In a long-winded email Thursday morning to the student body, Colorado State President Tony Frank said he is withdrawing his finance request for the new on-campus stadium when he meets with the University’s Board of Governors on Oct. 2.
“I will inform the Board of Governors that we have not reached our $110M fundraising goal, and as a result, I will not be bringing them a plan of finance at the October meeting,” Frank stated.
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Frank wrote he does not believe the lack of fundraising resolves the on-campus stadium discussion, and wants an additional two months to explore other options, which he will present to the Board in the December 2014 meeting.
His first option is to renew Hughes Stadium as needed. Frank wrote that he is hesitant about this idea, because donors who pledged $50,000 or more to the new stadium did not want that money to go to renewing Hughes.
His second option, which he calls “Hughes 2050” is a plan to “substantially modernize and improve Hughes Stadium and to remain there for nearly four additional decades.” Cost would be substantially more, but he expects more potential excitement from donors.
His third option is to phase down the current planned stadium in the proposed on-campus location. This scenario would reduce the cost of an on-campus facility significantly, by removing planned items that they would plan to add later when funds became available.
The final option would be to close the current project and rebid the on-campus plan as a public-private partnership.
“Vastly overly simplified, this (option) has similarities to the decision to utilize a 30-year mortgage rather than a 15-year mortgage,” Frank stated.
Frank wrote he does not anticipate the fundraising goal for the current on-campus facility will be reached by simply extending the time.
He also added that the stadium discussion is larger than football.
“I do feel that an appropriate on-campus facility capable of sustaining lacrosse, soccer, commencements, convocations, and the like has much more to do with the culture of our campus community than simply football,” Frank stated.
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The Board of Governors meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, in the North Ballroom of the Lory Student Center, and is open to the public.
Collegian News Editor Hannah Hemperly can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @kawanhannah.
