The long, long promised sports facilities improvements finally saw the light of day. BC announced a $200 million dollar project for a new recreation center, new baseball/softball complex and the field house a.k.a. the Indoor Practice Facility. The timing off it all is interesting and certainly prompted some cynicism from frustrated fans, but overall this is good news.
The Money
While all the money is yet to be raised, enough of it has been committed to go forward with the projects. That's a big deal since that eliminates one big hurdle.
The Field House
BC was the lone ACC school without an Indoor Practice Facility. Something had to be done and now we have a step forward. Addazio can sell this on the recruiting trail and we can pump it up to the press. The lingering question mark is when the facility will actually break ground. As with all building projects in Boston, this will require plenty of hoops to jump through. The hope is that by going public, having the money and keeping it well within BC's current athletic footprint, it can move fast. Bates is going to owe football fans and recruits a true timeline on this soon.
Baseball has a future
The actual baseball component of this complex was announced years ago, but sat in limbo for a variety of reasons. The good news is that this announcement means the school is committed to having a baseball team for the near future.
The new recreation center
Every BC student of the last 25 years has heard that the Plex is going away. Like the Mods, the old building kept surviving. Now it seems like there is finally the funds and the willingness to modernize the recreational options. This won't impact the major sports, but will improve the day to day of the normal BC student.
Bates still needs a plan for Conte and to show that he can get this from renderings to actual ground breaking, but I am happy that there is finally some progress.
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14 comments:
I wonder if this was the planned announcement date, or if the events of the past w/e moved it up?
Miami doesn't have an indoor building either
Thanks for the laugh, Joe. ATL, what do you mean about a plan for Conte. It was built in the 80's, so I would think it is a little early to talk about replacement. Are you talking about renovations?
I wonder what does "begin discussions with Boston city officials regarding construction of an athletics field house that would be located adjacent to Alumni Stadium" mean as far as timeline?
Also doesnt sound like any investment in the bball program or hockey programs are being made at this time. 1 is a cash cow and the other is the only real successful program we have...
what do you mean thanks for the laugh ? I was stating a fact, they don't have an indoor building and their AD is trying to raise the money to build one. This is well known and has been reported (I believe in ESPN's write up today on BC's facility expansion).
Conte won't be replaced, there isn't the space (short of emptying and building on the reservoir). It is probably the facility on campus that gets the most use (by athletics, students and the university) and is very out of date. I don't think it would take much to drastically upgrade Conte, which should include downsizing thru the addition of suites (Conte is way to big). Renovations are sorely needed.
The fact of the matter is, both Conte and Alumni need to see upgrades. Both are antiquated, however, both can be easily upgraded with some smart thinking/planning in a relatively cost effective manner.
What would Jesus do with $200 million?
Brought more wine.
That's a demonstrable step. Nice announcement BC.
(*yawn*) BC has been making announcements about facilities improvements for years. Let me know when there is a groundbreaking, or better yet, a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
What will come first, the ground breaking or the firing of the Daz?
TGS : Daz will Do surprisingly well next year with a soft schedule and some overdue luck. In fact, so good that Daz will be in the ACC coach of the year conversation. He will then turn his back on BC and accept the Kentucky job - it was always his dream job to coach in the SeC
"All the money is yet to be raised"... Geeez, thanks for getting my hopes up too high only to be let down. Hopefully Brad Bates has some sort of timeline soon.
Regards,
Ray Walles
UrgentEssayWriting.com
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