93henfan
July 27th, 2008, 03:40 PM
Exciting times in Henland!:D More on the upgrades, from today's Wilmington News Journal:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080727/SPORTS07/807270336&s=a
Venerable Delaware Stadium, the Blue Hens' football home since 1952 and a popular destination for 22,000 on many late summer and autumn Saturdays, will be modernized if not razed and rebuilt, possibly at a different location.
Harker, who took office last July, places no ceiling on UD's ambitions. He has said Delaware's aim to be among the nation's best in the classroom and in the laboratory also extends to athletics, and that means having premier facilities.
"We want to be one of the best on the East Coast," Harker said. "We want to have facilities that rival the Philadelphia Eagles."
Football coach K.C. Keeler has been particularly vocal about Delaware's need to improve its athletic facilities or risk falling behind some of its Colonial Athletic Association rivals, who also have begun or completed major facility overhauls.
Keeler recently signed a new contract through the year 2017 because of his desire to help steer that transformation.
"The discussions have really been, 'What are your visions? What kind of things would you like to see? What are your top priorities? OK, if you have the pencil, where are you going to put the facility?' " Keeler said of his meeting with HOK officials.
"I know when I was done, they said, 'This has been very well thought out on your part.' I said, 'Seven years. I've been waiting for this meeting for seven years.' "
"I know they want to move fairly quickly in terms of the academic center and the weight room," Keeler said. "We're so far behind, that needs to happen. You need to put that in a place where it makes sense for the stadium and all those kinds of things. That's going to be the challenge. 'We can't tell you where the stadium's going to be, but build these facilities that suit all of us.' "
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080727/SPORTS07/807270336&s=a
Venerable Delaware Stadium, the Blue Hens' football home since 1952 and a popular destination for 22,000 on many late summer and autumn Saturdays, will be modernized if not razed and rebuilt, possibly at a different location.
Harker, who took office last July, places no ceiling on UD's ambitions. He has said Delaware's aim to be among the nation's best in the classroom and in the laboratory also extends to athletics, and that means having premier facilities.
"We want to be one of the best on the East Coast," Harker said. "We want to have facilities that rival the Philadelphia Eagles."
Football coach K.C. Keeler has been particularly vocal about Delaware's need to improve its athletic facilities or risk falling behind some of its Colonial Athletic Association rivals, who also have begun or completed major facility overhauls.
Keeler recently signed a new contract through the year 2017 because of his desire to help steer that transformation.
"The discussions have really been, 'What are your visions? What kind of things would you like to see? What are your top priorities? OK, if you have the pencil, where are you going to put the facility?' " Keeler said of his meeting with HOK officials.
"I know when I was done, they said, 'This has been very well thought out on your part.' I said, 'Seven years. I've been waiting for this meeting for seven years.' "
"I know they want to move fairly quickly in terms of the academic center and the weight room," Keeler said. "We're so far behind, that needs to happen. You need to put that in a place where it makes sense for the stadium and all those kinds of things. That's going to be the challenge. 'We can't tell you where the stadium's going to be, but build these facilities that suit all of us.' "