The Fort Collins City Council decided to pull a fast one on Tony Frank during tonight’s city council meeting. They claimed that they have basically no evidence that support from the community exists and that they want to put the stadium issue to a non-binding referendum. This means that the vote for or against the stadium would be “symbolic” and would only serve to divide the community. CSU would still be able to build but Tony Frank may feel compelled to halt the plans because the city voted. SOS Hughes is obviously behind this effort so we need everyone to email the Fort Collins City Council telling them that you support the stadium (include any data you have, your reasons for support etc).
We’ll also let you know when the next city council meeting is scheduled so that we can go and show our support. We’re extremely disappointed in this sharp u-turn the city council has taken given that the last meeting they appeared open to the stadium and would remain impartial.
This email address will send an email to every single council member
cityleaders@fcgov.com
Here is my email to the council members:
Dear City Council Members:
I respectfully disagree with those that think building a football stadium on campus is a bad idea. I understand those that live in Fort Collins are protective of Fort Collins exclusivity and are afraid of the increased traffic, but this is a selfish mentality. Having the stadium in town will not only increase fan participation (trust me kids do not like the effort it takes to get to Hughes), but it will also generate a great deal more revenue for the school and small businesses around town.
Here a few points to consider (please take special notice of point 4):
1.) Currently, the bookstore is a ghost town on Saturdays before games. If you have been to a game at school with an on-campus stadium, this is not the case. They are filled with fans buying apparel.
2.) For alums that do not live in Fort Collins, their return for a game should have the opportunity to visit campus and old town to remember the glory days without having to make a separate trip of it.
3.) Points (1) and (2) would support a greater connection of alumni and fans to CSU.
4.) The few fans that do come to games from around Colorado will spend numerous more dollars at restaurants and businesses around Fort Collins instead of taking Harmony straight to the highway escaping Fort Collins without pumping money into the economy.
5.) Make no mistake, this would make recruiting quality players much easier.
6.) If we want a real athletic program at CSU then CSU has to act like it has a real athletic program. Meaning a stadium on campus that fills with fans for every game.
I urge the residents of Fort Collins to embrace this idea and see the good that will come from it rather than make the mistake that Colorado as a state made in 1976 when it turned down the opportunity to host the winter olympics for fear of increased traffic. Sure there will be challenges, but these things can be overcome. There will be growing pains, but the legitimacy a better football program would bring is worth the effort. It should be worth something when people read CSU on a resume. Right now people only ask, “why not CU?” That is a problem that a better football program would help to fix.
And, that is all I have to say about that, but I urge you to read on and see what others from around the community have to say:
Ann Clarke • I grew up in FC and attended the CSU football games with my folks. The stadium was on College, just across from the old FCHS. Attendance was huge – lots of students who walked to the games, lots of local families with small kids. I could see a new stadium on campus to the north of the vet hospital. I have been a CSU fan since I was a little kid, and am proud to have graduated and have a son graduate. I’ve held season tickets for DECADES. Most colleges have their stadiums centrally located on campus. Our foothills stadium is unique but remote, and low attendance – even when CSU has a winning season – is a reality. .
Marty Lenz • For those who “poo poo” the idea of an on-campus stadium, based on angering the community, that same community benefits from CSU being relevant not only academically, but in athletics. Also, those same folk who get upset, are likely those same folk who do not attend CSU events or support them, so I feel little sympathy. Fort Collins as really grown, and is home to some Fortune 1000 companies. However, those companies were more than likely drawn to the Fort BECAUSE of CSU’s reputation, so they benefit from it…CSU is the bus the drives Fort Collins.
On that note, alums and fans who do not support the program now (and I fully understand the lack of success..but other programs we aspire to be like fill their stands, support their programs regardless) are themselves complicit for the lack of success. The one thing we can do and actually control is going to games, filling the stands, buy tickets, supporting the GRC (as one example), those things go a long way to building and sustaining success. I don’t think “bailing” on research (as an example in the academic realm) at the first sign of trouble would lead to many discoveries and breakthroughs.
For those who say “we should spend the money on academics”…I whole-heartedly agree, however, it is no coincidence that CSU rose to top tier status as a university during the time Sonny Lubick made Football relevant…the school became known, attracted top students, top professors/researchers because CSU had money made through athletic success and more important, name recognition because of exposure due to TV coverage of successful sports, namely football. Respectfully to the academics here, CSU may offer a “world class Professor” in a discipline, and that reputation is great to have…BUT CSU garners greater attention for that “prof” through success on the athletic fields as a product of attractiveness to things beyond academics a top tier university offers students, and even faculty! Likely, that same “prof” wouldn’t be on our radar, if CSU didn’t have the money/resources to attract him/her and top students through exposure of our football program on TV, and elsewhere. Money made from sports does go to academics (as it should!) and helps bolster the school’s well earned rep as a top university, and carries bigger cache’ then most private donations and endowments. Much of my personal, and professional success I owe to CSU; as a former player during Leon Fuller’s tenure and the early stages of the Earle Bruce, I learned many life lessons. And as a proud Speech Communication major, learned from some of the BEST professors that equipped me to compete, and succeed. Regardless…big thinking is a great thing! I doubt Jonas Salk thought to himself he’d be happy if he could kill viruses only in mice. Big thinking leads to big breakthroughs and discoveries. And isn’t that what Colorado State University is about? Thinking big academically and athletically? They are not “mutually exclusive” GO RAMS!
Christopher Newcomer • “Fabulous idea!! I would love if the stadium was right there! It would create easy access for students, reduce number of DUI’s, and entice more out of towners to come up! Most colleges have their stadium on campus and they deal with traffic just fine.”
Dan Willis • Given the climate of intercollegiate athletics today, it’s time for a move like this by CSU. You are either a player, or you’re not, and Dr. Frank knows it. Athletics can be a great PR and marketing tool, as well as a lucrative fundraiser for the university. An on-campus stadium would be ideal for campus exposure to alumni and thousands of prospective students each year, and is one thing that is needed to elevate the football program to a highly competitive level. It could include a much-needed new CSU Alumni Association location, an athletics Hall of Fame, etc., that would draw people to campus on game days and non-game days. And, yes, there is room – think South Campus. Kudos to Dr. Frank for being forward-thinking and breaking away from CSU’s old school “we can’t do that because…” mentality, which has handcuffed us for so many years. GO RAMS!
Vince Cluxton • An on campus stadium is an excellent idea. Not one of the other 8 campuses I’ve visited with my 2 college bound high school juniors/seniors has had an “off-campus” football stadium. Attending CSU in the early 80′s myself, getting out to Hughes Stadium was a real hassle and during my junior and senior years, not worth the trouble. If you’ve been to CU Boulder on a game day, there is an excitement and electricity in the air that is completely absent at CSU on game days because the actual event is so far removed from the campus.
John Blaskovich • Build the Stadium! Success equals dollars for education as well as athletics. Bricks and Mortar will help secure the top level athletes and create a better college experience for all. In any business you need visibility. Higher education has become one of the biggest businesses in this country. Give the Rams a better opportunity to succeed on the field and Colorado State will benefit in all areas; academics, athletics and most importantly alumni giving.
Bravo to A.D. Jack Graham and President Frank for their commitment and courage to pursue this great endeavor.
Karen Bordner, MBA • Marty,
Thank you for your insightful comments, I couldn’t agree more. It’s great to see the big ideas coming from our president and new athletic director. With what is going on in college athletics and teams jumping leagues, and league realignment CSU either has to go big or become irrelevant. As Marty said there is a direct correlation to bowl appearances, the rise in student applications and attracting top professors.
If you haven’t been on campus lately you should check out what has been done over the last few years in renovating all of the buildings and dorms. The thing that really needs to go is Hughes Stadium, it’s awful! We have a fabulous campus with outstanding faculty and leadership and that leadership understands we don’t have to become Ohio State or Miami, FL to win. Marty named some great academic and athletic institutions and having lived in Evanston, IL I’ll add another: Northwestern. Their football team is competitive in a tough league and has had recent bowl appearances and their women’s softball team has won the Big-10. They also place competitive winning teams on the field of play in gymnastics, fencing, tennis and golf.
And if Boise State can come out of the Mountain West and become nationally ranked why can’t CSU?
Ben Kaplan • And for those complaining of the logistics of parking, where to put it, noise etc. I say that you should really understand the true economic value that CSU has on Fort Collins as a whole. Fort Collins without CSU (hypothetically) would mean removing over $500-700M in revenue from the local economy per year. This includes the money the students/staff spends as well as money the university spends on infrastructure improvements etc.
CSU should be able to do whatever it deems necessary to continue to provide top quality education for it’s students. If this means building a stadium on campus that creates traffic problems then so be it. This is no different than what happens every Saturday on hundreds of other campus’s across the country. Pres Frank knows what he’s doing and I’m glad someone is brave enough to speak with such conviction about the importance of athletics in driving revenue into the general fund of the university. For too long CSU has been trying to skate by on the minimum and they are getting passed up by the likes of SDSU who now will have the chance to make millions in a BCS conference. If CSU had not let the ball drop 5-6 years ago, we’d be heading in that same direction. Now we have to play catch up and hope it’s not too late.
As you can see there is stalwart support for this stadium. Please don’t kill it.
Awesome work!
Here is mine, GO RAMS!
Dear Fort Collins City Council,
My name is Ryan Hilbig and I am a recent CSU graduate who is very much in favor of building a new on campus stadium. An on campus stadium would contribute greatly not only to the University but to the City of Fort Collins as well.
Many people who are against the building of a new stadium are against it because they are afraid of a monstrous and ugly building choking up sight lines, causing traffic jams, and being environmentally destructive. To these points I BOLDLY say NO. We have an opportunity to be leaders in all of these fields. Why should we shy away from a challenge because it has not been done before? Why should we shy away from an opportunity to prove our greatness, as a city and university, not only to ourselves but to the nation.
Many people in our community our afraid of an ugly stadium that will be more of an eyesore than a blessing. The reason they are afraid of that is because the only stadium we have in Fort Collins to compare it to is Hughes Stadium, which was recently rated as one of the worst stadiums in the nation. According to the website bleacherreport.com, a college football fan website with no bias toward or against Colorado sports, Hughes is rated 119 out of 124. ( http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums/page/7 ) Do we as a community really want to hold onto a stadium that is the laughing stock of college football? Do we expect people from out of town to come visit and spend their money in Fort Collins to visit the 119th best stadium in D1! The answer is no.
Upon graduation I received a job on the Western Slope of Colorado and did not make it back for a single football game this year. (In college I was at every football and basketball game and worked for KCSU covering Ram Sports. I Bleed Green and Gold.) If a new stadium was built, I guarantee that I would make it back for at least two or three games a year. Alot of former Rams that I have talked to feel the same way. Hughes is an ugly stadium that no one who has been at CSU recently has any connection with. If you build it, I will come and so will other Alumni. Fort Collins would obviously benefit from the dollars spent but they would benefit from hidden benefits as well. While I lived in Fort Collins, I worked for the parks department at one of the local golf courses. One thing that I know the city cherishes is their parks and how beautiful the city is especially during those wonderful fall days. Now picture tourists and t.v. camera crews on campus and in Old Town telling the world just how beautiful Fort Collins and her parks are. Lets use this publicity as a chance to show off and bring more visitors into town. Heck maybe we could even make a stadium pretty enough that it could be a tourist attraction.
Do yourself a favor and sometime look at some the new stadiums that have been built around the country in recent years. Universities such as Washington and Minnesota have built stadiums that many people would describe as pretty pieces of architecture that positively contribute to the skyline of their towns/cities. Lets use this as an opportunity to add a possibly breathtaking building to Fort Collins. One of the most popular tourist attractions in the world happens to be a stadium that was built to showcase a bloodsport more graphic and disturbing than football. Now i’m not suggesting people will flock to our new stadium like the Roman Coliseum, but I am saying that it is possible to build an attractive building that would not be an eyesore to the community.
Many in the community are also concerned about the issue of parking on campus and the potential traffic headaches that would arise if this stadium is built. Here is the deal, traffic is already terrible on gamedays and I believe that if this issue is approached correctly we will actually reduce the amount of traffic on gameday. One big factor for traffic at the current stadium is the fact that every student who lives near campus has to drive to the campus in order to get there. By building an on campus stadium we are eliminating the need of thousands of students to use a vehicle to transport themselves to the game. (Also means no drunk driving home.) Also by building the new mass transit systems in Fort Collins more people can use public transportation to get to the game. Their is currently no Public Transportation that runs to Hughes Stadium. The closest bus runs to the corner of Prospect and Overland, which is well over a half mile walk to the stadium. Fort Collins is also and amazing city to ride a bike in. Lets promote biking to games, create bike tailgating, promote and organize group rides to the games to not only ease the traffic problems but to make our city healthier and more vibrant. We need to look at this stadium as an opportunity to show how “Green” Fort Collins can be when we look at solving problems creatively and creating new solutions for age old problems.
When it comes to being “Green” lets not stop there, lets find ways to make this an “ECO-Stadium”. We should put serious research into making Hughes as environmentally friendly and self sustaining as possible. This is another opportunity for CSU and Fort Collins to prove that when want to change the world we actually mean it and aren’t just blowing smoke like that city to the Southwest of us. (Boulder) Lets be an example that the rest of the world can follow. Companies like New Belgium and Odells are on the cutting edge of sustainability, lets tap into that keg of knowledge (no pun intended) and do something Amazing.
This stadium needs to be viewed as an opportunity for CSU and Fort Collins to be World Leaders. I want that for my University and for the city that I fell in love with that made me choose CSU. Please do all that you can to make these dreams of mine a reality. This stadium should not be viewed as a burden, but a fix to many problems instead.
Oh by the way did I mention that we don’t have to pay to build it! Someone wants to give us a multi-million dollar gift and some of us are seriously considering turning it down. Not only would that be a poor business decision but it would be a step in the wrong direction for the city and the university.
Thank you for reading this,
Ryan Hilbig
Class of 2011, EDU Major, Social Studies Teacher at Delta High School
In the Eco Part I mean the new stadium not hughes