5.3 Million Dollar Alamodome Investment?
 

This is part of a poll from the SA Biz Journal:

"Michael Sawaya, director of the city’s newly created Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities Department, wants to reposition the Alamodome back to its original purpose as a multi-use facility focused on attracting major conventions and other money-generating events. He says in recent years, the dome’s marketing strategy has gotten off track by pursuing a course of booking as many events as possible regardless of their individual economic payback. As part of the new strategy, in the coming weeks, Sawaya expects to take to City Council a plan for roughly $5.3 million worth of additional Alamodome improvements. That plan includes replacing the dome’s original roof and adding more luxury suites :tup: ."

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantoni.../?poll_id=3114

As long as they don't change the design too much, that's fine. Leave the spires, please!!! Your avatar is a perfect example of why they should remain. Beautiful.

The only thing I don't like about the spires, is I think the red lights at the top are too big, and the casing around them looks ugly, all imo of course, but other than that I love it, and thanks for all the nice things about the avatar ;)

What I'd love to see is Sunset Station expanded. I'd take the entire industrial east end area of downtown which is north of Sunset Station and transform it into an urban and dense district, a TOD, which would have rail running right through it.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2...stationst5.png

The red outline is the current Sunset Station/Saint Paul Square District. The blue outline is what I would expand it to. I'd be similar to Victory in Dallas or Atlantic Station in Atlanta (in terms of size and scope not look and design).

I'd say a mix of Victory/Atlantic Station and Bricktown in OKC.

If it could be down, I'd want Houston St. and Commerce St. to go under the rail line in the same fashion Nolan St. does.

Nolan St. below:
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/5141/nolanster6.png


I think this area has so much untapped future potential.

A commuter rail connecting SA with New Braunfels or light rail could use the tracks. I believe that is an AMTRAK line as well.

In addition, I would like to see a park at the north end of this development.

What do you think?

I think it would be great :tup:

8.3 Million Dollar Alamodome Investment?
 

From the 08/21/2007 San Antonio Express News

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...d.342208e.html

Ken Rodriguez: Money-losing dome proves its worth as visitors open wallets

The Alamodome needs a new roof. It needs fresh carpet, an upgraded sound system, a paint job. The mostly vacant building needs a lot of things, actually, and one of them is a tenant.

Ever since the Spurs left, the dome has been losing an average of $1.6 million per year.

A smattering of football games, Monster Truck shows and religious conventions won't put the facility in the black.

The dome is a money pit.

The mayor knows it. The city manager knows it. The people know it.

So why would the City Council approve $8.3 million in upgrades last week for a building some say should be razed?

The short answer: money.

The dome may operate in the red, but the city nets a tidy, if indirect profit.

How's that?

From January 2003 through February of this year, Alamodome events generated $19.9 million in sales and hotel taxes for the city.

It may cost almost $2 million a year to keep the dome running, but the city, on average, rakes in almost $5 million annually.

For a fat, ugly building with no tenant, that's a pretty bottom line.

There's another bottom line to consider. Last year, for example, out-of-town visitors attending dome events spent more than $100 million on food, lodging, transportation, retail and entertainment.

No, we didn't have a men's Final Four basketball tournament here in '06.

But the last time we did — in '04 — surveys showed visitors spent more than $52 million over 41/2 days.

It's fair to ask whether the above figures — provided by the city and the National Collegiate Athletic Association — have been inflated.

I've read detailed economic impact reports from the city and NCAA, but I can't confirm the information is accurate.

For the sake of argument, let's say the reports are wildly exaggerated. Let's say out-of-town visitors spent half of what's been reported.

Alamodome events still drew thousands of out-of-towners, who, over the course of a year, still spent millions of dollars.

Raze the dome?

The city's Convention Center loses $10 million a year. No one wants to reduce that building to rubble.

How does the Convention Center make up for annual operating losses? Same way the Alamodome does — through hotel occupancy taxes.

Yes, before the Spurs left, the Alamodome used to make money, but not as much as you might think.

In fiscal year 2000-01, the dome made $1.3 million. In 2001-02, profits totaled $333,394.

Demolish the dome?

I called Marty P. Hunter, president of the demolition company that razed the HemisFair Arena in 1995.

How long would it take and how much would it cost to level the Alamodome, I asked.

Hunter said no one had ever approached him about razing the dome. So he could only offer rough estimates.

Even then, Hunter said, the cost would depend on the city. Would San Antonio want the dome imploded or disassembled?

Imploding, Hunter estimated, would take eight to 10 months and cost $6 million to $8 million.

Disassembling the dome, he added, could take up to two years.

And the cost?

"It could be $15 million to $20 million," Hunter said.

Whatever the method, demolishing the dome would cost more than some NBA player contracts.

And razing the dome would leave more than a big hole in the ground. It would leave multimillion-dollar holes in the economy.


I hope the Alamodome will be a vital asset for many years to come, but I wonder if in this day of stadiums costing hundreds of millions to one billion dollars if $8.3 million is little more than a band-aid to make this facility competitive with other cities in the running for events that the city desires?

it is a band aid and the dome will be obsolete in 10 years. let's enjoy the final four while we have it....every one could be our last...

I think the dome has much life in it as a venue for the city's convention business. It will never be used for the NFL like they originally hoped, but it is still functional for other events including the NCAA Final Four. I could see the city landing 3 or 4 more FInal Fours over the next 25 years. Of course, they need more than that and I think they can book beneficial events. If not, the next time they need to make these types of upgrades, in another twenty years, they may opt-out of spending the money.

Does anyone think if SA got an NFL team and Bexar county was building a new stadium and they had time to build the stadium before the team arrived. Would the Alamodome remain operating after the new stadium was built?

I hope you're right...

i just don't see any Final Fours coming this way beyond 2012-2015. There are two stadiums IN THE STATE that will blow the Alamodome out of the water. I think our DT proximity and hotel situation will carry us to getting one (maybe two) more FFs after '08.

At that point, no amount of Home and Garden shows and Monster Truck rallies will save the place.

And, at that point, having served it's community well, the Alamodome should go the way of the Astrodome or the Silverdome or (soon) the RCA dome.

I think the idea of it contributing to our convention space is admirable, but it really is a seperate entity. It would best fit into the scope of "convention space" if it was razed and replaced by a facility like the convention center - namely without 65,000 seats and with a lot more usable floor space... Then, a skyway (walkway) could be built linking the existing CC to the Alamodome so they could be considered one and the same.

If SA ever got a team the alamodome would only be a stop gap measure until a new facility is build. Any team moving here, would do so ONLY under the negotiation that the alamodome would not be a long term facility. Once the new facility is build, the alamodome would go by the wayside. I'm not sure a team would agree to come here even if the city agreed to spend big bucks upgrading the alamodome, a sticking point may be a new facility.

That said, I personally think the alamodome is a great faciltiy. I have watched games in it, and it looks great to me still. It would be perfect for UTSA D1-A football if/when that happens.