You are Robert Beagle, vice president of university advancement at the University of Rhode Island, and you have a difficult task at hand.
No, that’s not accurate. It is a Herculean task.
It is 1999 and your mission is to lead a campaign to raise at least $15 million to build a state-of-the-art Convocation Center and ice rink at URI. The Rhode Island General Assembly has promised to match the $15 million with state money.
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That money represents the foundation of a $63 million public/private partnership. The balance of the money for the largest building project in the history of the state university is to come from a combination of higher education revenue bonds and anticipated revenues from ice rink rentals.
As if your task is not difficult enough, several unforeseen factors will come into play to make it even more challenging.
The bulk of the fundraising for the project will take place as the country slips into full recession. And well before the ambitious fundraising campaign is complete, a vicious terrorist attack will bring the country to a screeching halt, driving it into even deeper financial straits.
And just for good measure, the men’s basketball program – the most high profile tenant of the proposed Convocation Center – is enduring the worst two-year stretch in school history.
How bad does it get?
There are several games from which to choose. On, Jan. 25, 2000, the Temple Owls defeat URI 88-45 in Philadelphia. The team plays without emotion. It is not the kind of performance that has people ordering season tickets.
A brand new Convo-cation Center back home in Kingston couldn’t seem further away.
Full "wow" mode
Fast forward a couple of years and the picture is no longer bleak.
Now, the spring of 2002 approaches and the Convocation Center is just a few months away from a grand opening celebration.
It is an unseasonably warm Thursday afternoon and Beagle is touring the Convocation Center – now about 80 percent complete — with a knowing smile.
The building will open on time, within budget and it will be as promised, "world class." Donors who visit with him are in full "wow" mode. Some are reaching back into their pockets and giving more. They like what they see.
The building itself contains 200,000 square feet of space and is 86 feet high. For a basketball game it will seat 7,800 – about 9,000 for a concert. There is no seat more than 74-feet from the main floor.
The bowl design will put the fans above and around the action. The seating in the building goes up – not out. This is not the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. For a true basketball junkie, this is something much better. The main scoreboard is 43-feet wide and 22-feet high.
The Convocation Center has three levels – the event level, the concourse level and the suite level. As of last week, seats were being installed – a three-month process. The cement work is mostly complete. Miles of ceramic tiles are being installed.
Concessions and restrooms will be located on the concourse level, with the suite level composed of eight luxury suites. One of the suites is reserved for the president of the university, the other, for the athletic director. Two of the remaining six have already been leased, according to Kara Russo, director of sales and marketing for Global Spectrum, the company that will manage the building.
The suites feature their own seats, a counter with barstools, a sink, refrigerator and television. The suites come with 12 tickets for each home basketball game – both men’s and women’s basketball – and all football games. The suites hold a total of 20 people.
There is also a club room on the concourse level, where groups of up to 200 can meet before an event or rent separately for a business breakfast or luncheon.
Next door, an ice arena with the capacity to hold 2,500 spectators will open in September. It will operate seven days a week, 15 hours a day. In addition to being utilized by the university, the ice rink is expected to be a popular destination for community groups and local high schools.
Terry Butler likes what he sees.
Butler, of Global Spectrum, is the general manager of both the Convocation Center and ice rink. He is responsible for making sure the Convocation Center gets booked – preferably 80 dates per year. About 35 of those dates will be university-related, said Butler. Those dates will include basketball games, commencement and guest lectures.
The non-university events, said Butler, will be buoyed in large part by concerts. And the facility – using curtains – can be flexible with the seating capacity it presents, depending on the event.
"I am very pleased with the building and how it is laid out," he said. "There are certainly more bands out there that could sell 5,000 or 6,000 seats as opposed to 12,000."
But while he searches for the hottest bands to bring to the "captive audience" found on a college campus, Butler is also rooting for Jim Baron, the school’s new men’s basketball coach, to turn the fortunes of the program around.
"Basketball’s success…it’s real important," he said. "It drives ticket sales and it produces visibility. There is nothing better than a winner."
Mission accomplished
The university has raised $14.8 million of its $15 million goal. Come June, there is little question that Beagle will have accomplished his mission.
"We were worried," said Beagle. "With the economy and September 11…What was it going to do to philanthropy? The basketball team was down."
But as the fundraising campaign proceeded, Beagle noticed something unique. Something, very Rhode Island – very blue collar.
"We have a very successful alumni base – but we don’t have a base of people who come from wealthy families," said Beagle. "We got a lot of $5,000 and $10,000 and $25,000 donors. Our constituency is represented by people who have achieved success on their own. The donor base has come from across the board – graduates from all of our colleges."
Beagle said that in addition to the $15 million goal, he hoped to connect to as may people as possible throughout the campaign. To date, 700 people have donated. There is work to be done. There are calls still to be made. Hands to be shaken. But there is no longer uncertainty, or worry. In late June the doors of the facility will open to the community.
Bob Beagle will be there – with a knowing smile.
