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vmisport
September 28th, 2006, 06:37 AM
UR stadium facing cost hikes, funding deadline
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Thursday, September 28, 2006


It has been more than three years since the University of Richmond's Board of Trustees voted to pursue expansion of First Market Stadium, an on-campus facility, for the purposes of making it home for Spiders football.

It has been one year since the Board of Trustees approved a funding plan for construction of the stadium.

Ground has not been broken and there is no timeline for the construction of the stadium. UR continues to be in fund-raising mode, according to Brent Schneider, Richmond's assistant director athletics/development.

"We're moving forward. We feel confident. But there is still work to be done," Schneider said. "The overall status of the project is we're happy with how it's going."

The latest estimated cost of construction of the 9,000-seat facility is $20 million, $9 million more than the Board of Trustees projected in May 2003. UR received a $5 million anonymous gift. The school matched that, and set a Dec. 31, 2006, deadline for raising the remaining funds.

Schneider said Richmond has a total of about $16 million, "with other proposals out. We continue to talk to folks about their participation."

The school has estimated an 18-month construction period. It's doubtful the Spiders could play on-campus before 2009.

Since 1929, UR has played home football games off-campus at UR Stadium (formerly City Stadium), the 21,319-seat facility that's owned by the city and leased to UR, which maintains it.

At First Market Stadium, which seats 4,000, UR already practices football and holds other sporting events. - John O'Connor

DTSpider
September 28th, 2006, 07:17 AM
Rumor is that there are a couple of major donors who are waiting until the new president is announced in December before making their pledges so that the fundraising does not count under the old president, but rather looks good for the new president. We'll see.

89Hen
September 28th, 2006, 08:14 AM
The latest estimated cost of construction of the 9,000-seat facility is $20 million, $9 million more than the Board of Trustees projected in May 2003.
Ouch. CCU's stadium, which looks similar to me was closer to the $11M figure they originally thought.

spdram
September 28th, 2006, 11:43 AM
One thing I will give Richmond credit for is that when they build they usually do it first rate. That may account for a higher price tag.

jmuroller
September 28th, 2006, 11:58 AM
The cost of construction in Richmond is probably off the scale...and it's only going up every day.