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OAK RIDGE WILDCAT FOOTBALL 2018


WilleTheWildcat
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2 hours ago, WilleTheWildcat said:

What do you mean "kids that like to roll down,"?  I still roll down the hill but it is because I lost my footing and went wee wee wee down the hill :D 

If I remember right, last year David Clary asked the players what they wanted to be done at Blankenship and Jumbotron was top of the list. I do remember # 30 saying Jumbotron. I thought he would say field turf.

My biggest concern is the current population in Oak Ridge does not support the High School's athletics like in the past. Last season, every girls and boys basketball games should have been packed. The players on both teams played at a very high level. With a 5 Star Player like Tee, the city should turned out better  for football. This past football season should have been better supported in the playoffs. The kids/players deserved the support.

I hate to say it but the money spent on Blankenship will not be appreciated by the population. One thing I do know is the kids growing up in OR deserve it.

Any idea how much money is being sought for the legacy project? 60% of the total is supposed to be publicly funded, so I'm just curious to know what the public burden will ultimately be. Right or wrong, some folks would rather donate to other worthy causes.

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36 minutes ago, osunut2 said:

Any idea how much money is being sought for the legacy project? 60% of the total is supposed to be publicly funded, so I'm just curious to know what the public burden will ultimately be. Right or wrong, some folks would rather donate to other worthy causes.

No idea to your questions. I do agree with you that there are many worthy causes but only so much money to go around.  Oh, as for the new turf, I think the city got a State grant for half of the cost with some requirements like the city would make the facility available to the public. I think there is an issue who owns the facility, the schools or the city. I still want that rich guy to put money up. I know, I know, I know I am whining. Sorry y'all.

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12 minutes ago, WilleTheWildcat said:

No idea to your questions. I do agree with you that there are many worthy causes but only so much money to go around.  Oh, as for the new turf, I think the city got a State grant for half of the cost with some requirements like the city would make the facility available to the public. I think there is an issue who owns the facility, the schools or the city. I still want that rich guy to put money up. I know, I know, I know I am whining. Sorry y'all.

No worries, I don't think you are whining at all. Oak Ridge's best bet is to convince some wealthy benefactor to write the check, or at least part of it. What is being suggested is a massive financial undertaking, and I don't think the public is willing to foot nearly 2/3 of such a large bill, especially when the city is only chipping in 10%. Field turf will cost $1m, a "used" jumbotron will cost $500k (at a minimum), but the new entrance/updated visitor's side/renovated home stadium easily equates to a multi-million dollar project.

I love the ambition of this project, but unless someone steps up with a big check, I think OR will end up tackling each of these pieces one at a time.

Edited by osunut2
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From what I have heard the whole project would run over $6 million. And so far we can't even get  much over half a million. I think the schools gave control of the property to the city to  get the grant. The city is planning concerts and all sorts of public use of the property. But it will probably end up just being a walking track. Both the middle schools use the football field for their games. With both of them and the high school freshman, JV and varsity that's about 25 games a year. Pretty pricey for that few games, hard to justify to the masses! However I'm all for it and will help any way I can 

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In some ways this does seem like a forward thinking project since the goal is a multi-use stadium that would be used for more than just a few home football games per year. The area has quite a few restaurants and can be very pleasant, since it’s undergone a cleanup in recent years. I ate at Deans not long ago and was impressed and surprised at how nice the area is. I like the project except for a few things:

Its a long way from the school. The team will practice on grass but then play home games on turf. I’m no expert but that seems like a disadvantage for OR.

Parking is limited to a few small lots plus a lot of places a walk from the field. There’s no way to fix that.

That big hill is always going to be a problem for OR’s aging population.

Does OR even care about football or other sports like it used to? Except for caring about Higgins I’m not so sure. I’ve been to an empty basketball game or two while OR basketball is riding high. The school has a nice soccer stadium but the track and football practice field on campus look kind of old. It’s the same with baseball and softball fields over behind the bowling alley.

It seems like a pipe dream to me. I could be wrong, though. The shopping area that replaced that old mall is coming along well and took quite a while to get going.

 

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15 minutes ago, bounder said:

From what I have heard the whole project would run over $6 million. And so far we can't even get  much over half a million. I think the schools gave control of the property to the city to  get the grant. The city is planning concerts and all sorts of public use of the property. But it will probably end up just being a walking track. Both the middle schools use the football field for their games. With both of them and the high school freshman, JV and varsity that's about 25 games a year. Pretty pricey for that few games, hard to justify to the masses! However I'm all for it and will help any way I can 

The demographics in Oak Ridge probably don't help either. There are just under 30,000 city residents, and nearly 50% of the population is 45 years of age or older, while less than 30% is between the ages of 18 and 44. Those older folks often have deeper pockets, and I'm sure they have plenty of community pride, but the overwhelming majority of those same folks no longer have skin in the game (no kids in the school system). So unless a wealthy benefactor steps up, or unless the city's demographics shift dramatically in the near future, I think this likely rests on corporate sponsorship. Based on that total cost, the public is probably going to have to come up with ~$4 million, since grants and the city will cover 40% of the total.

If the Haslems hadn't stepped in and written the check in Knox County, who knows how long it would have taken to install field turf countywide.

Edited by osunut2
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13 minutes ago, IanMackaye said:

In some ways this does seem like a forward thinking project since the goal is a multi-use stadium that would be used for more than just a few home football games per year. The area has quite a few restaurants and can be very pleasant, since it’s undergone a cleanup in recent years. I ate at Deans not long ago and was impressed and surprised at how nice the area is. I like the project except for a few things:

Its a long way from the school. The team will practice on grass but then play home games on turf. I’m no expert but that seems like a disadvantage for OR.

Parking is limited to a few small lots plus a lot of places a walk from the field. There’s no way to fix that.

That big hill is always going to be a problem for OR’s aging population.

Does OR even care about football or other sports like it used to? Except for caring about Higgins I’m not so sure. I’ve been to an empty basketball game or two while OR basketball is riding high. The school has a nice soccer stadium but the track and football practice field on campus look kind of old. It’s the same with baseball and softball fields over behind the bowling alley.

It seems like a pipe dream to me. I could be wrong, though. The shopping area that replaced that old mall is coming along well and took quite a while to get going.

 

OR is a great community, but I think OR's biggest problem is demographics, and that problem isn't going to improve anytime soon. I wanted to move my family there, particularly for the schools, but there just aren't enough "new" real estate opportunities. The city completed some recent surveys with the employees at ORNL, Y-12, etc, in order to figure out what it would take to get more working professionals to move to Oak Ridge, instead of West Knoxville. The most popular response, by far, from those who were surveyed said that Oak Ridge needs newer housing and real estate opportunities.

Relatively speaking, there just aren't many houses in Oak Ridge that were constructed after 1980, and that turns young families away.

Edited by osunut2
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Ian, I would think that with new turf that the team would probably start practicing on it instead of the old practice field. You wouldn't have to worry about messing up the turf during practices. I think that's what Maryville does when they used to practice on a grass field, but a Maryville poster might correct me on that. Also, about the empty basketball games....A lot of games OR has played the past few years (especially district games) have a lot of times been decided by 40 points or so. The basketball team was kind of a victim of their own success in that regard. Nobody wants to go watch 40-50 point blowout games where the games were pretty much already decided before the teams took the court. Just my 2 cents FWIW.

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I don't think the coaches will want the players driving up to "The Ship" everyday after school. Maybe in the summer but I doubt it. If I were coaching I would rather have the players in one place and not have to move them around to practice. Don't think Mike Mullins the AD would want to pay for school buses to take them from the high school to "The Ship".  Just my feelings.

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4 hours ago, bounder said:

I don't think the coaches will want the players driving up to "The Ship" everyday after school. Maybe in the summer but I doubt it. If I were coaching I would rather have the players in one place and not have to move them around to practice. Don't think Mike Mullins the AD would want to pay for school buses to take them from the high school to "The Ship".  Just my feelings.

That's true. Didn't think of that.

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theoakridgetoday.com has a very informative article on the proposed Blankenship project.

Some details...

The facility must be open from sunrise to sunset. I believe this includes the new turf as well. A bathroom will be available. 

No start date has been set.

The new turf should last 11 years and replacement would cost around $350,000.

The city hopes to use the facility for music, special events, other sports beside football and might be available for rent.

The improvement project would include updating the bathroom facilities, track, fencing and a few other things.

Big Ed's will open a concession stand to sell freshly baked pizzas and beer. Okay, I just made that up :D

Go to the website to read all the details that I have forgot or may have remembered incorrectly.

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