Disgraceful way to go out Dan... Not good. Blame everyone else for not getting the job done and say good riddance in the process. Nicely played.
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Haven't contacted anybody I know in city government about this..but if approved by the state I'm wondering if the county/city/or fundraising efforts by isu could kick in a few mil or whatever to get it around 40-45 million (could argue city still benefits from renovated HC). That would still be worth doing imo... You would only be talking about renovating the existing structure and that would shed millions in construction costs. It would still be free money from the state and beats the hell out of doing it alone.... HOWEVER, the big elephant in the room is will the state approve it and if Bradley knows they won't then as SSOM said this is a bullshit/cop out move...way above my pay grade at this point..just first reaction to it.
The thing about it is - this has ramifications outside of just the Hulman Center and convention center. Bradley will not be residing in Terre Haute after he leaves - I'm sure he wishes us nothing but the bust but sure he could care less if the convention center gets done or not. He washed his hands of it - that is what happened.
What he fails to realize in doing so he just created a divide between the Terre Haute Convention & Visitors Bureau (aka Greg Gibson & Dave Patterson). Why is that important in the grand scheme of things? For 1 Greg Gibson has more money and clout than anyone in this city and it aint even close. For two those guys have both done a lot for Indiana State - I could name several but for starters the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course wouldn't exist without them (throw in John McNichols obviously).
You want to go down that road by placing this at the feet of the city? The county? The THCVB? Be my guest - but when things go wrong maybe you should look in the mirror. The city/county can only raise taxes so much. The THCVB can only raise hotel/food/beverage tax so much. This is an Indiana State alumni/donor/foundation etc. etc. etc. problem and until you fix it we will continue to have shit facilities. You had the chance to create something beautiful for the University and downtown Terre Haute to be proud of and you shit the bed. All because they couldn't reach out a single donor or business for naming rights?? You've got to be kidding me.
Anything short of what was proposed is a failure in my mind. I rest.
Really agree with the Gibson angle.. not a dude you want to piss off...Like I said, first reaction as I was making dinner and didn't think that in depth about it lol.....
I think blame should be at the feet of ISU for not doing any kind of fundraising or exploring avenues of revenue to close the gap....that said, if the options are: this thing goes away period or try and get the state to fund the HC only and raise a few mil on the side??...then I'd take option 2 there...
The city has made their financial bed and did not give ISU a ton of revenue to work with...I just wish Bradley and company would of seen this project as an opportunity too good to pass up on for INDIANA STATE and made it happen regardless of the cities shortcomings. Long term ISU will pay far more than the city if nothing gets done.
I know this doesn't apply to you at all but I'd say option 2 is great if your just a fan of Indiana State Basketball - then who gives a shit about the vitality of downtown Terre Haute.
This isn't an option 1 or option 2 scenario for me. It's called find a way to meet your original commitment and take advantage to state funding on the table and better our city for years to come. I'm not interested in scenario #2 because I'm a Terre Haute guy and I care about he city just as much or more than I care about Indiana State or that dumb ass Hulman Center.
Not getting it done is unacceptable. It's irresponsible to send out plans and gets peoples hopes up and then end this way. A couple Todd Golden tweets, a news article and a new President later and it's all done. Aint that the just the way shit goes.
Not good. Not good at all.
Can't argue with that at all from a citizens perspective. I Want to see it done as much as anyone. But this city has mismanaged funds for years now and with the jail/high schools/police station projects I understand the few level headed people in local government being hesitant to go all in on this thing just to make it happen .. You better believe one way or another a new jail is coming (whether we draw up plans to or the state does it for us if we don't comply), these high schools are in horrible shape and can't last another decade, and we all know the pull police have in this town....With our current deficit I do get the city saying to ISU "you need to bridge the 13 million dollar gap"...which obviously Bradley and company wouldn't try to do...
City screwed up years ago getting us in this hole to where they can't help out and ISU is screwing up now by potentially letting this state money go and risk trying to upkeep this archaic building that will require millions in maintenance a year....just a fucked up situation all around
I'd like to say a couple of things. One, it was noted today in the press here and elsewhere, that a state audit of Terre Haute's finances were basically insolvent and that there basically was a “substantial doubt” about the city of Terre Haute’s “ability to continue as a going concern.” Bottom line, you are blaming Dr. Bradley and the University for going their own way? When I read this in the morning, I told myself that it won't take long for the shit to hit the fan with ISU. It didn't. What else would they do? Seriously. It's called jump off the fricking ship before it SINKS!
So they decided to go on their own and get this financed the way THEY wanted it to be, get some more funds without taxation, and take the 37.5mil the state has allocated and GET IT DONE. It is not ISU's fault that the THCVB couldn't do jack shit to get this venture moving. It is not ISU's fault, that no usable tax on the project was implemented, and in my opinion, Terre Haute flushed the project down the toilet, period, and their faces should be red as blood. No, it will not have Terre Haute's name on the building and ISU will once again, take control (hopefully), they'll find an alumni to get naming rights (they have been close to that), and let the university put their mark on a building that should have a lot of life in it and call it their own.
I'd say, if you don't like Bradley, you can blame him all you want, but the mayor of TH and the head of the THCVB should be both FIRED. Let the new president get it done the way we'd like and let Dr. B. retire with the grace he should be able to do. I'd say some of you should point your fingers a different direction.
Totally agree and I fully believe it's only getting worse. With year-over-year declining student attendance, you're graduating less and less alumni with any sort of emotional connection to athletics.In closing you or anyone else can believe this is not an ISU problem all you want. The fact of the matter is Indiana State University had the ability to not only upgrade the facility, but build a convention center onto the facility - they released the plans and still didn't have any alumni/donor dollars to get the project done. If you can't read between the lines I will spell it out for you wanting to point the finger at whomever - alumni and people don't give a shit about Indiana State Athletics, I hate to be the one to have to deliver that message to you because I'm sure you don't want to hear it. This project would have got done at places where they have alumni that care. That is an Indiana State problem - spin it however you want in your own mind.
Your last sentence said it all...
Agree with everything you said. My frustration is laying this at the feet of just the city or anyone else. Everyone is to blame including Dan Bradley and Indiana State - they just don't get a free pass. In my opinion they had more responsibility than anyone to make this happen. Perhaps because I believe they have more avenues to the funding than the other parties who are strapped for the reasons you named.
I am really sad that our fan base is so bad that you and Boda say the things you do. Jason, why continue if our fan base is so worthless? (I hope you don't). The athletes I am talking to don't feel that way and most of the alumni not in sports, say the same thing. I agree though that fund raising is pretty much a joke.
Totally agree with this, too. I actually put a large portion of the blame on State. They've had over 30 months now to secure donations or structure funding to bridge the funding gap. I'd like to see what actually had been done on their end.
To the other end, I'm glad they're at least going after the State to get the $37.5m for renovations. They could have completely walked away and that would have been even more disastrous.
I don't give a rip what people say -- talk is cheap. Donations and attendance speak volumes. If you don't think those are key indicators of a fan base, I'm not sure we're going to be able to agree on the topic.
Totally unacceptable. Did you raise your concern to the SAF? I assume that is who you gave the money to, no?Maybe the 37.5 million will help get handicap restrooms for the Varsity Club members. Oh ...and it is the older fans ( say 70+) who may be more financially able to donate larger sums ... and so I stroll over to the foundations to make another $500 donation and get a handicap parking space near the door only to find out there is no button to push to open the doors so I can wheel my rolator in .. . I added the $500 as that was the amount needed to be a guest coach for women's basketball last year ... need I ever say I was never contacted about being a guest coach after that .... constructive criticism or being a curmudgeon ... and a naysayer .... or am I just being taught a lesson ... and for Pacers games they roll my wife and I in wheelchairs basically from the door to our seats ... just a different way of doing things I guess ...and you do need a solid fan base ... boy can you believe Katy Texas built a 72 million high school football stadium.
So what exactly is the issue with the high schools? I keep seeing petitions on social media to get Tanoos out but I'm too far removed to know what is actually going on? Is it just operational costs of having two schools?3. The VCSC has a real issue in figuring out what to do with the high schools. I personally think you combine the two and have one big high school. Get rid of the north/south and have one Terre Haute High School and then leave West Vigo alone - remodel that facility. Whatever they decide to do - this is something that is going to take resources as well.