[Thedarkone1977]

I'm proud of ASU.


Alabama State expands its footprint
By Markeshia Ricks • Montgomery Advertiser • November 24, 2010







Alabama State University, the largest four-year university in Montgomery, is about to get bigger.

The university, which has embarked on a more than $120 million campus construction campaign, expects to break ground on a 30,000-seat stadium within six weeks and is in the process of acquiring a building at 38 Commerce St., across the street from the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

ASU President William H. Harris announced during a Tuesday business and commu­nity breakfast held at the Mont­gomery Renaissance Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center that a bond issue to finance the stadium project had been ap­proved and that the university would acquire the building on Commerce Street.

"We should have shovels in the ground in the next six weeks," he told an audience of enthusiastic ASU supporters who gathered at the breakfast as part of university's homecom­ing festivities this week.

The proposed ASU stadium project is a 30,000-seat, mixed-use stadium that will occupy a space that abuts Interstate 85 and Hall Street.

Harris said although having its own stadium has been a long-held dream for the university, it has been seriously working on the plans for the stadium for about a year-and-a-half. He said it was important to move for­ward with the stadium now as part of an overall effort to trans­form the campus.

Last fall Harris unveiled Vi­sion 2020, a strategic plan for the university to modernize the campus over the next five years. ASU is poised to complete a new 32,000-square-foot, football com­plex, which includes a practice field and academic facilities, sometime in February. A base­ball field, softball field and soc­cer field/intramural complex are expected to be finished in January, April and August, re­spectively. Other ASU construc­tion projects include a library, student housing and a new stu­dent center.

But the stadium, which will have premium seating and cor­porate skyboxes, is expected to be a crown jewel in the universi­ty's plans. The proposed budget for the stadium is about $50 mil­lion, and Harris said Tuesday that construction should be complete in time for the 2012 Turkey Day Classic to be played at the new stadium.

ASU Athletic Director Stacy Danley said an on-campus stadi­um will go a long way in recruit­ing and retaining top football coaches and players. ASU's foot­ball team currently plays at Cramton Bowl. Danley said the new stadium would not be ready for the start of the 2012-football season, but definitely in time for the annual Turkey Day Classic, which brings thousands to cam­pus each year.

Harris said the university is not looking for outside help to get the stadium built because the project will be financed with bonds. But the university plans to reach out to alumni and mu­nicipal partners to help pay off the debt. He also said that there is a possibility that the naming rights for the stadium could be sold. He said tuition would not be raised to pay for the stadium.

Harris also announced the school will be adding the build­ing on Commerce Street. The building's last owner of record was Colonial Bank, and the last appraised value of the building was just over $1.3 million. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the property fol­lowing Colonial Bank's failure last year.

John Stanley & Associates handled the sale of the building, but Stanley declined to say who currently owns the building. He also is not involved with the ne­gotiations between the new owner and ASU.

Harris said the building would be a gift to the university from a donor whose name he also could not disclose. Harris did say that one possible use for the building could be as a new home for the university's Col­lege of Business Administra­tion.

"We're part of the business leadership in Montgomery," he said of the importance of a pres­ence downtown.

Montgomery County Com­mission Chairman Elton Dean, who also is chairman of the ASU Board of Trustees, praised the university for the investment it has made in the city. He said the university is a vital part of the community and the region.

"I pledge through the County Commission that we will contin­ue to do all the things that we need to do to make ASU success­ful," he said.

Mayor Todd Strange called ASU an economic engine and part of the region's push for eco­nomic development. He said the city and the county are all about economic development, and ASU is apart of that focus.

"It's a wonderful time to be a Hornet," Strange said.