Posted March 18, 200619 yr Here is some interesting reading: Atlantic Multipurpose Sports Arena??????????? IT would be like bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes against the Dodgers closer. Eric Gagne, but.we have been there before have we not?????? _______________________________________________________________________ March 9th 2006 -------Asked on Wednesday about the chances of the Marlins leaving, owner Jeffrey Loria said, ``I can't tell. My interest is with baseball, not with a crystal ball. We have options and we're looking at all our other options right now.'' Loria expressed frustration that ``there has been very little progress toward a stadium. And I was thinking the other day, reflecting back on the last four years, if any of the thousands of fans . . . who were on that World Series parade route were in touch with their elected officials and expressed their desire to keep the team in South Florida . . . it probably would have been done by now. I'm very surprised it hasn't been done by now.'' _________________________________________________________________________ LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA -- A CASE STUDY IN ACCOUNTABILITY By David Pitts Lee County, a booming area on the Southwest coast of Florida, is one of many places in the U.S. where citizens may hold government directly accountable through ballot measures, specific proposals that are either voted up or down. The last ballot measure in Lee County was held on March 14, 2000 -- the day of the statewide presidential primary. Contributing Editor David Pitts examines the issue that faced voters there, a case study in how ballot measures work. Jim Wood, a longtime resident of Lee County, Florida, knew instantly how he would vote when he learned that the Board of Commissioners (the county executive) proposed a sales tax ballot measure seeking voter approval to raise the sales tax from six to seven percent for five years. He went to the polls on March 14, 2000, the day of the statewide presidential Florida primary, and voted against the proposal. More than 80 percent of those who cast ballots in Lee County that day voted the same way. The proposed sales tax increase was history. "I think most people here felt as I did," he says. "They should raise the money, if needed, in other ways." Lee County is one of thousands of communities in the United States where ballot measures are commonplace. In the 26 states, including Florida, where they are permitted, voters may cast ballots on local or statewide issues directly, as well as hold elected officials to account on their overall records. Ballot measures are an example of what is known as "direct democracy" or "direct accountability." Although some political scientists and constitutional scholars question the validity of ballot measures in a representative system of government, polls indicate that more than two-thirds of voters support them. The Stakes Involved in the Sales Tax Issue The proposal to increase Lee County's sales tax "was an uphill battle that went downhill from the start," according to Mike Hoyem, a reporter who covered the story at the time for the News-Press, the dominant newspaper in the county, headquartered in its largest city, Fort Myers. The board proposed the one-cent increase to generate $310 million dollars over five years to be split by the county and its cities for a myriad of projects, including the building of parks, roads, libraries, hurricane shelters and an expansion of the county jail, he explains. "But they didn't advocate it very strongly or very well," he adds. Supporters of the plan called the proposed tax increase a necessary investment in the county's future and the best way to raise the needed revenue. But opponents said the financial burden should be placed squarely on developers who had driven the need for increased county services. Instead of a hike in the sales tax, its opponents favored raising impact fees on new development and the issuance of bonds to finance projects, if necessary. How to finance the costs of public infrastructure associated with private development is an issue affecting many communities in the United States and around the world. In Lee County, voters have a direct say on the issue. "I voted for the sales tax increase because it was strategically important for this community," says Steve Tirey, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Florida. "But it wasn't just business people who voted for it. People who understood the complex arguments involved voted for it too." Although "this county has good planning, there is a need for $200 million of new infrastructure immediately," Tirey continues. There were options other than a sales tax increase to finance it, "but none that would work as well." He predicts a hike in property taxes in the future to cover the shortfall in needed funds and says a sales tax increase would have been a fairer option since every group -- property owners, renters, visitors and residents would contribute. The Media Campaign Both supporters and opponents of the sales tax increase took their case to the local media to express their point of view to county residents. Supporters organized a group named "The Committee for the Cents-Able Plan for Lee's Future," to spearhead the drive for voter approval. Gail Markham, chairperson of the committee, says "I am absolutely convinced the sales tax increase was the best way to go. Impact fees on developers are being raised the maximum amount allowable by law. They won't raise enough revenue." She confirms her group raised $200,000 from the Lee County Industrial Development Authority (IDA), a county agency, to finance the pro-tax position, which opponents claim tainted her effort. A television advertising campaign that began six weeks before the election, was mounted. But the campaign backfired when it suggested that hiking the sales tax was a good way to raise needed revenue because it hit tourists visiting the area as well as those living in Lee County year round. Many county residents resented what they saw as an attempt to pit them against "snowbirds" -- the out-of-area visitors who are a vital part of the local economy. In 1999, almost two million tourists visited the county putting $1.2 billion into the local economy, according to government sources. The television ads were called "misleading scare tactics and an insult to tourists," even by some who were in favor of the tax hike, says Mike Hoyem at the News-Press. "They just conducted a bad campaign." Markham agrees the ad effort was less than effective. "A Washington consultant was hired to conduct the ad campaign. He insulted the community and me," she says. "The ads ran right during the time the snowbirds were here." As far as the print part of her campaign is concerned, state election officials have imposed a fine of $400 for distributing illegal campaign literature. This follows a complaint by a private citizen, H.R. Blanchette, that campaign literature was distributed without the obligatory "paid political advertising," included. Brian Griffin, president of the Council of Civic Associations, a network of over 100 civic and homeowner associations scattered across the county, agrees. "It was an inappropriate use of public funds for the IDA to allocate $200,000 of public money to support the tax increase," he says. Sources in the county government deny the charge, saying the money came from private sources, not taxpayers. But Griffin says he has filed a complaint with the Florida State Department of Ethics alleging that the action by the IDA "violated the state's sunshine laws, which require that meetings where county funds are expended be open to the public and pre-publicized." As far as expenditures by his group, which championed the anti-tax increase, are concerned, Griffin says, "We spent just $12 on handouts. Our organization relied on nonpaid media coverage to get the word out, using techniques like 'letters to the editor' and media interviews." He says his group could not afford paid ads, but they weren't necessary anyway since the other side's ads alienated voters rather than convinced them." As far as the general media coverage, particularly that of the News-Press, is concerned, Griffin calls it "excellent. It was more than fair." However, Steve Tirey at the Chamber of Commerce, says the media coverage was "unfair" to those advocating a sales tax increase. The newspaper "had a particular editorial perspective which was not in favor of the tax increase," he notes. Its bias "was even evident in the news pages." As far as the paid advertising is concerned, Tirey says the hard data on the election supports the conclusion "that the ads did not influence the outcome of the election one way or the other." The Rules for Ballot Measures Typically, voters can have an issue placed on the ballot through a petition-drive -- the collection of a speficied number of signatures. Mary Pat Lenithan, assistant supervisor of elections, points out that this is the case in the rest of Florida as well. "A specific percentage of the signatures of voters in the prior election is required -- five percent," Lenithan explains. "Those in favor of a ballot measure must use small cards to collect the signatures and include the exact wording of their proposal," she adds. The county elections office verifies the signatures and reports the results to the Commissioners. A ballot measure drive by the voters themselves, however, was not required in the case of the proposed sales tax increase last Spring because the board was obligated to place the issue on the ballot. In essence, the board held itself accountable. This is because in Florida, the state requires that a local-option sales tax must be submitted to the voters for approval or disaproval, explains Tirey. "In this case, the board had no option. It needed public approval for a local-option sales tax," he explains. The procedures for ballot measures vary from state to state, says Kurt Wenner, a tax expert with Florida Tax Watch, a private, nonprofit, statewide organization devoted to safeguarding the interests of Florida taxpayers. "In Florida, the state government sets the parameters for ballot measures in the localities and the rules under which they can be held. Voters also can amend the state constitution through a referenda process," he adds. For example, "a few years ago, Florida voters passed a statewide measure limiting local property tax increases to three percent a year throughout the state." Ballot measures provide "an opportunity for citizens -- on tax and many other issues -- to hold government directly accountable in a timely fashion," Wenner notes. The defeat of the proposed increase in the Lee County sales tax "is an example of that -- one of the most lopsided defeats of a government proposal I ever heard of." For the record, however, Wenner says his organization has compared Florida's state and local taxes with the other 49 states and that they are "lower than average." The History of Ballot Measures Referenda and ballot measures to hold government directly accountable go back to the earliest years of the Republic and especially to the first two decades of the last century, the heyday of the Progressive Movement, which was dedicated to making the U.S. more democratic. Although the rules for holding them vary from state to state, Florida officials, as well as their counterparts elsewhere, take elaborate precautions to make sure they are transparent and precise. This is necessary, in part, because all ballot measures -- indeed all legislation -- in the U.S. is subject to judicial review. American political scientists make a distinction between a ballot measure, which allows voters to cast ballots on specific proposals, and a referendum, whereby state legislatures refer a proposed or existing law to the voters for their approval or rejection, says Thomas Cronin, author of Direct Democracy. Such direct democracy practices require an informed electorate and access to the media for all sides of an issue, he adds. In the case of Lee County, as in most jurisdictions in the United States, access to the media is not a problem. Not only does the First Amendment guarantee freedom of the press, but there also is a strong American tradition of local media, both broadcast and print. In Lee County, local affiliates of the major broadcast networks reach all the county's residents, as does the dominant newspaper there, the News-Press. All the local media carried extensive coverage of the sales tax issue. Local television stations also aired the controversial ads, which were paid for by supporters of the sales tax increase. The Pros and Cons of Ballot Measures Supporters of ballot measures regard them "as a useful check on ill-considered or dangerous actions by the legislature or executive and as an expression of direct democracy," say Jack Plano and Milton Greenburg, authors of The American Political Dictionary. Those who oppose them "regard them as an unnecessary check on representative government that weakens legislative responsibility," they add. Opinions about ballot measures also differ among constitutional scholars. American democracy stresses the separation of powers among executive, legislature and judiciary. Direct accountability is somewhat at odds with the tradition of representative government in the United States established by the Founding Fathers. That is one reason why they are confined to state and local government and why political scientists stress that ballot measures should not be a substitute for action by lawmakers, but a supplement in limited circumstances. Even so, as ballot measures have mushroomed in number over the last 20 years, so has opposition to them by a number of prominent academics and journalists. The most influential recent indictment of ballot measures is contained in a book by veteran Washington Post journalist David Broder. He calls ballot measures "alien to the spirit of the Constitution and its careful system of checks and balances." In Lee County, however, most residents have no such reservations about ballot measures. Everyone asked liked them. In the case of the ballot measure proposing a sales tax increase, not only did opponents support this direct democracy tool, so did the supporters who lost so overwhelmingly. Ballot measures are "basically healthy; everyone should get involved," although initiatives proposing tax increases "are much more difficult to pass," says Steve Tirey at the Chamber of Commerce. Gail Markham, of the Committee for a Cents-Able Plan, agrees. "Ballot measures -- absolutely support them." She is undaunted about the failure of her cause at the ballot box this year and says she will continue to try to convince voters that a sales tax increase is necessary. "It's a good idea. It's just that voters have to feel that way." She also stresses that, where tax increases are involved, the groundwork must be skillfully laid by proponents. The board "did not carefully and specifically identify the projects the money would be used for," she says, a viewpoint with which her opponent, citizen activist Brian Griffin, agrees. "People have to know what they are voting for," Griffin says. "A proposed sales tax increase in (nearby) Charlotte County was placed on the ballot and passed in 1994 because the county had a very specific purpose for the revenue. But here in Lee County, the Board did not properly identify what they needed the money for. Tax increases can pass here, and have passed here, if the voters know specifically how the extra monies will be expended." Even Griffin, however, who strongly backs ballot measures, believes they should not be overused. "We should not routinely legislate by ballot measure," he says. "You can't micromanage government in that way. But where citizens' pocketbooks are involved particularly, ballot measures have a role." Concerning the success of his campaign against the sales tax increase in Lee County, Griffin is philosophical. "We were the little guys in terms of money in this fight. But the little guys won," he says. That is certainly the view of county residents like Jim Wood. "We're taxed like crazy here," he says. "I think ballot measures are a great idea, especially if it's about something that affects your pocketbook. I just wish more people would participate in something that directly affects them and not take democracy for granted." Back to top | Issues of Democracy, August 2000 | Other IIP E-Journals | IIP Home ___________________________________________________________________________ From Blogs Palm Beach Post 10/14/05 Put lid on stadium rush Developers are promising to toss in everything but a Hail Mary pass to get a deal for building a 40,000-seat domed stadium complex on Florida Atlantic University's Boca Raton campus. Fortunately, the review committee under the leadership of Athletics Director Craig Angelos seems unwilling to look that desperate. FAU is looking at the idea of a project that a private company would finance, build and operate while sharing the proceeds with the university. The football stadium/basketball arena/convocation center complex also would include dormitories and retail services. It's part of the effort to make Boca Raton a more traditional college campus, and to provide a focal point in FAU's fast-growing service area that stretches from central Broward County to Port St. Lucie, said Mr. Angelos, who has been working on the project for two years. In trying to find out what is best for FAU and the community, however, the committee is correct to question whether there's room for that cancer research center and two hotels suggested in one of the proposals. Questionable, too, is the proposed museum dedicated to the former Army airfield on the land. "Plans are easy to put in place," said Mr. Angelos. "It's how you're going to finance and implement them." The committee plans to meet twice more this month and make a recommendation to President Frank Brogan early next year. Since a marketing blitz for the football team's game last month against Oklahoma State still left the Owls 9,000 fans short of the hoped-for crowd of 25,000, there's no need to sacrifice scrutiny for speed. Posted by Opinion staff at October 14, 2005 09:04 AM Comments FAU is in such a rush to be "big time" that they are willing to be hap hazzard in their quest to get a new stadium. How many South Floridians want to be in a dome at any time of the year? By the time football season starts the rainy season in South Florida comes to a end, so a dome is a ill-fated argument. And how bad would a dome be for basketball! Can one imagine a televised game from a 40,000 seat dome with 785 people in the seats. I can! It would look horrible, and project an image that would make FAU look bad. What should happen is FAU should build a new basketball arena seating no more than 7,500, which when at capacity would prove a intimidating place for opponents to play at. For football a seperate facility should be built, but on a much smaller scale I would offer a lower bowl with a seating capacity of about 25,000, and make it a stadium that would allow the school to expand the facilty if interest in the programs abounds.A mini Lambeau field if you will. I agree that FAU needs a facility on campus, but a dome is just stupid. Especially one that is a bare bones type facility that FAU has been pushing, and more than likely will be obsolite in 7 years The ideas I suggested are the best route in terms of athletic facilites for the school. Don't just think about the hear and now, think 50 years down the road! Posted by: Dale at October 14, 2005 12:41 PM Cash Advance http://www.2minutecashadvance.com Cash Advance Online http://www.2minutecashadvance.com/online-cash-advance.php No Fax Cash Advance http://www.2minutecashadvance.com/no-fax-cash-advance.htm Posted by: 2MinuteCashAdvance at October 19, 2005 12:33 AM dish network offer Posted by: dish network offer at October 22, 2005 04:31 PM _________________________________________________________________________ Private firms are key to FAU stadium plan By Sarah Talalay Staff Writer Posted August 30 2005 LocalLinks In its quest to build a football stadium, Florida Atlantic University is turning to an unusual plan that would allow a team of private companies to design, finance, build and manage an "Athletic Innovation Village" complete with a stadium, dormitories and retail space on the school's Boca Raton campus. Under the proposal the university has put out to bid, FAU would get its long-sought 40,000-seat domed stadium. University officials believe the project's accompanying dorms and stores could generate the revenue needed to pay off the construction debt incurred by the private team. Although the "Request for Proposal" the university has sent out requires bidders to lay out the specifics of the financing plan, the idea is that the project could generate revenue to cover the debt and still let FAU keep what is earned at sporting events, including Owls football and basketball games. Once the debt is paid off, all revenues could revert to the university. FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos envisions the stadium on the north side of campus also housing the school's indoor track, and he would like to include a new baseball stadium in the plan. "We'd have to see how much the revenues would bear," Angelos said. Bids are due Thursday. Angelos said he expects at least two and perhaps as many as six bids. The proposal is modeled on a concept floated at the University of Central Florida for that school's 10,000-seat convocation center for basketball and concerts, dormitories with 2,000 beds, a new cafeteria, retail and additional parking. The university initially planned for the development team to take on all the costs, but once it studied the potential revenue streams decided to raise the money for the project, but still partner with the development team, UCF Athletic Director Steve Orsini said. "We saw the upsides of the profits," Orsini said. "We wanted the ultimate say in what was designed, what the facilities are used for." UCF incorporated its athletic association and formed an organization to make the process of fund raising easier and sold revenue bonds to finance the project, Orsini said. The bid was awarded in January 2004 to a team that includes sports-architecture firm HOK and venue management company Global Spectrum. Orsini said he hoped basketball would be played in a new convocation center by 2007. Meanwhile, UCF is planning to raise funds the traditional way to build an on-campus football stadium. "That's a facility we feel we can generate enough revenue just in events in the stadium," Orsini said. FAU's football team, which is beginning its fifth season, plays at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, but has been talking about its own stadium for some time. FAU officials toured Syracuse's Carrier Dome in 2003 and Angelos hopes to build what he terms "the next generation of the Carrier Dome," with more suites and a hard roof, which could cost $100 million. FAU President Frank Brogan said the advantage of the design-finance-build plan is that it would allow construction to begin sooner than under traditional methods, where the school needs to wait until it has raised the funds before construction can begin. "We put this out just to see what sort of return we get back," Brogan said. "If we don't get a return back that we consider workable, we'll go back to the old, traditional method." Mitchell Ziets, president and CEO of New Jersey-based sports investment banking firm MZ Sports, said that while the practice isn't common, variations of it are under way. "We've seen it on the professional level," Ziets said. "The economics of the retail and residential, the value is so huge to a developer, they can afford to contribute to the stadium." Ziets pointed to the Oakland A's and San Diego Chargers as pro teams that have looked at the concept. The A's have proposed a new stadium that includes an adjacent hotel or condos and retail. The Chargers want to partner with a private company to develop the area around a new stadium. Angelos said FAU will have to look at the bids before determining whether to go forward. He said other sources of revenue, such as a naming rights partnership, could raise money for the project. Staff Writers Jennifer Peltz and Ted Hutton contributed to this report _______________________________________________________________ Home > Sports | 11/7/05 Carrier Clone: Florida Atlantic copies Syracuse with on-campus domed stadium By Sean Quinn Print Email Article Tools The Carrier Dome is about to lose its status as the only on-campus domed stadium. Officials at Florida Atlantic University already made proposals and formed a council to oversee a project for a facility on its campus similar to Syracuse's most recognized building. "We don't have a football or basketball venue to play in," FAU athletic director Craig Angelos said. "This really has a chance to be something special."FAU, located in Boca Raton, Fla., was established in 1964 and its football program is only in its fifth year of existence. The 850-acre campus is located between Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, which makes it a perfect place for a domed complex that can be used for any event, sporting or otherwise, Angelos said."Why do (we) want an indoor stadium?" Angelos said. "Floridians don't like the driving heat and driving rain storms. From a climatology standpoint, we thought we wouldn't have to worry about that."The process started more than two years ago when the university president, the city's mayor and members of the city council joined Angelos on a trip to Syracuse to scout out the Carrier Dome. A nine-member committee was formed and met for the first time in October to discuss the funding and contracting of such a project. Additional plans aside from the new dome have been proposed to add everything from dormitories to retail stores to cancer research centers.The committee hopes to have a recommendation by early 2006 on how to fund the project. More meetings were scheduled for late October, but those were rescheduled due to Hurricane Wilma.FAU officials contacted Carrier Dome managing director Pat Campbell several months ago. During the five-minute phone call, Campbell discussed the types of events hosted by the Dome and operating costs.FAU is working hand-in-hand with the same engineering, construction and architectural companies who helped build the Carrier Dome 25 years ago. The plan is to build the next generation of the Carrier Dome, including plans for more storage space and suites than Syracuse's facility, as well as air conditioning and a hard roof, unlike the current top of the Dome. The 40,000-seat project is expected to cost $106 million, Angelos said."It will set us apart," Angelos said. "It transformed (Syracuse's) program. We have great weather, a good population base, a good wealth base and we have the space to build it."Though the Carrier Dome was built partly due to poor weather, the building brought increased visibly and attendance to Syracuse's football and basketball programs. SU's former football venue, Archbold Stadium, sat 20,000 and former basketball venue Manley Field House sat 9,500. Angelos hopes the dome at FAU will have a similar effect. ________________________________________________________________________ Raining pigskins in Florida Three new college football programs are sprouting in Florida By JEFF HOUCK FoxSportsBiz.com When you have college football powerhouses like the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of Miami, it's hard to think that the Sunshine State needs more pigskin action on Saturdays. The state's Board of Regents has been persuaded otherwise. The board on Thursday gave Florida International University in Miami approval to field a football team in 2002 if it can raise enough money. The Division I-AA program became the eighth state university football team and the third approved in the past five years. The legislature has also approved programs at the University of South Florida in Tampa and at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. But the state's approval of FIU was conditional. And pricey. The Legislature agreed to pay up to $1.8 million a year to the program, but the university first must raise: $2 million by November for construction of an 18,000-square-foot field house and alumni center $1 million for stadium expansion $800,000 for upgrading current athletic facilities $1 million by November 2001 for the football operating budget "The first year is the most costly," said Don Strock, the former Miami Dolphins quarterback who now serves as FIU's director of football operations. He also is expected to become FIU's first coach. "That first year, you're starting from scratch and you have to buy everything between the shoes and the helmet," he said. To cover those costs, the school has budgeted $1.8 million, Strock said, although the total amount might not be spent. That amount was based on similar budgets passed by the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University. Almost $1 million of the $1.8 million will come from student fees. The school has begun charging $1.25 per credit hour of each student's schedule to pay for the new program. More than 85 percent of FIU's student body voted in favor of the increase. But there is another hidden cost, since FIU also must establish women's programs in swimming and rowing so the school meets federal mandates for equal athletic opportunities for men and women. Exact figures on what it will take to establish those programs were not available. So with all the monetary and administrative headaches, the question remains: Why start a football program in a state saturated with the sport? For one, Florida is bursting with amateur football talent. Of the 300 Florida players who signed letters of intent to play college ball in the U.S., only 85 went to state schools. FIU will be allowed to offer 63 scholarships over four years, Strock said, and carry 85 total players each season. He expects to offer 15 scholarships the first year. Then there is the potential for alumni support that is expected to spill over to other parts of the university. FIU has roughly 85,000 alumni in the state, 65,000 of whom still live in South Florida. "Obviously, the fund raising goes on and on," Strock said. "As the games get closer, people who are teetering on the fence will jump over to our side and help out with the fundraising." Then there's the value of collegiate identity, said Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic University's coach and football founder. "Every university that has ever achieved greatness in the history of America has taken in the development of a football team," he said. "In recent years, you have Bobby Bowden coming to Florida State in 1976 and giving a name and face to FSU, which up to that point was a relatively unknown school nationally. Then you can look at the emergence of the University of Miami on the national spectrum, in part, because of their success in football. "FAU has a greater need of a catalytic agent, such as football, to unify the eight or nine campuses they have," Schnelleberger said. "There is no reason for the alumni to return to the campus. Football would allow students, alumni, professors and staff to come together under one common bond." For a relatively small school, FAU is aiming for an ambitious building program that would construct a domed stadium on campus. The team intends to play at Lockhardt Stadium in Fort Lauderdale for the foreseeable future. "It would be too difficult to try and raise funds for both a football and basketball stadium simultaneously, so it only seems correct to build a structure that could hold both sports," he said. "It will cost us about $80 million to build this stadium. We are talking about a tight, 42,000-seat dome that is built in more of a modest approach with as many functions as possible. The advantages of a domed stadium are that it is multipurpose, the maintenance would be cheaper and we would be the only other team besides Syracuse to have a domed football stadium on campus. Plus, the emergence of FAU as a football school should bring the main campus' home in Boca Raton the reputation as a bona fide college town," Schnellenberger said. "The difference between our college town and those like Gainesville, Tallahassee and Tuscaloosa, is that we are surrounded without a gap with 4.5 million people in the direct vicinity of FAU," he said. "That is a major benefit." ______________________________________________________________________ This is the hired firm already doing a DOME Study for the FLorida Atlantic University Multipurpose Arena David M Campbell in the principal in charge of this firm. (This is in his resume on the internet the fact he is conducting the study for FAU already) http://www.geigerengineers.com/ FIRM HISTORY Geiger Engineers was founded in 1988 by a group of professionals who have now been collaborating on challenging engineering assignments for more than thirty years. Geiger Engineers' staff began working together at Geiger Associates, founded by the late David Geiger in 1968 to design the enclosure for the United States pavilion for EXPO70 in Osaka, Japan. For that project David Geiger invented the low profile cable-restrained air-supported roof, employing a super-elliptical perimeter compression ring. Within 15 years of its completion this membrane structural system was employed to cover more than half of the domed stadia in the world. The firm, also known as Geiger Berger, was instrumental in the development of structural membrane materials, such as TEFLON coated fiberglass, and pioneered many other long-span cable, tensile membrane, tensegrity and air-supported structures including: 40 hectare roof, Haj Terminal, Jeddah International Airport, Saudi Arabia. The first tensegrity type dome for the Olympic Gymnastics Venue, Seoul Korea. The worlds first translucent insulated fabric roof of Lindsay Park Sports Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada The first permanent low profile air-supported fabric roof to cover a stadium, The Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan. RECENT HIGHLIGHTS 2002 World Cup Main Stadium, Seoul, Korea Entertainment & Sports Arena, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina Myao Li Arena, Myao Li County, Taiwan Nautica Amphitheater, Cleveland, Ohio Nautica Amphitheater, Cleveland, Ohio Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES: Geiger Engineers has unique capabilities in structural design, computer-aided design and diversified applied science research. Our expertise ranges from specialty engineering services to the engineering of sports facilities, special structures, and a wide variety of building structures. The following is a brief description of the services we offer: Long Span Structures Roof System Design Moving and Retractable Roof Design Structural analysis and design of: Domes, Shells, Trusses, Post-tensioned Networks, Spatial Trusses, Folded Plates, and Tensile Structures Structural Design employing Concrete, Timber, Aluminum, Cable and Strand, Composites, Structural Fabric, Steel Membrane, Glass and Structural Steel Investigations Peer Reviews Erection Sequence Analysis Capacity Evaluations Rehabilitation and Renovation Budgeting and Estimating Sports Facilities Structural Design Entertainment Rigging Consulting Investigations Peer Reviews Erection Sequence Analysis Capacity Evaluations Rehabilitation and Renovation Tensile Membrane Structures Roof System Design Form Finding and Patterning Non-linear Analysis of Structures Erection and Prestressing Analysis Design of Temporary and Permanent Structures Investigations Peer Reviews Capacity Evaluations Special Structures Structural Design Mobile and Touring Structure Design Dynamic Evaluations Entertainment Projects Structural and Mechanical Design Mobile and Touring Structure Design Modular Rigging System and Component Design Mechanized Special Effects Design Packaging Engineering Review of Touring Structures Marine Projects Pier and Dock Design Wind and Wave Studies Wave Attenuator Design Floating Structure Design Investigations Peer Reviews Conventional Structures Structural Design Investigations Peer Reviews Capacity Evaluations Rehabilitation and Renovation RESUMES Timothy D. Mills David M. Campbell Paul A. Gossen, P.E. ____________________________________________________________________ Because of its cheap and small it is said the FAU arena will be obsolete in 7 years ___________________________________________________________________ Make believe we start FAMSA-C . i.e Florida Atlantic Multipurpose Sports Arena -Council( a Fan driven grassroots organization) The FAMSAC Council would have a mission statement and goals plus a board of directors: Gain a Family orientated multipurpose sports arena for South Floridians FAMSAC Committees could be formed with individual chairpersons in charge of issues to get what we need accomplished 1) We get it on the ballot in all 3 counties for a 1/2 penny sales tax increase to fund a 110,000 seat domed multipurpose arena at FAU. The money is given to the Board of Regents not commissioners to build it. We as taxpayers have oversight with County commissioners over the project and after it is completed. (FAU could become like PENN STATE ( BEAVER Stadium seats 103,000) 2) In exchange for out taxpayer effort. FAU sets up a program funded by profits of this arena to have University student actually paid to teach kids how to read across South Florida in all 3 counties after school and on weekends. Education students and that department could run such a program. Criminal Justice students could teach in area Juvenile prisons. Physical Ed students could help our kids too with some program. (Perhaps we can create similar programs for seniors and their needs all paid for by the profits. University students can help them with rehabilitation issues, health problems funded by the arena profits Perhaps University student could be paid to run Juvenile drug courts in all 3 counties and other diversion programs funded by the arena profits. Less Prisons Cancer patients could also be helped by these paid students.) 3) The Arena will be Hurricane Proof so when Katrina's big sister or brother show up a category 6 we will have somewhere to run. (Perhaps state or Federal money may come in here) At least in New Orleans they had a place to run. We are bigger idiots then they are. 4) Helping FAU sell Luxury seats like Joe Robbie did which mostly funded his then privately financed stadium back then. 5)Helping FAU with sponsorship like getting Pepsi involved. 6) Getting money from Major league Baseball (100 million to start) and asking them to stop the extortion. They are selling the Expos (Nationals) to a new private owner for close to 500 million dollars. They also got Washington DC to agree to bond a 600 million dollar stadium for free. Give us some of the 500 million. Now they are extorting us and San Antonio. The 500 million is going to be split by the owners by the way. Does anyone know why Loria was not allowed to simply move the Expos himself to Washington??? If he kept the Expos and moved the Expos to Washington there himself he would now own a team worth close to 500 million. Something is fishy right there. One cannot blame Loria he seems like the most decent of the owners. The other owners probably push him around or something like that I feel. We are lucky to have Mr Loria no matter what happens. 7) Trying to get Disney to rent the parking lot on days there is no game so they can bus thousands of people to Orlando for day trips to Disney like they do in Atlantic City New Jersey from all over that area. This may be worth something to them to have a staging ground to do this. 8) Getting the Marlins and Mr Loria a great lease where they could make the big bucks they need from Luxury boxes sponsors concession parking. 9) Getting the World Cup and Winter baseball teams from South America here .(Nascar is next) 10) Working to get San Antonio to get an expansion team and begging their voters not to steal our fish and thereby help MLB with their extortion of taxpayers across America.. MLB can make another team in a heartbeat. MLB makes the Mafia look like kids playing in a sandbox. If MLB wanted they could pay for a stadium for us right now. Give us the 500 million from the expos instead if keeping it. Build us a stadium and then sell the Marlins to someone else for 700 million and then split it. MLB should be sued under RICO for extortion not Tony Suprano 11) Work with current University students and Alumni to get it done 12) Get a sponsor to name the stadium for monies. 13) Get Wayne Huizenga to assign his 2 million a year tax rebate to the new Atlantic Multipurpose Sports Arena for some incentive or reason. __________________________________________________________________ If you get of at the Boca Raton Station of Tri-Rail and go down the T-Rex trail you find yourself at the Fly over portion of Spanish River Boulevard. If you cross this Fly over, over 95 you end up directly at the North entrance of Florida Atlantic University where the old Army base is which is where the Arena would be built. Tri Rail has two tracks and this month will have trains every 20 minutes. It is a 15-20 minute walk. If trains could stop directly under the Fly over (where the station should have been) the distance is cut in half. There are no homes at the end of the flyover it is an open area of land. You end up right at the entrance the very North part of the campus. Anyone can drive there and see this. This area has enough land for NASCAR If 4 short ramps were built to and from the Spanish river Fly over from 95 9Which could be Federally funded probably) One would be at the Arena in seconds. The sawgrass expressway and Florida Turnpike are within 10 minutes of FAU. There are plans for more exits into Boca from the turnpike. A ramp next to the existing Glades ramp on 95 could be built over the Airports fuel tanks directly into FAU on the south side. 95 has HOV lanes. During rush hour I went from Boca to North Miami Beach yesterday in about 30 minutes. I had music on it was great. FAU services 25,000 student already. BOCA would be a college town like Penn State. Scripts was to be built here at FAU in Boca and there was talk of 100 acres being available. This was about a month ago and reported in all local newspapers in great detail. Governor Bush was on the bandwagon, the Mayor of Boca and other close cities in Broward and Delray too. ALL kinds of money was available. It all came down to a vote about two weeks ago when Palm Beach County Commissioners voted Scripts should be built up North and not in Boca. It was a 4 to 3 vote. Some developer up North agreed to pay one of the Commissioners 5 million over 5 years for a new poverty foundation she will now develop. She was the swing vote. This is the only reason why it was not done there and not in Boca. The land is still here and in a sense we taxpayers own it. A simple demographics study will show you that the Marlins belong here not in dying Miami. Joe Robbie Stadium (Now Dolphin Stadium) was built north of Miami back then based on demographic studies he did. I read about it on the net. Everything is going on up here not Miami. I have done my own little calculations and the demographics have simply moved further North.
March 18, 200619 yr is there a cliff notes version? A little too long to read for my taste.....summary?
March 18, 200619 yr is there a cliff notes version? A little too long to read for my taste.....summary?
March 18, 200619 yr then print it out and take it with you when your on the bowl. I never have to use the restroom, I merely concentrate really hard and all is cleared!
March 18, 200619 yr this is the post in a nutshell. Here is some interesting reading: Atlantic Multipurpose Sports Arena??????????? >
March 18, 200619 yr nice to see that someones trying to get some money to get something done to get a stadium in s. fla.
March 19, 200619 yr Either this is the best remake of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" or I just snarfed grape Kool-Aid reading someone's pipe dream! Read here: http://www.marlinbaseball.com/forums/index...showtopic=58451 to see how this CANNOT be done in the South Florida. But some other critiques (or my favorite parts of this long and rambling post): If you get of at the Boca Raton Station of Tri-Rail and go down the T-Rex trail you find yourself at the Fly over portion of Spanish River Boulevard. If you cross this Fly over, over 95 you end up directly at the North entrance of Florida Atlantic University where the old Army base is which is where the Arena would be built. Tri Rail has two tracks and this month will have trains every 20 minutes. It is a 15-20 minute walk. If trains could stop directly under the Fly over (where the station should have been) the distance is cut in half. This literally made me bowl over laughing. 15-20 minute walk?!?!? What are you doing a four minute mile?!?!?! I work in Boca Raton, and there is NO WAY you are walking from the Boca Tri-Rail station to the FAU campus in 20 minutes, unless you've scaled a fence with barbed wire and are taking a shortcut OVER THE FREAKING RUNWAY AT THE BOCA RATON AIRPORT!!!!!!!!! But then again, I'd like to see how many people will be made to walk in the dead of night (10:30pm on a Wednesday night after a thrilling Marlins-Brewers game) in the dark across the Boca Raton Airport, over I-95, through a wooded path, to a train station. Good Lord, this sounds like an episode of Survivor! Other things that brought a smile to my face: We get it on the ballot in all 3 counties for a 1/2 penny sales tax increase to fund a 110,000 seat domed multipurpose arena at FAU. The money is given to the Board of Regents not commissioners to build it. We as taxpayers have oversight with County commissioners over the project and after it is completed. (FAU could become like PENN STATE ( BEAVER Stadium seats 103,000) As a former FAU football season ticket holder, I always wanted to see what 105,000 empty seats in a stadium would look like during a football game! Next, the who is "giving" the money to the Board of Regents? Palm Beach County, Broward County, the taxpayers, some guy named Curtis from Weston? So the Counties are levying a sales tax to "give" the money to the Board of Regents (which no longer exists!)? Again, there are too many levels of government here that do not necessarily have the powers to do this! In exchange for out taxpayer effort. FAU sets up a program funded by profits of this arena to have University student actually paid to teach kids how to read across South Florida in all 3 counties after school and on weekends. Education students and that department could run such a program. Criminal Justice students could teach in area Juvenile prisons. Physical Ed students could help our kids too with some program. Profits? What profits? If the revenue is going to the Marlins and, I'm assuming to the FAU Athletic Department? That should be enough to pay for a can of Pepsi (or maybe that'll come free with your sponsorship deal?) to the student that is going to teach the kids to read! Helping FAU sell Luxury seats like Joe Robbie did which mostly funded his then privately financed stadium back then . . . . Helping FAU with sponsorship like getting Pepsi involved. So FAU will get all the proceeds from luxury seats and sponsorships? What do the Marlins get? Why does this sound familiar? OH YEAH, I KNOW, THAT'S THE FREAKIN' PROBLEM AT JOE ROBBIE/PRO PLAYER/DOLPHINS STADIUM -- YEAH WAYNE GETS ALL THE MONEY FROM THE LUXURY SEATS AND CLUB SEATS TO PAY OFF THE DEBT FROM THE CONSTRUCTION AND THE MARLINS DON'T GET ANY OF THAT!!! So why don't we just repeat the story, except the role of H. Wayne Huizenga will be played by Frank Brogan, FAU President! Getting money from Major league Baseball (100 million to start) and asking them to stop the extortion. They are selling the Expos (Nationals) to a new private owner for close to 500 million dollars. They also got Washington DC to agree to bond a 600 million dollar stadium for free. Give us some of the 500 million. Now they are extorting us and San Antonio. The 500 million is going to be split by the owners by the way. Oooh, this is like asking Tony Soprano to leave the guys at the Newark Esplanade alone and let Johnny Sack have the whole deal! Getting the Marlins and Mr Loria a great lease where they could make the big bucks they need from Luxury boxes sponsors concession parking. Obviously, you forgot to see that you just contradicted yourself here because in your point 4 and 5, you have FAU negotiating a deal for Luxury Boxes with the proceeds going to FAU. How many luxury boxes is this stadium going to have 20,000? Then again, it is a 110,000 seat BASEBALL STADIUM!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, imagine 105,000 empty seats for FAU Football and 80,000 empty seats for Marlins baseball (or maybe 106,000 empty seats for those games in late August when the 2015 Marlins are 10 games under .500) Getting the World Cup and Winter baseball teams from South America here .(Nascar is next) Ooooh baby!! Stock cars racing around a football field, and I thought Darlington was a short track! Get Wayne Huizenga to assign his 2 million a year tax rebate to the new Atlantic Multipurpose Sports Arena for some incentive or reason Oh my God, I just threw up in my mouth! I haven't laughed this much since watching Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill" for the first time. Again, if this were satire, you have a great future kid, A GREAT FUTURE. If this is serious, I don't know what to say!
March 19, 200619 yr I'm glad somebody else actually read it. I was laughing my ass off, too, and was worried that nobody else would get to enjoy it.
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