Chris shared a video yesterday that was a joint presser b/w ADCSL and CCL. CCL primarily addressed last week's UK game and this week's Ole Miss game, but ADCSL's was all around the Vandy United campaign and facilities. I encourage everyone to watch it if you haven't already.
Based on her responses, I think we can dismiss the notion that she is sabotaging (either intentionally or unintentionally) the plan. Could things still fall apart? Sure. But I think at this point, everything is being put into motion to ensure those facilities come online. Furthermore, the power plant seems to be something that is required for not only athletics but for the broader university. She mentioned that the facility will be built where the current rec fields are near the corner of 25th Ave and Wedgewood/Blakemore. We all wish construction was starting sooner, but to think that the powerplant is some conspiracy to slow down construction/hide lost time seems ridiculous at this moment. It genuinely feels like a foundational piece of infrastructure that needs to happen to support everything else.
In terms of timelines, it seems like they are working through all the logistics associated with construction/demolition, and how it will impact Vandy's ongoing operations. If they had unlimited land and space, I'm sure they could do it all in parallel, but that's simply not reality. Closing down parts of McGuigin for renovations will have an impact on various athletic operations. So they have to be very thoughtful on which projects can be started, and in what order, to minimize disruption. Furthermore, she alluded to some other projects that haven't been unveiled publically yet - I'm sure some of those unannounced projects impact the timeline of activities.
I certainly don't envy whoever is responsible for figuring out all of those logistics. That is not an easy task and requires lots of input from various stakeholders to ensure the most appropriate sequencing takes place. I am confident that Vandy will do it in an order that makes sense, even if Vandy doesn't share with us all the details that go into that decision-making process. And to the uninformed, like most of us on the board, some decisions make not make sense on the surface. But we probably have not thought through all of the logistics to the level of detail that they will, so we should give them some grace as they unveil the timelines.
Lastly, ADCSL mentioned they are making some immediate enhancements for our athletics programs and for the fan experience. Some of the new video boards in Memorial are an example of that, and it seems as if baseball will have some game day enhancements coming online in the Spring. Those are all great steps forward while we wait for the larger facility improvement to materialize.
Overall, I was very impressed with the presser and I think ADCSL deserves credit for what has been done to date. I still wish they were a bit more transparent with some of the other items they are exploring, but that's a minor complaint compared to the tremendous amount of work that has been done. I am looking forward to seeing all of these improvements implemented in the coming years. I think our program will be light years ahead of its current status. I just wish 2025/2026 was here now and not in 4 years...
Based on her responses, I think we can dismiss the notion that she is sabotaging (either intentionally or unintentionally) the plan. Could things still fall apart? Sure. But I think at this point, everything is being put into motion to ensure those facilities come online. Furthermore, the power plant seems to be something that is required for not only athletics but for the broader university. She mentioned that the facility will be built where the current rec fields are near the corner of 25th Ave and Wedgewood/Blakemore. We all wish construction was starting sooner, but to think that the powerplant is some conspiracy to slow down construction/hide lost time seems ridiculous at this moment. It genuinely feels like a foundational piece of infrastructure that needs to happen to support everything else.
In terms of timelines, it seems like they are working through all the logistics associated with construction/demolition, and how it will impact Vandy's ongoing operations. If they had unlimited land and space, I'm sure they could do it all in parallel, but that's simply not reality. Closing down parts of McGuigin for renovations will have an impact on various athletic operations. So they have to be very thoughtful on which projects can be started, and in what order, to minimize disruption. Furthermore, she alluded to some other projects that haven't been unveiled publically yet - I'm sure some of those unannounced projects impact the timeline of activities.
I certainly don't envy whoever is responsible for figuring out all of those logistics. That is not an easy task and requires lots of input from various stakeholders to ensure the most appropriate sequencing takes place. I am confident that Vandy will do it in an order that makes sense, even if Vandy doesn't share with us all the details that go into that decision-making process. And to the uninformed, like most of us on the board, some decisions make not make sense on the surface. But we probably have not thought through all of the logistics to the level of detail that they will, so we should give them some grace as they unveil the timelines.
Lastly, ADCSL mentioned they are making some immediate enhancements for our athletics programs and for the fan experience. Some of the new video boards in Memorial are an example of that, and it seems as if baseball will have some game day enhancements coming online in the Spring. Those are all great steps forward while we wait for the larger facility improvement to materialize.
Overall, I was very impressed with the presser and I think ADCSL deserves credit for what has been done to date. I still wish they were a bit more transparent with some of the other items they are exploring, but that's a minor complaint compared to the tremendous amount of work that has been done. I am looking forward to seeing all of these improvements implemented in the coming years. I think our program will be light years ahead of its current status. I just wish 2025/2026 was here now and not in 4 years...
