A great deal of positivity surrounds Colorado State Athletics as of late, as they usher in the “Bold New Era.”
AD Jack Graham and football head coach Jim McElwain are at the forefront of fixing football in Fort Collins, and Graham believes a beautiful on-campus stadium is not only feasible, but needed.
So Graham assembled an Advisory Committee of 15 members including CSU staff, the ASCSU President and city and community representatives.
Graham wants the process of planning the new stadium to be transparent, so much so that the committee’s first meeting will be open to the public and media—a rare instance where others can sneak a peek into the inner-workings of the university.
And while the public is welcome to come to the meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Lory Student Center’s North Ballroom, CSU has made it clear no public comments will be taken tonight. Feedback from the community is welcome, just not at this first meeting.
A multitude of students and alumni are in support of the proposed on-campus stadium, while others in the CSU community are either uninformed or against its construction.
One group, calling themselves Save Our Stadium, is against the building of a new stadium for hundreds of millions of dollars after the millions that have been dumped into Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium over the last decade.
They’re also against the possible traffic congestion and gameday trash that will come with a new stadium in the middle of town.
Still others argue the $100-200 million should be spent directly on academics, not athletics. With the university announcing Friday morning their goal of $500 million raised solely for academics has been reached, it may cool those that believe the only goal of a university is to teach students.
Supporters say an on-campus stadium will bring on a renaissance for the Rams; creating a new city landmark, attracting the 100,000 CSU alumni that live in Denver, while bringing in top recruits and possibly moving up to an AQ conference eventually.
Stadium proponent and petition creator Edward Umada told me last week his purpose in attempting to gain support, explaining there needs to be a new stadium to build tradition and a better gameday experience.
Umada’s already collected over 900 signatures of those in favor of seeing SLF at Hughes replaced and he even hopes to pass it along to Graham as evidence of the many who want this monumental project to begin.
No matter where you stand on the subject, you can't attend tonight at 7 p.m. at the Lory Student Center’s North Ballroom and if you can’t make it, the meeting will also be live-streamed at www.colostate.edu/stadium.
If you wish to vote on the petition and show your support for the proposed on-campus stadium, click here and fill out the needed information.
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist actively seeking a career in journalism. Along with being your CSU Rams Examiner, Kurtzman is also the Denver Broncos Examiner and writes for Blake Street Bulletin, Stadium Journey, Bleacher Report, and Mile High Hoops.
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