diverted a lot of fan attention away from the upcoming game and toward himself. Is that the way to begin week one football? People had largely come to terms with the no fans dust up, IMO.

JP isn’t great at taking a big W in style.

 

[fsanford]

JP isn’t great at taking a big W in style.

You would be correct.

 

[Land Grant]

I explained it before that he probably would have done himself a favor if he would have said that Stephens would be closed "for the duration of the pandemic" rather than "indefinitely". That would make a lot of the people up in arms at this time a lot more secure that this wasn't a convenient attempt to close Stephens for good.

And it would have seemed far less retaliatory. This was just terrible terrible PR by Pollard, as many have stated.

As for the "fine arts crowd" dig, does he not understand that the fine arts are a key element of the curriculum and mission of a school like ISU? I think he forgets athletics is a part of the U, not the whole.

 

[Trice]

So explain to me what it is you wanted Pollard to do?

You seem stuck on the idea that we may still have fans and not have a 30 million dollar deficit. But at the moment, we don't have fans. So why not put it out there what may happen? Again, give me transparency over what Barta did.

It is not me who is stuck on the idea that we might still have fans - that is the express wishes of the athletic department as stated in at least two emails to fans over the past week. So when Pollard says on one day that we're aiming for fans then on the next day repeatedly references "the decision" not to have fans and the consequences that stem from that decision - when no such decision had been announced - that is not transparent messaging, it is confusing at best and a lie at worst.

Generally Pollard has been open and transparent throughout this process, which is why the past week has seemed so out of character. There were numerous other ways to bring up the concern about Stephens - a concern I'm certain most would have understood - that didn't involve being so abrupt and so petty.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

It is not me who is stuck on the idea that we might still have fans - that is the express wishes of the athletic department as stated in at least two emails to fans over the past week. So when Pollard says on one day that we're aiming for fans then on the next day repeatedly references "the decision" not to have fans and the consequences that stem from that decision - when no such decision had been announced - that is not transparent messaging, it is confusing at best and a lie at worst.

Generally Pollard has been open and transparent throughout this process, which is why the past week has seemed so out of character. There were numerous other ways to bring up the concern about Stephens - a concern I'm certain most would have understood - that didn't involve being so abrupt and so petty.

I dont think it is that complicated. Pollard had an approved plan for fans in the stands and for unknown reasons that plan got wiped out 2 days later. Since JP no longer has any say on fans / no fans he is now planning on 0 fans and communicating the ramifications.

 

[Sparkplug]

How much corn can we store in CY?

 

[Trice]

I dont think it is that complicated. Pollard had an approved plan for fans in the stands and for unknown reasons that plan got wiped out 2 days later. Since JP no longer has any say on fans / no fans he is now planning on 0 fans and communicating the ramifications.

But he didn't say "here's what will happen if there are 0 fans for the rest of the year." He said, "there will be 0 fans the rest of the year, and as a result this is what is happening."

The first is what he should have said. The second, which is not true, is what he did say. The two are quite different.

 

[Neptune78]

I explained it before that he probably would have done himself a favor if he would have said that Stephens would be closed "for the duration of the pandemic" rather than "indefinitely". That would make a lot of the people up in arms at this time a lot more secure that this wasn't a convenient attempt to close Stephens for good.

"Indefinitely" means Pollard is saying he wants "to close Stephens for good"?

 

[jbhtexas]

And it would have seemed far less retaliatory. This was just terrible terrible PR by Pollard, as many have stated.

As for the "fine arts crowd" dig, does he not understand that the fine arts are a key element of the curriculum and mission of a school like ISU? I think he forgets athletics is a part of the U, not the whole.

I think ultimately the AD controlling CY/Fisher needs to be revisited. Even though the AD is by IRS classification a non-profit, in many (most?) ways it has to be run like a "for-profit" because it has to make enough revenue to pay for all it does, since it does not take any taxpayer funds. If CY/Fisher are to be part of the infrastructure to satisfy the fine arts element of ISU's mission, they can't be run like a for-profit. As mentioned before, those venues somehow need to be subsidized. If the AD is unwilling to do that, then another arrangement is necessary.