UA President Robert Robbins (left) shown with athletic director Dave Heeke, said he looked forward to the school putting its NCAA infractions case behind it.
Six months into his term as Arizona鈥檚 athletic director,聽Dave Heeke聽has shot way past the break-in period and made decisions that will last for decades.
At the Arizona Board of Regents meeting this week in Flagstaff, Heeke will ask for approval to build $66 million of overdue capital projects. The four centerpiece items will be:
- $25 million to re-do the ancient underpinnings of Arizona Stadium鈥檚 lower east side. Perhaps they鈥檒l find dinosaur bones beneath the old place.
- $12 million to dig up the 43-year-old Hillenbrand Aquatic Center facility and start over. The plumbing is busted.
- $18 million to construct an indoor practice facility/fan-engagement center down the right-field line of old Kindall-Sancet Stadium.
- $8 million to revitalize Hillenbrand softball stadium with fan suites, a press box and much needed shade structures.
The over arching theme will first be to make a dent in the much-needed Arizona Stadium infrastructure woes. By attending first to the Zona Zoo amenities, it will give students evidence that their $100-a-year fee for the athletic department is well spent. Construction is expected to begin after the Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl.
鈥淎pproval (by the regents) won鈥檛 determine the start dates; it鈥檚 just that we can move forward to fully develop plans as well as budget and make logical construction schedules,鈥 Heeke told me. 鈥淲e have done some of this behind the scenes already so we can hit the ground running over the next few months.鈥
Funding for the $66 million series of projects would be helped by the upcoming student fee and donor contributions, with the rest paid over time and with Pac-12 media rights revenue, as was the case with the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and McKale Center renovations.
Building never ceases in the Pac-12. Washington State, which had a $13 million budget shortfall last year, is in the process of building a $28 million indoor workout facility, moving past the $10 million indoor bubble it built 14 years ago.
Debt service is significant at all Pac-12 athletic departments. USA Today reported that Oregon had $19.1 million in debt service in the fiscal year 2017, followed by Cal鈥檚 $18.7 million, Washington鈥檚 $16.2 million and Colorado鈥檚 $14.8 million. Arizona鈥檚 debt service was roughly $6 million.
Oregon athletic director聽Rob Mullens, a man blessed with so much of Nike鈥檚 wealth, told The聽聽Register-Guard in Eugene last week that even the Ducks are struggling and won鈥檛 be able to add a men鈥檚 soccer program, as hoped.
鈥淨uite frankly, we are maxed out on resources,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s we see a declining ticket fan base in football, we see greater financial challenges.鈥
If the Ducks are hurting, who isn鈥檛?
Heeke inherited an enormously difficult job when聽Greg Byrne聽departed for Alabama. Byrne was a little surprised that the previous athletic administration had essentially identified about $500 million in building projects, but had done little to chip away.
He dug in, spent about $150 million on overdue projects and created momentum; now it鈥檚 on Heeke to double that over the next few years just to keep Arizona competitive.
He鈥檚 off to a promising start.
