Trustees unanimously endorse stadium concept

The Board of Trustees unanimously voted Thursday to endorse the concept of an on-campus stadium, however they will not vote on the feasibility study and the decision to build the stadium until at least three to four weeks. Thursday's meeting to vote on the football stadium was no different than any of the prior public forums, and both sides showed up to make their voices count. While the supporters of the stadium who spoke during the open forum segment outweighed the opponents of the stadium, 17-11, the result of the three-hour meeting didn't exactly favor those who wish the stadium to be built immediately. "We're talking about weeks, not months," UCF President John Hitt said of the length of time he believes it will be before the trustees finally vote, prior to voting on the motion on the table. He also informed the trustees of a committee that had been created to oversee all athletics projects to ensure that UCF was receiving quality work and the best value, two areas that have been questioned by people on both sides of the stadium argument for months. The vote allows the UCF Athletic Association to develop financial and construction agreements, with a $1 million allowance to do so. During the meeting it was announced that an anonymous donor gave the school a $1 million donation towards the stadium. UCF Vice President Bill Merck again outlined the feasibility study for the on-campus stadium in front of the trustees, as well as Hitt, Athletic Director Steve Orsini, UCF football Coach George O'Leary and a room of about 100 supporters and opponents of the stadium. "It's about a sense of pride," Merck said as he closed out his presentation, signaling for the start of the fourth public open forum in as many days. The speakers stuck to the hot topics that had highlighted the previous forums, including concerns about location and the impact the stadium will have on local traffic as well as the amount of drinking and driving that will be occurring. The feasibility study points out that the traffic will be more than half of a normal Monday on and around campus. Traffic studies have shown that an average of 80,000 cars enter and exit campus on any given weekday. The study shows that only 50,000 cars would enter and exit campus on a Saturday. Merck also added that traffic for home games wouldn't all come at one time. Like many football games, fans come as early as 24 hours before a game while some decide to show up at game time. Joe MacLaren, senior pastor of University Carillon United Methodist Church, said that his church would easily be "the most impacted building" in the area if a stadium is erected at UCF. But he added that most of the people who attend his church have had no complaints, even though Saturday game traffic would interfere with his Saturday evening masses. As for the drinking and driving, Hitt and Orsini both stated that controlled and responsible drinking at tailgating would be allowed on campus prior to games, but Hitt stressed his vision of a "good family atmosphere." He called past actions of students and fans tailgating through games at the Citrus Bowl "unacceptable" and said it would not be tolerated with an on-campus stadium. Most of the neighborhood speakers complained that coupled with the drunk driving factor they were afraid that fans would end up parking on the streets in their neighborhoods, disallowing families and children to have safe access to the streets during the weekends. As for the location of the stadium, two of the speakers who spoke against the stadium actually only spoke against the location. They stressed the urgency of moving football's home to the southwest side of the campus where the projected intramurals sports complex is currently planned. They claimed that area of campus is more accessible to students and has more parking available. Aside from location, they said they're all for a stadium. Speaking in favor of the stadium and its importance to the football program was University High School football Coach John Flath. He told the board that when he was choosing which college he wanted to play football for he quickly eliminated UCF because of its lack of an on-campus stadium. He added that he urged current UCF quarterback and former University High standout Kyle Israel to attend UCF over his alma mater FSU because he said the direction UCF's program was going in was exciting. Also discussed at the meeting was the possibility of holding events at the stadium other than UCF football, such as political rallies and high school football state championship games. The question was brought up by residents, but Hitt assured them it was simply brainstorming and nothing that was set in stone.

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