RMc.
http://www.tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030629/NEWS/306290377/1011
Strengthening Tide athletics begins with bricks
By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor June 29, 2003
TUSCALOOSA | If University of/sAlabama athletics director Mal Moore wanted a visitor to understand that long-awaited construction projects had started, all he had to do was invite them to his office last week.
The parking lot outside the Crimson Tide football complex has become an obstacle course of gravel and heavy machinery. The staff at the football building couldn’t access the Internet for a few days because a fiber-optic cable had been cut. Even casual conversation was interrupted every few minutes as the building shook, a byproduct of construction on the north end, where bricks were being knocked away to make room for expansion.
“It’s causing some difficulties in the short term," Moore said. “We’ve had to move some offices and so forth. But it is a matter of a little inconvenience now in exchange for a huge benefit when it all is done."
The work outside the football building is just part of a wide range of a half-dozen projects, a $100 million package that will push Alabama into the 21st century in terms of athletic facilities. UA has done some construction over the last decade. An annex to Coleman Coliseum was built in the early 1990s, adding the gymnastics and volleyball facilities. There was an expansion at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the mid-’90s, adding skyboxes and the entry area on the east side of the stadium, among other amenities. A state-of-the-art softball complex was built, and the baseball stadium was expanded and upgraded.
But Alabama was not building at the same pace as many of its rivals in the Southeastern Conference, and the difference was starting to show.
When Moore took over as Alabama’s athletics director in November 1999, construction was one of his main priorities.
“It was clearly something we needed," Moore said. “It wasn’t just a case of building something unnecessary because someone else had it. In a lot of areas, we were standing still. There were a number of reasons for that, but we needed to get moving again."
First, the funds had to be raised. The Crimson Tradition campaign was started, and is still ongoing. It has not yet met its goal of $50 million, but Moore said it is “getting close" and he spends a good deal of his time in fund-raising activities. The remaining $50 million, which will be spent largely on a Bryant-Denny Stadium expansion with a tentative starting date in late 2004, will be raised through the issuance of bonds.
# There are currently four projects for which the bids have been let, totaling about $38 million. Those projects include:Renovation of the football complex and weight room ($20.9 million)
# Renovation of Bryant Hall ($10.46 million)
# New tennis stadium ($3.75 million)
# New women’s soccer stadium ($2.8 million)
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http://www.tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030629/NEWS/306290377/1011
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