A 44 second ticket sales pitch from new AD

I like him a lot. Here's to a long and successful tenure at HC.

need a little more enthusiasm in that " Go Cross Go!"

Also pleased that Kit took 44 seconds while he was here for his press conference to rev up the "base".

It also reminds me of the respect I felt for FADMB when he spent a whole Saturday working game day operations at Fitton after he had given his notice.

This could be the first time we have had a good President-AD combo since Brooks-Perry.

Of course this video means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but in both this and the press conference, Kit looks sincere and comfortable in his role (the same impression I get watching PVR), which is a far cry from the carpet bagger used car salesmen that preceded him.

Fingers crossed that strong results follow across the board!

yeah, I'm just a former HC non-revenue sport athlete who is a bit disgruntled about the lack of proper training facilities on campus for said non-revenue team.  Had conversations with FADNP and FADMB which were obviously fruitless.  Maybe Kit will be better.  I highly doubt much will be done for the non-revenue sports but if he can help bring basketball success, I'd be happy with that.

the fact that a D1 school doesn't have a passable indoor track is my biggest gripe.  It was bad enough training on the field house "track" but now even that's gone.  From what the coaching staff has told me, the track team trains on the indoor turf field...maybe the soft landing saves the shins a bit but still not suitable for a D1 school.

99, when the many posts about the planned and under construction Luth were a fixture on the board, the details became too much for me and I kind of skimmed through them. Somehow I got the impression early on that an indoor track was included for the $94(?)million. When I finally realized it wasn't I was shocked because it made so much sense to include it and the overall cost was so high. I agree totally with your disappointment.

Bucknell does not have an indoor field turf practice field for football, lacrosse, soccer, baseball and softball.

The Luth IPF has three lanes marked around the perimeter of the field for sprints and laps, obviously not a competition track.

In the spring of 2017, I was on a tour of the IPF with Sader 1970 and others conducted by Joe Bertoletti. When asked about cost for that segment of the complex, he said that each truss of the current structure, which is built like a brick ....house, (unlike Bryant’s indoor structure) cost $2 million dollars.

I would imagine to have been able to place a full indoor track, with eight lanes, would have substantially increased the cost of each truss,  by as much as 50% or more considering the additional span that would have been needed for the width of the respective fields with a 100 yard turf field. So a structure that cost roughly $20+ million to build, would now cost an estimated $35+ million to build. Adding an indoor track facility could have added $10 to 15 million or more to the cost.

I remembered distinctly asking Joe about the facility being able to host lacrosse competitions indoors. Just to add a field that would have been 120 yards, would have added 4.5 to 5 million to the construction cost, with each truss costing 2 million each. Dartmouth just built in April 2020, the Graham Indoor Practice Facility, it is regulation width that is 75 yards long, with another 10 yards for the end zone. The Dartmouth facility cost $27 million, 

If I remember correctly, the original plan was to build a facility similar to Middlebury’s with a indoor track, but the turf field would have only been 60 yards. During the design phase when FADNP came aboard, it was decided the critical need was to build a full indoor practice facility for all field sports, that multiple teams could use simultaneously.

Also, there was discussion of a shared indoor track facility in downtown Worcester, that could be used by the Consortium schools to spread the cost since Holy Cross, WPI, Assumption, Clark, etc, already had updated outdoor facilities that are in use doing the fall and spring. The facility had been planned for the Canal District, near the new hockey rinks.

Bottom line, to create a full facility with 120 yards of turf, plus indoor track would have cost in a rough estimate given the cost of the truss for the building, at least $10 to $15 million more to construct.

Unfortunately, I have not been in the Jo since it opened, actually I have not been on campus since February of 2020, so I have only seen the video of the Jo elevated track, but I agree it is not a varsity competition track.

Based on conversations and readings, for athletics, the upper campus fields reconstruction is the next priority, with the desperately needed new Softball field needed to resolve compliance issues, as well as Smith reconstruction to accommodate Soccer and Lacrosse. The cost of each venue is small in comparison to building a new indoor track as well as an expanded and reconstructed hockey rink. Each would probably cost 25 to 30 million.

The real priority before an indoor track and the hockey rink is the reconstruction of Easy Street and the City Street Village housing.

Sader 1970:

Thank you. I received the pictures, and they did not require any manipulation to see properly.

Holy Cross is fortunate to have two outstanding athletic facilities and complexes. One for Varsity practices, and competition and another for student recreation. It certainly has been fortuitous to have separate facilities particularly during the pandemic. It appears to be a premier facility, particularly for a school with an enrollment under 5,000 students.

I wish all could really appreciate the monumental changes that have been recently been made to our total athletic plant.

Regarding a Proposal for an Indoor Facility, I found this very detailed proposal for WPI building an indoor facility that would be available to hosting meets in Central Massachusetts, that was published in March 2010. As mentioned previously, there was also discussion regarding a facility in the Canal District.

digital.wpi.edu/downloads/gb19f6310

The Reggie Lewis Athletic and Track Center at Roxbury Community College is an example on a larger scale of what you're referring to. It took 30 years of advocacy (1965-95) by the high school track coaches to get the facility built and it serves high schools, colleges and leagues all over Eastern Mass.

It's Mondo track is considered among the fastest in the world and in it's first 24 years of existence, 39 world and National records have been set there, more than any other facility in the country.

Of course it was built by the Commonwealth and unlike basketball, hockey or football facilities, there is not significant ticket sales revenue to offset the cost, so it's an expensive lift that also takes a good sized site.