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Show Thursday, June 8, 2006 Page 10 OREM GENEVA TIMES f i I I l; u j 11 v ': F 0 R T S , PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN BYU athletics i '.III AMI 1 "WWII cilities management ! .... - p" viBMMaeMiMB1 '.is. L' n. ' - j ' , mmi't ' ft ' ' i- ' if . i . ' - " t " - " f'' " -. -, . A- :.:.:,.;;,,,f...,,,v:;,.-... , . f ' 5 ' ' ' (w - , i t t , - ; ' I ' : 'i ' J 1 ' I , -.rfi --ITI ,., n,., , ,-, r 1 , MARIO RUlZNorth County i.ctts Itlnnket the entire seating area of the Murriott Center as crews work to renovate the main floor. The Marriott is getting the largest upgrade '; V I . ofili'i facilities this year with major work being done on its lighting, electrical and sound systems. The floor and roof are also being replaced. ars maintain top-flight sports complexes on tight budget O.irnt'll Dickson As BYU Special Events Director Larry Duffin put it, "Michigan is in a different . 'v i-iitv-six yi-iirs revenue stream." 1 i '! bail -oachiiiK So how do BYU's athletic . 11 i-.ikvards sent facilities stack up? Pretty well, . ' m. iiool t csKtciii according to BYU Director of il. ji!''acliiig ' toi ;;n Athletics Tom Holmoe. i.iuln v.wnl "Overall, our facilities com- ' b.iviug one was are favorably with the top i !' ii:i'.- schools," Holmoe said. "We m i innvi' (iik kiy. have a lot of great facilities iiMivc ii moves and we should feel very fortu- IikIiioi I'rac- nate. A lot of big-time Division '. boil' ihiee years 1 schools don't have what we : !h- ln!st m th have. We take very good care of our facilities. People still .' ! have the big- come to the Marriott Center i ' in (-(illegr sports (built in 1971) and can't be- iirvv b.'ii-hinark. In lieve it's .'5.r years old. : '-!'.i-iiv ( Mu-hi- "There are Division I -"''ii! will spend schools with run-down fuciii- 1 1 i' .iclil luxury ties that were built at the same "- " M ating in its time as ours. We like the way we do it We spend money, ..'iii'iH liirilitifsiill but we're pretty frugal." ' iik- an-n't worth Dull in heads up this '''"' summer's renovations at the ' i . ii . b"i ause of us Marriott Center and LaVell ' v.ul.sii- ',u Hiiiiul l.dwards Stadium. im i' moie money "We're definitely in the up- " " i ' "ii i a i iwl per tier in the country." Duf- : ).)' makes whi'ii fin said. "II you look across '"' "' Vl il s milaii to Division 1. our facilities are 1' I am! Mm lnaii excellent." ' The Marriott Center, built in 1971, is getting the largest upgrade with major work on its lighting, electrical and sound systems. Both the floor and roof are being replaced. The most visible upgrade is at the concourse level, where the blue tile walls are being replaced by glass. BYU football fans will be relieved to know LaVell Edwards Stadium is getting more bathrooms on the east side this summer. An increase in demand for additional power pow-er and space has compelled BYU to build a new media truck pad in the northwest corner of the stadium. The pad will be able to accommodate accommo-date five semi-truck broadcast units and six local uplink broadcast vehicles. Elsewhere, BYU recently hosted an NCAA softball regional for the first time and just finished hosting the NCAA West Regional for track and field. Unfortunately for basketball fans, it looks like the Marriott Center won't host any NCAA tournament games in the near future. Feedback from the NCAA is that there isn't enough raw square footage in the arena nor enough first-class hotel space in Utah Valley. BYU could host a baseball base-ball regional in the coming years (if it qualifies for the tournament) and an NCAA volleyball Final Four is a possibility. pos-sibility. The Indoor Practice Facility and Student Athlete Building Build-ing opened three years ago, culminating years of research and nearly $50 million in fund-raising efforts. Athletic recruits have repeatedly said those facilities are as fine as any they've seen. So what's next? "There are some things on the 10-year master plan," BYU Associate Athletic Director Duff Tittle said. "We're looking look-ing to expand the tennis facilities facili-ties and redo the pool in the Richards Building as well." Duffin said a study was done five years ago to see about upgrading or replacing replac-ing the Marriott Center. The replacement cost was over S125 million, so the decision was made to make the building build-ing last another 25-30 years with major infrastructure upgrades. Holmoe said he understands building and upgrading the athletic facilities at BYU takes time. "We're not going to build a cheap building on campus," Holmoe said. "If we're going to build something, it's going to be first class but not extravagant. extrav-agant. That's our directive from the brethren. You wait your turn in the process and hope you're in a great position to raise the money when the time comes." To get in that position, winning win-ning certainly helps. "In the latter part of the 1970's, our football program started to establish itself," Holmoe said. "We had supply and demand. de-mand. We expanded the stadium stadi-um and then filled it up again. During this decade it hasn't been full, but it's our duty and my responsibility to get that thing full again. We'd love to put an upper deck on that east side someday." Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddicksonheraldextra. com. il closer look tl"i's .i look at some of BYU's athletic l,i- iliie-, ,md an update on current work ,ni'l Inline plans: INH'IOH PRACTICE FACILITY AND ST'.IOFNT ATHLETE BUILDING Yonr Constructed: ?003 1 he VVotd t he school's latest hiy splash, v.h h, i' i'l'linii tin; endowment for the I .nil In ni': uik-up, was built at a cost i ui -,i. 'i Jr)0 million, was all privately Ion I. il Not only do athletic teams use ilu'll'i foi practice in case of bad weather; ill.- si hoot's physical education and intramural intra-mural 'l"p."irtments help keep the building busv hom 7 a. m to 10 p.m. every day but Sunday. The SAB includes state-of-the-art vveiiihtliftintj and training rooms, locker rooms, the Legends Grille, Legacy Hall, offices for athletic staff and study halls for athletes. LAVELL EDWARDS STADIUM Capacity: 64,000 Year Constructed: 1964 The Word: Then-Cougar Stadium went through a major upgrade in 1982, when the capacity was increased from 45,000 to 65,000. Three years ago, over 1,800 "Legacy" "Leg-acy" seats for boosters replaced some student seating on the east side, lowering capacity to around 64,000. This summer, LES is adding more bathrooms (on the east side) and upgrading its media pad in the northwest corner to accomadate more television trucks. MARRIOTT CENTER Capacity: 22,700 Year Constructed: 1971 The Word: The Marriott Center is the third-largest on-campus basketball facility facil-ity in the country. Work is currently being done to upgrade the lighting, electrical and sound systems in the building. Both the floor and roof are also being replaced. Don't expect a new arena for a while: The school has been given a charge to keep this facility working for another 20-30 years. MILLER PARK Capacity: 2,204 for baseball 2,100 for softball Year Constructed: 2001 The Word: Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller and his wife got behind the idea of a new baseballsoftball park at BYU and Miller Park was built five years ago. The park was the home of the Provo Angels for four seasons and in May, hosted an NCAA softball regional for the first time. There is no question it is one of the top college facilities in the country, but BYU has to qualify for the NCAA tournament to host a regional. SMITH FIELDHOUSE Capacity: 5,000 Year Constructed: 1951 The Word: The SFH hosts men's and women's volleyball and indoor track and is a popular spot for students on game night. The men's team sometimes draws more than 5,000 fans for matches with UCLA or Hawaii. Down the road, BYU may alter the design of the seating to more of an arena feel, but this building also gets plenty of use from the physical education department. BYU is looking into the possibility pos-sibility of hosting a men's Final Four in the future. Darnell Dickson Money still rolling in for BYU athletic department Darnel! Dickson 'UNTY BYU football fans grumbled when they weren't allowed to bring food into LaVell Edwards Stadium anymore. any-more. Hoops fans still complain about the lack of leg room in the chair seats at the Marriott Center. But they're still coming to the games and opening their wallets. Membership in the school's booster boost-er club has climbed to over 5,000 and there's now a waiting list for 1,876 "Legacy Seats" at LaVell Edwards Stadium, where a donation of at least $2,000 annually is required. "Three months before the season and we're sold out," said Greg Ve-har, Ve-har, Assistant Director of the Cougar Club. "It's the first time we've done that, and it's phenomenal." Vehar said BYU and opposing fans alike are impressed with the school's athletic venues and amenities. ameni-ties. "We have beautiful facilities," Vehar Ve-har said. "Where else can you go and sit in a football stadium and see the mountains moun-tains like we do? It's the same thing with the baseball stadium. There's nothing like being in Provo on game day." Regardless, attendance in Cou-gartown Cou-gartown at BYU's two main venues (LaVell Edwards Stadium and the Marriott Center) is down. BYU averaged 65,185 fans at its home football games in 1999; last season BYU went to a bowl game for the first time since 2001, but the count was 58,204. The Cougars used to fill the 22,700-seat Marriott Center for nearly every home game; last season, even though BYU won 20 games, the average home attendance atten-dance was just 12,977. Many reasons are given for the drop in paying customers, everything every-thing from more competition for fan's entertainment dollar to lack of winning programs recently. But going to a BYU football game is still a bargain, comparitively speaking. Yes, the big boosters can spend as much as $2,000 for season tickets in the Legacy Club section, but single-game tickets are as low as $17 for an average Joe. At Michigan you can pay as much as $370 per game with a ticket broker, bro-ker, since the school has a waiting list for public tickets. And if you want to watch the Ohio State-Texas rematch at the Cotton Bowl on Sept. 9, be prepared to pay as much as $1,300 for premium tickets. Men's basketball season tickets at the Marriott Center will run you anywhere from S92-S318 per seat. For baseball, it's $90 for a season ticket and the Cougars also have family tickets (naturally) that sell for around $200. Other than football and men's basketball tickets, fans will pay around $5 a game to see the other BYU sports. Whatever it costs, Vehar said fans aren't complaining about the venues at BYU. "I get no negative feedback about the facilities," Vehar said. "BYU food services does a great job of keeping up to date. We have what people like. "We're frugal with the money we receive. We don't get any tithing or money from state funding. We have to bring in the donations and we're very, very cautious about how we use them." Vehar said the Cougar Club is selling sell-ing off pieces of the Marriott Center floor, which is being replaced this summer, as a fund raiser. In the end, fan interest always goes back to one thing: Winning. "Winning helps," Vehar said. "When we win, fans want good seats and priority seating is a big factor." I Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddicksonheraldextra.com. Portable Corral Panels 6' x 12' 5' x 12' Real Value In Panels! f Oohnc: inetalmsrtbiz METALmarc 768-3332 1 METAL ROOFING & SIDING! In Stock! - No Waiting! 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