This was a good interview. I would like to think that there could be some collaboration between the city and the University on the new stadium, but I don't see it happening. Many of the mayor's remarks seemed to indicate that he saw the problem as a one-way street, with ISU needing to do all the work. Maybe I misinterpreted that, but that was the feeling I got.
A beautiful new stadium, perhaps along the lines of the FargoDome, would be a huge asset for Terre Haute, not just for ISU. Think of all the great things that have been in Terre Haute because of Hulman Center (which was a city-University project) - NCAA basketball tournaments, state high school touraments, NBA games, countless concerts and theatrical productions, meetings, dances, etc. Imagine the possibilities with a state of the art facility that seats more like 15 or 20 thousand. And then imagine if it were an indoor facility. Could be pretty cool...
Now, I don't foresee any of this happening. I doubt that the city would be willing to up anything to help build something on ISU's campus. There's no real leadership in the city that sounds willing to do the difficult job of selling the project to the people. Of course, ISU has a role to play in doing things that endear them to the public, but there are too many people in TH that feel that ISU is the problem with Terre Haute, not part of the solution...
:sycamores:
