Administration delays indoor practice facility construction
Alexandra Nicolas
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: News
On hold. Indefinitely.
As of now, plans to start construction of Missouri Southern's indoor practice facility/weather shelter were shelved indefinitely tonight by University administration, following the withdrawal of a potential donor.
Estimates for the facility came in at more than $7 million, the majority of which would have to come from donations or fundraising projects. State allocation of $2 million would have covered the cost of the earthwork, set to begin in early November, and the cost of architectural plans for the facility.
"We thought we had a donor," said University President Bruce Speck at tonight's budget committee meeting. "We have to wait for someone (the state) to say 'give it back.' We are where we are."
Approximately $400,000 of the state-appropriated money has already been spent on the plans for the facility; now the remaining $1.6 million will sit in Southern accounts until a decision can be made.
Sen. Gary Nodler (R-Joplin), who arranged the appropriation of the $2 million, told The Chart he did not know that the project had been put on hold, but that he had spoken earlier with Speck about the money's intended purpose. Since the initial allocation, Nodler has encouraged the school to spend the money quickly, but also said that when the money was spent there needed to be a functional shelter for athletes and coaches.
"Basically I reminded [Speck] that the money was for the construction of a weather facility, not for earthwork," he said. "[Speck] said they were between a rock in a hard place. It is kind of a Catch-22 and I don't have an easy solution for that."
Director of Athletics Jared Bruggeman has been involved in meetings with potential donors and said it is very difficult to raise money for a practice facility in the current economic climate and that he had not been told about the delay in the project.
"It's a difficult task to accomplish," he said. "It doesn't mean it isn't going to happen but with the things the way they are it could be tough."
As of now, plans to start construction of Missouri Southern's indoor practice facility/weather shelter were shelved indefinitely tonight by University administration, following the withdrawal of a potential donor.
Estimates for the facility came in at more than $7 million, the majority of which would have to come from donations or fundraising projects. State allocation of $2 million would have covered the cost of the earthwork, set to begin in early November, and the cost of architectural plans for the facility.
"We thought we had a donor," said University President Bruce Speck at tonight's budget committee meeting. "We have to wait for someone (the state) to say 'give it back.' We are where we are."
Approximately $400,000 of the state-appropriated money has already been spent on the plans for the facility; now the remaining $1.6 million will sit in Southern accounts until a decision can be made.
Sen. Gary Nodler (R-Joplin), who arranged the appropriation of the $2 million, told The Chart he did not know that the project had been put on hold, but that he had spoken earlier with Speck about the money's intended purpose. Since the initial allocation, Nodler has encouraged the school to spend the money quickly, but also said that when the money was spent there needed to be a functional shelter for athletes and coaches.
"Basically I reminded [Speck] that the money was for the construction of a weather facility, not for earthwork," he said. "[Speck] said they were between a rock in a hard place. It is kind of a Catch-22 and I don't have an easy solution for that."
Director of Athletics Jared Bruggeman has been involved in meetings with potential donors and said it is very difficult to raise money for a practice facility in the current economic climate and that he had not been told about the delay in the project.
"It's a difficult task to accomplish," he said. "It doesn't mean it isn't going to happen but with the things the way they are it could be tough."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Darrell Sour
posted 11/05/09 @ 2:22 PM CST
FOUR. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.
That's $400,000.00.
That's roughly an entire semester worth of tuition, fees, & books of 160 full-time students. (Continued…)
MSSU Concerned Student
posted 11/06/09 @ 8:00 AM CST
Darrell makes a good point. $400,000 is a large amount of money. This article does not discuss a few things I would like to know before passing such judgement though:
1. (Continued…)
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