Like It is

Pryor's stadium expansion concerns heartfelt

An artist's rendering shows what a proposed expansion to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville might look like. The UA athletics department estimates the project would add about 4,800 seats and cost $160 million.
An artist's rendering shows what a proposed expansion to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville might look like. The UA athletics department estimates the project would add about 4,800 seats and cost $160 million.

If next month the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees votes 9-1 to expand Reynolds Razorback Stadium, it would not be the first time, nor the last, that there wasn't a unanimous vote about a stadium expansion.

It happened in 2000 when the board voted 9-1 to move a football game from Little Rock.

Surely, it had happened before or since.

David Pryor, former United States senator and Arkansas governor, and probably one of the most popular men to serve Arkansas, is on the board of trustees and has said that at this time he is not convinced expanding the football stadium is in the best interest of the students or the UA.

None of the proposed 3,200 new seats would go to students. They will be premium seats that Athletic Director Jeff Long is hoping the corporate world will buy.

The way Pryor has handled this is nothing like what happened in 2000 and the great stadium debate.

He's just been honest and sincere about his concerns.

It is his feeling that to spend $160 million for 3,200 seats (approximately $50,000 per seat) is not worth it.

In a story in Saturday's Democrat-Gazette, Pryor said, "I assume I am, right now, a minority of one, but I feel very strongly that now is not the time to go forward with the stadium project."

The board consists of 10 people appointed by the governor, mostly to represent geographical areas while taking care of UA business.

All have good credentials.

Six are attorneys, one is a doctor and three are very successful businessmen.

There is one woman and one African American. They are mostly open-minded people who seem genuinely concerned about the future of the UA.

Only four didn't attend the UA for undergraduate degrees, but three of those did attend law school at Arkansas or UALR and one went to UAMS.

So all have a connection to the UA system.

And most likely nine of them will vote in favor of the stadium expansion despite the fact a proposal in 2011 to increase Razorback by 5,000 seats at a cost of $78 million-$95 million never came to fruition.

After the 1998 season, then head football coach Houston Nutt convinced Frank Broyles it was time to expand Razorback Stadium if the Hogs were going to compete in the SEC.

Arkansas had been 8-0 until a loss to Tennessee, finished 9-3, co-champs of the SEC Western Division and played Tom Brady and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, losing 45-31. The Razorbacks had been 4-7 in both seasons before that year, and most fans were high on the Hogs.

Broyles had a news conference to unveil two architectural drawings. One was futuristic with pods and looping sidewalks, and the other was the classic stadium.

All of a sudden, it seemed like the vote was not to expand, but which stadium was best suited for the UA campus. That was a unanimous vote.

That expansion of almost 22,000 seats was supposed to cost $65 million, but no doubt it ran over cost and led to the game being moved from Little Rock.

It has not, as far as we know, been discussed how quickly a 3,200-seat expansion would hasten the end of all games in Little Rock. But if the plan is to make money on those premium seats, it seems obvious the last game would be moved.

Games have nothing to do with Pryor's stance.

It is obvious Pryor wants to be the best steward he can for the University of Arkansas. He has a deep concern that even if $40 million is raised from the private sector, and a bond issue is floated for another $120 million, the 3,200 seats might cause debt instead of cash flow.

Sports on 04/26/2016

Upcoming Events