Roos Field Renovation

[FormerEag]

DEAR LORD NO PLEASE NO NO NO
Let's not get delusions and grandeur here. Why are we talking about FBS level?

The Big Sky is the perfect fit for us.
Personally I have no desire to becoming the next incarnation/coming of IDAHO.

Agreed. People always ask me if I think we move up and I always say "God I hope not." I think that would be a catastrophic mistake. I really think that Boise State was a fluke. And what conference would we play in? Bad, bad idea. :twocents:

Totally agree with the Boise State comment. All the stars were aligned for them.
They are still not considered a great academic school either and that is what kept them out of the Pac 12 when it expanded.

Anybody remember Marshall, UConn. How is it working out for them?????

Yeah but that's on the East Coast. What conference would we play in? Certainly not the PAC 12, the WAC is defunct, etc. And if you are suggesting Mountain West, I'd much rather play in the Big Sky. I'd take rivalries against Montana State, Montana, PSU and the California schools over Wyoming, New Mexico and Fresno.

I enjoy success. No need to start move up discussions like the asshats over at eGriz. Maybe years down the road when enrollment is up and he have a few more BSC and Natty champs under our belt. But not anytime soon.

 

[ewueagle2010]

The idea of this project is that more people are going show up when they build this stadium. When you have a stadium worth coming to, then more people will come. With that, coupled with a continued increase in attendence, we should be able to have enough fans in seats.

Also, the renovation will put the attendence over 18k and most soph/jun/seniors do not live outside of Cheney. They may have been the case a while back, but certainly not anymore. The town of cheney itself is also growing along with the campus.

 

[EWU98]

DEAR LORD NO PLEASE NO NO NO
Let's not get delusions and grandeur here. Why are we talking about FBS level?

The Big Sky is the perfect fit for us.
Personally I have no desire to becoming the next incarnation/coming of IDAHO.

Agreed. People always ask me if I think we move up and I always say "God I hope not." I think that would be a catastrophic mistake. I really think that Boise State was a fluke. And what conference would we play in? Bad, bad idea. :twocents:

Totally agree with the Boise State comment. All the stars were aligned for them.
They are still not considered a great academic school either and that is what kept them out of the Pac 12 when it expanded.

Anybody remember Marshall, UConn. How is it working out for them?????

Yeah but that's on the East Coast. What conference would we play in? Certainly not the PAC 12, the WAC is defunct, etc. And if you are suggesting Mountain West, I'd much rather play in the Big Sky. I'd take rivalries against Montana State, Montana, PSU and the California schools over Wyoming, New Mexico and Fresno.

I enjoy success. No need to start move up discussions like the asshats over at eGriz. Maybe years down the road when enrollment is up and he have a few more BSC and Natty champs under our belt. But not anytime soon.

:+1:
Especially about the asshats from Montana

 

[EWURanger]

I think the renovation plan is great, but I have a couple reservations (and I am not trying to be a downer).

- Does the admin think we will have the fan support for 16K? Just curious, we have been close to 8K a game this year, but its not like there is a waiting list for season tickets or we are selling out right away. You can still get tickets to almost every game on game day or at least the day before. We still haven't given away all of the student tickets to Saturday's game and we have about 1000 more to sell to everyone else still. Just curious if they think we will be able to draw..say...11-12K on average, anyone know? If we had sellouts and more of a demand every week, i could see it, but right now we don't.

- Do we have the boosters for this? Its going to take a lot of donations. I know we haven't had a lot of donations in years past, the football success has helped, but we are definitely towards the lower end on booster donations.

Just curious, I would love to see this happen, just have a few reservations as I would love to have a brand new 16,000+ seat stadium, but would hate to see 8k in it.

Dude...you don't plan on what you're doing right now. You plan on what you expect to become in the FUTURE. Of course we don't have the fan support to fill an 18k stadium in 2012. We play in a stadium that only has 8700 permanent seats as it stands right now. This is as much about perception as it about capacity. When people see our football field right now, it screams small time. We need to build something that is sustainable for the future plans of the program as well as what the University sees itself in the future, and something in between 15,000 to 18,000 is perfect for that.

Also, on the comments about FBS. I don't think FBS and FCS as we know it will exist much more than 5-10 years from now. The BCS-type schools will continue to distance themselves from the MAC, Sun Belts, and Conference USA's of the world. I expect that there will be some sort of re-structuring with the lower end FBS schools and the upper-level FCS Conferences. Fullerton and others have commented on this many times over. I believe that we need to position ourselves for this eventuality, or be left out when it happens. I would rather see up playing in a competitive conference that has some combination of the upper Big Sky teams and some WAC leftovers. The Spokane metro area can absolutely support higher level football. To be honest, I think we would draw better playing some more recognizable teams. The truth is, there isn't a huge demand for FCS football in Washington, even with the spikes in attendance we've seen over the past several years. We will eventually hit a peak in attendance playing at the level we're at now. When that happens, it's time to start looking at what we can do in regards to playing at a more competitive level. Whether that's FBS as we know it, or some combination of FBS/FCS type level. Some may call this crazy talk, but when you add up the fact that Eastern is the fastest growing school in the state, the administration wants to get even bigger still, there are plans for increasing the stadium, dorms being built, etc. etc. When the time comes for us to assess our options, we want to be well prepared. In my opinion this Renovation is much more about all of the above than it is what our demand for seating is right at this moment.

The question is: Do you want our program to be more like Central Washington, or Boise State? We have to do something about our facilities in the short-term, or we will lose the momentum that the program has gained on the field over the past 8 or so years.

 

[EWURanger]

The idea of this project is that more people are going show up when they build this stadium. When you have a stadium worth coming to, then more people will come. With that, coupled with a continued increase in attendence, we should be able to have enough fans in seats.

Also, the renovation will put the attendence over 18k and most soph/jun/seniors do not live outside of Cheney. They may have been the case a while back, but certainly not anymore. The town of cheney itself is also growing along with the campus.

Someone who gets it. :clap:

Continue to invest in the infrastructure on the main Campus, and Cheney will continue to grow, bring in more business, which will bring more money into the University.

Our problem with the students is that most of the Soph/Jr/Sr classes don't live in Cheney so the students that do come to the games are mostly Freshman...

This is a patently false statement. While there will always be a percentage of students that commute from Spokane, that number is far smaller than it was even 5 years ago.

 

[EWURanger]

Also, these quotes from that Spokesman article are pretty encouraging:

The next phase, Westfall said, is to identify lead donors who will commit to funding the project once the boards approve. Westfall added that he expects to know “within a week” whether a donor will commit to a $5.5 million gift that would allow completion of the design phase.

That would allow the school to continue fund-raising while not losing momentum.

“I’m confident that if we generate the interest, which we are, and if we are able to document that, then that approval will come,” Westfall said.

During the next year Westfall said he plams to work with both boards to review the financial data, including expected revenue and operating costs.

Most importantly, Westfall said “We have identified a number of individuals that have the potential to fund this entirely, and we are in the process of sharing with them the vision for this project and go from there.”

 

[marceagfan5]

I think the renovation plan is great, but I have a couple reservations (and I am not trying to be a downer).

- Does the admin think we will have the fan support for 16K? Just curious, we have been close to 8K a game this year, but its not like there is a waiting list for season tickets or we are selling out right away. You can still get tickets to almost every game on game day or at least the day before. We still haven't given away all of the student tickets to Saturday's game and we have about 1000 more to sell to everyone else still. Just curious if they think we will be able to draw..say...11-12K on average, anyone know? If we had sellouts and more of a demand every week, i could see it, but right now we don't.

- Do we have the boosters for this? Its going to take a lot of donations. I know we haven't had a lot of donations in years past, the football success has helped, but we are definitely towards the lower end on booster donations.

Just curious, I would love to see this happen, just have a few reservations as I would love to have a brand new 16,000+ seat stadium, but would hate to see 8k in it.

Dude...you don't plan on what you're doing right now. You plan on what you expect to become in the FUTURE. Of course we don't have the fan support to fill an 18k stadium in 2012. We play in a stadium that only has 8700 permanent seats as it stands right now. This is as much about perception as it about capacity. When people see our football field right now, it screams small time. We need to build something that is sustainable for the future plans of the program as well as what the University sees itself in the future, and something in between 15,000 to 18,000 is perfect for that.


The question is: Do you want our program to be more like Central Washington, or Boise State? We have to do something about our facilities in the short-term, or we will lose the momentum that the program has gained on the field over the past 8 or so years.

I totally agree we have to look at the future, I guess I am just hesitant to think we will have that many fans come, but I sure as hell hope so. Don't get me wrong, I want this to happen, I just have reservations. Its more about the money than fans in the stands anyways....in order for this to happen, we need the donors to step up, and that has been one of the biggest problems in the past (but hopefully the spokesman article is right and we may have some lined up).

And...if we are looking towards the future...why in the world don't we schedule ourselves to try and make the playoffs. If they want the donor money and fan support, we need to have a few great seasons in the coming years and we didn't set ourselves up for an easy path with our scheduling in the coming years...

I'm all for the renovation and think it would be a great thing (just wanted to question a few thins), kind of wondering if I should move my season tickets to the other side if it happens? I guess we will find out a lot more in the coming months/year...

 

[HannahO]

I think the renovation plan is great, but I have a couple reservations (and I am not trying to be a downer).

- Does the admin think we will have the fan support for 16K? Just curious, we have been close to 8K a game this year, but its not like there is a waiting list for season tickets or we are selling out right away. You can still get tickets to almost every game on game day or at least the day before. We still haven't given away all of the student tickets to Saturday's game and we have about 1000 more to sell to everyone else still. Just curious if they think we will be able to draw..say...11-12K on average, anyone know? If we had sellouts and more of a demand every week, i could see it, but right now we don't.

- Do we have the boosters for this? Its going to take a lot of donations. I know we haven't had a lot of donations in years past, the football success has helped, but we are definitely towards the lower end on booster donations.

Just curious, I would love to see this happen, just have a few reservations as I would love to have a brand new 16,000+ seat stadium, but would hate to see 8k in it.

Dude...you don't plan on what you're doing right now. You plan on what you expect to become in the FUTURE. Of course we don't have the fan support to fill an 18k stadium in 2012. We play in a stadium that only has 8700 permanent seats as it stands right now. This is as much about perception as it about capacity. When people see our football field right now, it screams small time. We need to build something that is sustainable for the future plans of the program as well as what the University sees itself in the future, and something in between 15,000 to 18,000 is perfect for that.


The question is: Do you want our program to be more like Central Washington, or Boise State? We have to do something about our facilities in the short-term, or we will lose the momentum that the program has gained on the field over the past 8 or so years.

I totally agree we have to look at the future, I guess I am just hesitant to think we will have that many fans come, but I sure as hell hope so. Don't get me wrong, I want this to happen, I just have reservations. Its more about the money than fans in the stands anyways....in order for this to happen, we need the donors to step up, and that has been one of the biggest problems in the past (but hopefully the spokesman article is right and we may have some lined up).

And...if we are looking towards the future...why in the world don't we schedule ourselves to try and make the playoffs. If they want the donor money and fan support, we need to have a few great seasons in the coming years and we didn't set ourselves up for an easy path with our scheduling in the coming years...

I'm all for the renovation and think it would be a great thing (just wanted to question a few thins), kind of wondering if I should move my season tickets to the other side if it happens? I guess we will find out a lot more in the coming months/year...

I have to agree with Ranger on this one. You can also look at how UM built their success ... Their dump Dornblazer regularly hosted small crowds but they built for success and that is what happened.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I think the renovation plan is great, but I have a couple reservations (and I am not trying to be a downer).

- Does the admin think we will have the fan support for 16K? Just curious, we have been close to 8K a game this year, but its not like there is a waiting list for season tickets or we are selling out right away. You can still get tickets to almost every game on game day or at least the day before. We still haven't given away all of the student tickets to Saturday's game and we have about 1000 more to sell to everyone else still. Just curious if they think we will be able to draw..say...11-12K on average, anyone know? If we had sellouts and more of a demand every week, i could see it, but right now we don't.

- Do we have the boosters for this? Its going to take a lot of donations. I know we haven't had a lot of donations in years past, the football success has helped, but we are definitely towards the lower end on booster donations.

Just curious, I would love to see this happen, just have a few reservations as I would love to have a brand new 16,000+ seat stadium, but would hate to see 8k in it.

Dude...you don't plan on what you're doing right now. You plan on what you expect to become in the FUTURE. Of course we don't have the fan support to fill an 18k stadium in 2012. We play in a stadium that only has 8700 permanent seats as it stands right now. This is as much about perception as it about capacity. When people see our football field right now, it screams small time. We need to build something that is sustainable for the future plans of the program as well as what the University sees itself in the future, and something in between 15,000 to 18,000 is perfect for that.


The question is: Do you want our program to be more like Central Washington, or Boise State? We have to do something about our facilities in the short-term, or we will lose the momentum that the program has gained on the field over the past 8 or so years.

I totally agree we have to look at the future, I guess I am just hesitant to think we will have that many fans come, but I sure as hell hope so. Don't get me wrong, I want this to happen, I just have reservations. Its more about the money than fans in the stands anyways....in order for this to happen, we need the donors to step up, and that has been one of the biggest problems in the past (but hopefully the spokesman article is right and we may have some lined up).

And...if we are looking towards the future...why in the world don't we schedule ourselves to try and make the playoffs. If they want the donor money and fan support, we need to have a few great seasons in the coming years and we didn't set ourselves up for an easy path with our scheduling in the coming years...

I'm all for the renovation and think it would be a great thing (just wanted to question a few thins), kind of wondering if I should move my season tickets to the other side if it happens? I guess we will find out a lot more in the coming months/year...

I've heard the donor issue is working itself out. There are a lot of people lined up. The "big gun" referenced in the article will play a huge role. Funny note, I think I know who it is, and I randomly sat next to him when flying home from the Montana game.

 

[ewunerd]

So my comment about FBS was more that it's an FBS quality of venue and the type that's rare in the FCS. I'm not trying to hijack and turn it into a move up thread :? That said... I'd only be in support of FBS if the program was actually ready for it. Like selling out games with 25k in attendance, having the fan and school support, and a decent conference (not Sunbelt or Wac). Idaho clearly hard neither which explains their future re-joining of the Big Sky.

But I do agree with the thought that the divide is really going to be between BCS and the rest of D-I (FBS havenots and FCS combined). This type of stadium is settings us up to be the upper echelon if such a divide should happen. I'm not sure about no demand for FCS in Washington... Maybe on the west side but EWU has been selling out since their championship run. Even when the year the red turf was installed attendance had seen an increase. How many times would we have sold out games like Cal Poly or Weber? Used to be we had to have a school with Montana in the name somewhere to get attendance like that. With Eagle fans being outnumbered.

 

[kalm]

I think the renovation plan is great, but I have a couple reservations (and I am not trying to be a downer).

- Does the admin think we will have the fan support for 16K? Just curious, we have been close to 8K a game this year, but its not like there is a waiting list for season tickets or we are selling out right away. You can still get tickets to almost every game on game day or at least the day before. We still haven't given away all of the student tickets to Saturday's game and we have about 1000 more to sell to everyone else still. Just curious if they think we will be able to draw..say...11-12K on average, anyone know? If we had sellouts and more of a demand every week, i could see it, but right now we don't.

- Do we have the boosters for this? Its going to take a lot of donations. I know we haven't had a lot of donations in years past, the football success has helped, but we are definitely towards the lower end on booster donations.

Just curious, I would love to see this happen, just have a few reservations as I would love to have a brand new 16,000+ seat stadium, but would hate to see 8k in it.

Dude...you don't plan on what you're doing right now. You plan on what you expect to become in the FUTURE. Of course we don't have the fan support to fill an 18k stadium in 2012. We play in a stadium that only has 8700 permanent seats as it stands right now. This is as much about perception as it about capacity. When people see our football field right now, it screams small time. We need to build something that is sustainable for the future plans of the program as well as what the University sees itself in the future, and something in between 15,000 to 18,000 is perfect for that.


The question is: Do you want our program to be more like Central Washington, or Boise State? We have to do something about our facilities in the short-term, or we will lose the momentum that the program has gained on the field over the past 8 or so years.

I totally agree we have to look at the future, I guess I am just hesitant to think we will have that many fans come, but I sure as hell hope so. Don't get me wrong, I want this to happen, I just have reservations. Its more about the money than fans in the stands anyways....in order for this to happen, we need the donors to step up, and that has been one of the biggest problems in the past (but hopefully the spokesman article is right and we may have some lined up).

And...if we are looking towards the future...why in the world don't we schedule ourselves to try and make the playoffs. If they want the donor money and fan support, we need to have a few great seasons in the coming years and we didn't set ourselves up for an easy path with our scheduling in the coming years...

I'm all for the renovation and think it would be a great thing (just wanted to question a few thins), kind of wondering if I should move my season tickets to the other side if it happens? I guess we will find out a lot more in the coming months/year...

I have to agree with Ranger on this one. You can also look at how UM built their success ... Their dump Dornblazer regularly hosted small crowds but they built for success and that is what happened.

+2 on all points. Great post Ranger.

I watched a game in Dornblazer in the mid 80's and it was exactly like Woodward 20 years ago. Montana was a basketball school at the time with very little IAA success but had the vision to recognize that if you build it, they will come.

Imagine opening day of the renovated stadium. I'm guessing that one at least would be a sellout as would the Griz or Cat came that year, with many new faces who would immediately get hooked. Season ticket sales would see a dramatic increase, especially for those wanting to get in on the ground floor. If the economy turns around (if), there will be increased demand for donor suites, etc.

On the FBS issue, the only way we move up is when other BSC schools do it. That was an interesting point Ranger made about re-alignment. If that happens it would mean the difference between Montana and CWU. Not much middle ground. Then again, if we had that type of stadium we could truly be the big fish in a small DII pond. :mrgreen:

 

[EWURanger]

Here's some pics of the updates I've been doing to my Gateway Renderings. Still quite a bit of work to do, but I've got the basic outlines done at this point. Just need to finish the new end zone structure, the main building facade, add the scoreboard and a few other things. I'll post pics of the final product once complete. I think you can click on the pics to see them in their actual sizes...I had to shrink them to post on here.


Gateway Concept 1 by EWURanger, on Flickr

Gateway Concept 3 by EWURanger, on Flickr


Gateway Concept 2 by EWURanger, on Flickr


Gateway Concept 4 by EWURanger, on Flickr

 

[EWU98]

My wife just made the comment that attendance will definitely go up now with Dressler now having a blocked view!

Yep she was one of those hot coco sipping warm bodies up in Dressler watching from the Bob Uecker seats. :hide:

 

[MLEagle]

An important point to consider when predicting future fan growth is the dramatic rise in student attendance and enthusiasm. Ten years ago there was not really a student section in the stadium, there were students that attended games but not as an enthusiastic group. Students that don't really care about EWU athletics become alumni that don't really care either.

The last few years has shown a huge increase in student attendance and those student are on their feet the entire game having a great time. These kids will be alumni soon, and a much higher percentage of them will be back at Roos as new season ticket holders. We are breading a new, more energetic type of fan in Cheney, and I love to see it happening.

 

[BLACKFALKIN1]

Nevada also moved up from the big sky and they're fine. Nice/big on campus stadiums usually results in decent fan turn out. Idaho is unrealistic bc of the expansion restrictions of that crappy dome.

 

[marceagfan5]

The spokesman stated "Eastern hopes to build it after more people come." Which I agree with. Not sure the, if you build it, they will come mentality will work, its at least a huge risk. Eastern has way too much to compete with in the area in the fall and winter, we need the fan commitment first. When the Griz built WA/Griz, they originally built it for 12K and waited for the fans to pour in, then they expanded, then expanded again. Everyone knew the Griz were going to expand and grow because they were the only show in town, or within 120 miles. MSU did the same thing, once they had a ton of SRO (standing room only) fans they built their addition last year.

If you look at our playoff game, we had about 7000 fans there. 3000 were students given free tickets, which means we only had 4000 paying fans for a home playoff game where you couldn't have asked for better weather. My guess is the admin and everyone behind this is going to want to see a better turnout for games before the really start to move forward with it...We have had a much bigger increase in fans from 2010 to 2012, especially if you compare playoff games, but we also have to remember, students had to pay for their ticket in the 2010 playoffs and that probably kept a lot of them away, even if it was only $5.

Hopefully the growth from 2010 to 2012, will happen again from 2012 to 2014 and we can get this thing done....

 

[FormerEag]

Just a few years ago, we were a consistently good team but still struggled to draw 4000 in decent weather. I think we've come a long way in a short amount of time. I think I disagree with the idea that the"if you build it they will come" mindset won't work. The red turf and video board are big draws, in my opinion. I really think new facilities will bring more fans. Our stadium is kind of lackluster... Another deep run should help as well.

GO EAGS

 

[EWU98]

Lackluster, lackluster . . . .WE HAVE FREAKING METAL (HS) BLEACHERS for the opponents side!!! BRING ON THE UPGRADE!!
I will even buy season tickets and not attend 90% of the games!

 

[clawman1]

The gateway project is literally just that, the gateway into the University. One of the previous University Presidents said "athletics is the front porch of the University" and it appears Dr. A is of the same mindset. Some academics may not like that but it is a reality of our times. If Roos field is the front porch what does it say for the rest of the house. Heck, there are numerous high school stadiums that are better facilities than Roos.
I firmly believe "if you build it they will come" because it will assure we continue to get top level athletes and thus be a perennial contender for the Big Sky championships and playoff appearances and bring positive exposure for the University. Look at what the leadership of Spokane built decades age, Joe Albi. Granted it has aged but think back to when it was built, it was a first class facility. That is an example of forward thinking leadership. I hope EWU has similar leadership.

 

[BLACKFALKIN1]

Lackluster, lackluster . . . .WE HAVE FREAKING METAL (HS) BLEACHERS for the opponents side!!! BRING ON THE UPGRADE!!
I will even buy season tickets and not attend 90% of the games!

somebody finallygets it!