Pennell Fired?

Mulerider · **Joined:** Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:31 pm **Posts:** 481

JRK wrote:

I was at UCA when it was built and opened.....it was a multi-use facility for basketball, PE faculty, some coaches offices, swimming pool for PE classes (maybe even a swim team), graduation, even indoor training facility for track and cross country in severe weather (basically stretching, bleacher laps, line drills for sprints, etc) and at one time track and cross country dressing rooms after moving out of what is now The Prince Center.........…maybe baseball had some space also....while I do not recall sellouts for basketball, I also recall pretty big crowds for top games.....especially top AIC rivals....no doubt there are improvements needed for the fan experience.....however, until St Mary's (CA in D1 WAA, venue is combo b-ball and v-ball) says their "high school gym" that is often filled to the brim for men's games needs to be replaced to recruit (avg record last 7 years is 24-8 and avg attendance last season was 3001 with 6 SROs), then maybe that is an issue....get us to 4500+ plus fans at games and we can talk a new venue.....of course, if were getting 4500 per game the atmosphere would be awesome for the players....until then let's figure out what can be done to jazz the FC up....playing better defense would help the win/loss record....maybe recall to service Couch, Graham, Dickey, Johnson (TJ and Conny), Hutch, Blackwood, et al....

Mulerider...…..The Prince is the volleyball court...was the old basketball gym before about 1972.....Farris Center is the basketball venue since then....

Correct, sorry I was talking about the Farris Center. Prince is fine since it's just volleyball. Doesn't excuse the piss poor excuse for a basketball gym at UCA which is also called the Farris Center. You can only put so much lipstick on a pig. Pair that with a joke-able security checkpoint harassment, and then also being told you can't sit in empty seats, need I say more? I still always try to make it to one or two games a year.

FOOT84 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

The Farris Center in itself is fine....the sound system is horrid.
Concessions are lacking to say the least. I agree with the reserved
seating...if nobody is using the seat you should be able to sit in it, but
they have a price tag on them.

A winning team will help develop the atmosphere...unless you know someone
who is willing to donate about 30 mil to build a new facility, ala Stephens Center
at UALR...you will just have to accept the status quo.

VolleyBear · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:53 am **Posts:** 450

FOOT84 wrote:

The Farris Center in itself is fine....the sound system is horrid.
Concessions are lacking to say the least. I agree with the reserved
seating...if nobody is using the seat you should be able to sit in it, but
they have a price tag on them.

A winning team will help develop the atmosphere...unless you know someone
who is willing to donate about 30 mil to build a new facility, ala Stephens Center
at UALR...you will just have to accept the status quo.

Unfortunately, I think you're way low on cost. The $30M figure you propose is probably in the ball park for a thorough Farris renovation. I'd guess a new facility would be in the $250M range.

joshuca · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2019 9:05 pm

JACK STEPHENS CENTER
Cost $25 million in 2005

FOOT84 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 29, 2019 3:57 pm

joshuca wrote:

JACK STEPHENS CENTER
Cost $25 million in 2005

Yep... that guy must be living in
fantasy land if he thinks it will cost
250 mil.

VolleyBear · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:53 am **Posts:** 450

Yeah, $250M was way too high a SWAG by about a factor of 3. Some other recently built DI arenas for comparison:

McNeese's H&HP Complex (seats 4200) cost $45M in 2018.

UMBC's UMBC Event Center (seats 5000) cost $85M in 2018

South Dakota's Sanford Coyote Sports Center (seats 6000) cost $73M in 2016.

Northern Kentucky's BB&T Arena (seats 9400) cost $64M in 2008 (just over $75M in 2018 dollars).

So once you decide how big a facility you want, I would guess $50-75M is probably a better estimate.

Mulerider · **Joined:** Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:31 pm **Posts:** 481

The deal is, I feel UCA is always patching things around the arena, and it shows. Just hold up and fix things right. This includes maybe new seating at the least. Bring some pride back.

VolleyBear · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:53 am **Posts:** 450

Dayton just completed a 3-phase, $74M reno to UD Arena (seats 14k) over the last 3 BB off-seasons that included some major structural and concessions reconfiguration, new HVAC system, complete seat replacement, new lights/sound/digital center score board, etc. Don't know that a complete Farris center renovation cost would necessarily scale based on capacity, but I would think $15M wouldn't be way off the mark.

I guess the big conundrum (aside from where the money comes from, which is huge), is that if you could build a new facility for $60M(ish) vs. $15-20M(ish) for a soup-to-nuts quality renovation, what's the best choice?

I'm sure this is all just an academic discussion, but interesting nonetheless.

Mulerider · **Joined:** Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:31 pm **Posts:** 481

VolleyBear wrote:

Dayton just completed a 3-phase, $74M reno to UD Arena (seats 14k) over the last 3 BB off-seasons that included some major structural and concessions reconfiguration, new HVAC system, complete seat replacement, new lights/sound/digital center score board, etc. Don't know that a complete Farris center renovation cost would necessarily scale based on capacity, but I would think $15M wouldn't be way off the mark.

I guess the big conundrum is (aside from where the money comes from, which is huge), is that if you could build a new facility for $60M(ish) vs. $15-20M(ish) for a soup-to-nuts quality renovation, what's the best choice?

I'm sure this is all just an academic discussion, but interesting nonetheless.

I think if UCA positioned it right, they could host tournaments with dual arenas. Conway, AR could be know for the basketball tournaments it brings to the town. Another idea is you could turn Farris into a practice facility. Or possibly a multi use facility and introduce wrestling. Or it could be the permanent home for volleyball.

FOOT84 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 31, 2019 12:24 pm

It's all a mute point...the football program has excelled for decades and very
few fans show up for the games. Don't fill up a 10,000 seat stadium but maybe
once a year. Add to that, the Men's BB program has been lackluster to say the
least since going D1 and there is no reason to build a new facility.

It's the same old song and dance...the apathy around Conway for the UCA
Athletic Program is unexplainable and inexcusable. I don't know the answer
and I'm not sure if there is one...

Mulerider · **Joined:** Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:31 pm **Posts:** 481

FOOT84 wrote:

It's all a mute point...the football program has excelled for decades and very
few fans show up for the games. Don't fill up a 10,000 seat stadium but maybe
once a year. Add to that, the Men's BB program has been lackluster to say the
least since going D1 and there is no reason to build a new facility.

It's the same old song and dance...the apathy around Conway for the UCA
Athletic Program is unexplainable and inexcusable. I don't know the answer
and I'm not sure if there is one...

Your right, there is probably not an easy answer. However, curious if there is a Director of Community Engagement or something along those lines. As well as measuring that person's job performance. Conway is large enough to support UCA. UCA is also more enjoyable to watch over say CBC. As well as Hendrix. I do think UCA and CBC may take away a small amount though, but what can you do. I will say UCA just needs to really look at getting all the students in Faulker County free passes to attend games or atleast at a greatly reduced rate. Not just a $1 or $2 off. This is the future of UCA. Also, maybe offer the community an all sports pass or something to see any game they would like.

huggy_bear · **Joined:** Thu Aug 03, 2017 11:50 am **Posts:** 532

Anyone have any info on Pennell? Is he gone, on "leave" for personal reasons, fired, etc.?

BearCountry · **Joined:** Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:13 pm **Posts:** 5426

I went to a SugarBear game this week. We saw several bats flying around. Thought it was rather symbolic of where our once proud programs have fallen to.

There are freakin bats in the center.

Let that sink in...

VolleyBear · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:53 am **Posts:** 450

BearCountry wrote:

There are freakin bats in the center.

If that's not a sad metaphor, I don't know what is...

Mulerider · **Joined:** Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:31 pm **Posts:** 481

VolleyBear wrote:

BearCountry wrote:

There are freakin bats in the center.

If that's not a sad metaphor, I don't know what is...

Come on UCA whatcha going to do about it! I hope you read this! We are tired of it.

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Pennell Fired?

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