Tweet
LINK
The department’s long-term debt ranks sixth among athletics departments in the Big 12 Conference, said Jim Marchiony, an associate athletics director. And the department has no plans to stop pushing forward on initiatives to bolster KU fields and other sites for athletes and fans.
The department still has plans to build a Gridiron Club on the east side of Memorial Stadium, locate an “Olympic Village” for nonrevenue sports — including soccer, softball, and track and field — southwest of Allen Fieldhouse, and provide millions of dollars to the chancellor’s office for use in academic and other areas as she sees fit.
The Gridiron Club originally had been sold as a project slated to be open this fall and to be financed solely by club memberships bought by donors. At last check, the effort had generated about $4 million.
“We’re having discussions, both internally and with donors and people with vested interests in Kansas Athletics, and we’re keeping those projects alive,” Marchiony said. “We’re talking about all of it because the Gridiron Club can make all of the rest of it happen.”
While the club and its associated projects have no specific timeline, he said, “we want to do it as soon as we can, but we’re not going to do it without the funding.”
Overall donation levels remain strong among alumni and friends, Marchiony said, and contributions are coming in at least as strong as last year.
“Kansas Athletics has very loyal and generous donors,” he said.
The department’s long-term debt ranks sixth among athletics departments in the Big 12 Conference, said Jim Marchiony, an associate athletics director. And the department has no plans to stop pushing forward on initiatives to bolster KU fields and other sites for athletes and fans.
The department still has plans to build a Gridiron Club on the east side of Memorial Stadium, locate an “Olympic Village” for nonrevenue sports — including soccer, softball, and track and field — southwest of Allen Fieldhouse, and provide millions of dollars to the chancellor’s office for use in academic and other areas as she sees fit.
The Gridiron Club originally had been sold as a project slated to be open this fall and to be financed solely by club memberships bought by donors. At last check, the effort had generated about $4 million.
“We’re having discussions, both internally and with donors and people with vested interests in Kansas Athletics, and we’re keeping those projects alive,” Marchiony said. “We’re talking about all of it because the Gridiron Club can make all of the rest of it happen.”
While the club and its associated projects have no specific timeline, he said, “we want to do it as soon as we can, but we’re not going to do it without the funding.”
Overall donation levels remain strong among alumni and friends, Marchiony said, and contributions are coming in at least as strong as last year.
“Kansas Athletics has very loyal and generous donors,” he said.