Any idea what renovations y'all have coming down the pipe?
Well we've finally done it.... we scheduled Liberty.
- Thread starter Bobcat2013
- Start date
Bearkat'21
Member
I've posted about this on CSN BBS so I am Copy and Pasting here since it's pretty lengthy what the plans are.
SHSU has plans in the pipe. Thanks to SlyFox for popping in to say something. He regularly visits our KatFans board where most of our fans are at. Bowers is going to get some major overhauls over the next few years. The corner berms are all going to turn into pavilion areas for fans to hangout with bar tops and around an extra 500 seats for capacity on each side. The turf is also being replaced this summer which has been in dire need of replacement the last couple of seasons. The school is also taking our field events out of the stadium leaving only the track.
SlyFox is correct that the university has focused on expansion of the school itself over athletics. We did recently build an incredibly expensive medical school North of Houston in the Conroe/ Woodlands area. I believe the focus will start to shift away from academic expansion (although it will still be hot and heavy) with multiple dormitories being knocked down to be replaced with much larger dorms. Sam Houston's enrollment is around 21,000 and growing quickly. Every class seems to be breaking enrollment records every year.
Once the pavilions and turf are completed, the track will be covered until enough money is raised and a location is decided on for where to relocate the track and the soccer stadium. Expect in Fall 2024 to see a brand new pressbox/ additional suites on the West side of Bowers. The suites added will be for the donors that are on a 20-year waitlist for some premium seating within the stadium as well as an added concourse area with some cantilevered club seating (upper deck type look). Ribbon boards are planned to be added in the stadium on both the home and away side for fans. Once this phase of construction is completed there is no planned dates for future expansion, but the plan is to get a larger video board, bowl in the South endzone to create a tunnel to run out of for the team, the visitors side pressbox and concession renovations with a possibility to add more suites as needed, Then lastly would be to finish bowling in the stadium on the Northside (the Video Board will likely be designed to accommodate seating in the North endzone).
Other renovations include some possible stuff with softball, a new Tennis facility and the addition of a sand volleyball court.
The baseball stadium is already up to C USA standards and is quite a nice facility for fans to visit. The only thing they're likely to get is new turf with the updated athletic markings and conference logos on the field.
Johnson coliseum just had upgrades done to it and has a good fan atmosphere but I believe there are some plans to designate a student section and to add some more premium floor courtside seating at some point.
Football is the main focus currently for Sam Houston athletics as the stadium has not been updated other than the addition of some chairbacks 20 years ago. The fieldhouse was just updated which is the one highlight and I've personally toured it and it feels like a P5 level facility that they did a very good job with. If there are any other trolls that want to make fun of our facilities I'll be glad to answer your questions. It's no secret we're behind in the facilities game. We are working on it and will get there but that has not prevented us from being the 2nd best FCS football team (behind NDSU) in the entire country since 2010. We'll be ready to play with or without facilities.
SWTRefugee
M&G Gift Contributor
This is awesome. I was there for the ‘82 game vs. Sam in the Dome. I think it was at least half full. This game should help both schools in Houston area recruiting. We should definitely play up the party school image for both schools, encourage students to wear togas and call it the Texas Toga Bowl.
SWTRefugee
M&G Gift Contributor
For the record, I really like Sam. Anyone I’ve ever met from the school has been down to earth, good people. We should not look down on the school in any way. Y’all have done a fantastic job in football and I’m glad to see us add another contest to the dormant rivalry.
B
Bakertxst04
Guest
Welcome to the board! I've been wanting to play y'all again in hopes of reigniting the old rivalry. Playing y'all and the pavement poultry in the same season should bring out some very civil and rational discussions of the merits of our respective teams. We'd love to have y'all eventually join the SBC just so we have an in-state rival. The conference expanded further to the northeast, leaving us feeling more distant from the rest of the conference.
Bobcat1
Active member
If we have a decent season this year, and with a large alumni base in Houston (the city is a huge feeder region for our school), I could easily see 35k-40k total.
Bearkat'21
Member
Happy to be here. Figured I'd pop in and see what everyone's thoughts were. I would certainly like to be in the same conference someday. Hopefully that will be in the American or Mountain West together so we can both elevate from C USA and the Sun Belt. Being in the same university system we have a ton of ties to each other which makes for an amazing rivalry going forward which is great for both institutions and universities. It looks like if we wanted to keep playing after 2024, we would need to schedule 2025 and beyond against each other maybe alternating home and home. Not sure that we could consistently get it at NRG since our long-term goal with the NRG game is to schedule a P5 there. We could definitely go to a H&H style rivalry where we alternate years guaranteeing we each pack out Bowers and Bobcats stadium every other year for that game. I've been to Bobcat stadium once when y'all played the naval academy after moving up to FBS and it is a nice stadium imo. By 2026 Bowers should have gone through some heavy renovations to make it a great place to host a game for this rivalry. Ultimately, I think ending up in the Amercian conference would be great long-term goals for most schools to restore some regionality to sports and football where it is UTSA, Rice, UNT, Texas St, and Sam Houston, all playing each other. I'm pumped for this game, and it is definitely worthy of being a game played at NRG.
Bobcat1
Active member
carmanjello325
Active member
the search is one thing the fact that every single thing that pops into the brain needing its own thread followed by multiple dot dot dots is another
Bobcat1
Active member
I did search, but won’t resurrect a thread from two years ago to thread some relevance. JFC you guys are soft snowflakes…bet most of you were mad at seeing TSwift for 54 sec during the SB and it drove you over the edge.
Peter North
Member
If Becki's there I'm in. I hear she's a fun one. I'll even let the old man watch
U.S. Department of Education Imposes $14 Million Fine Against Liberty University for Clery Act Violations
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) today announced its office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) is imposing a $14 million fine as a result of a settlement agreement with Liberty University (Liberty) for material and ongoing violations of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), including with respect to its published crime statistics and treatment of sexual assault survivors.
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) today announced its office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) is imposing a $14 million fine as a result of a settlement agreement with Liberty University (Liberty) for material and ongoing violations of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), including with respect to its published crime statistics and treatment of sexual assault survivors.