When you come to Tulsa for the game next fall...

[Okla-homey]

it will be the last season for storied, historic Skelly Stadium.

I think it kinda sux to rename it, given how much history is there, but I reckon that's what big donors expect.


New name to follow upgrades at Skelly


http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/13848/2005320993026243553_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005320993026243553)
This rendering shows what H.A. Chapman Stadium will look like upon completion of its $18 million renovation project, scheduled for 2008.


By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
4/25/2007

The University of Tulsa will rename its football venue the H.A. Chapman Stadium. [I wonder how long it will take for people the stop calling it "Skelly?"]

School President Steadman Upham announced the change during TU's annual All-Sports Banquet on Tuesday night. The name honors the Chapman family, whose foundation committed half the costs of the estimated $18 million renovation project due to be completed by the fall of 2008.

"It's a magnificent and transformative gift from longtime generous supporters of the University of Tulsa and the community," said Upham, who added that finalization of the gift came late Tuesday afternoon. "The H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Foundation is one of our best and loyal donors."

A formal announcement on the renovations is expected soon.

The 35,542-seat home of TU football has been named Skelly Stadium for 76 years. Next season it will be Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham added that administrators spoke to and received the blessing of the heirs of William Skelly, whose $125,000 donation helped get the stadium built in 1930.

The Chapman Foundation, whose trustees are Donne Pitman and Jerry Dickman, has given numerous other gifts to TU, including scholarships and funding for the Case Athletic Complex, the Reynolds Center and the front entrance of campus.

The $10 million Case Athletic Complex is scheduled to open in June, school officials have said.

The stadium renovations will include new seating throughout the stadium, restrooms, a new scoreboard and a renovated, three-story press box that will include luxury suites.

The school also took an innovative approach on the west side. A plaza area will separate the stadium and three-story apartment complexes, where concession stands and restrooms will occupy the first floor.

Renovation will begin after the 2007 season and is expected to be completed before 2008.

Longtime season ticket holder Bill Babb is excited about the new look on campus.

"We now have a stadium that we can all take pride in," Babb said. "It'll be a stadium that student-athletes will want to come and play in. The sun is going to come up a lot brighter tomorrow."

First-year football coach Todd Graham said school administrators told him about the changes on campus while interviewing him last January. Seeing the move become public brought a smile to his face.

"It's amazing," Graham said. "It's just a humongous step for us and moves us forward to where we want to be. I'm just so grateful to our supporters and couldn't be happier."

Attracting players may have gotten easier for him from an aesthetic standpoint, also.

"It makes a statement to recruits and a statement to the football community," he said. "Tulsa is for real and it's something that we've earned. This is the last step for putting us in position to be a premier program."

[JohnnyMack]

Please God, if you do nothing else, please fix the PA system. And the scoreboard.

[Okla-homey]

Please God, if you do nothing else, please fix the PA system. And the scoreboard.

I understand one of them fancy 'lectronic boards with all the screens, bells and whistles is in the cards.

[yermom]

changing stadium names succs

[olevetonahill]

Homester score me a coupla tickets , close to where you sit If you can put up with my old *** again .;) ;)

[Okla-homey]

Homester score me a coupla tickets , close to where you sit If you can put up with my old *** again .;) ;)


Its gonna be sold out. I recommend folks buy tix as soon as they go on sale. I can buy tix on the visitors side behind the Sooner bench, which also happens to be student section. I might be able to help some people out if'n I don't get swamped with requests.

[OklahomaTuba]

Thank GAWD they are finally doing something.

I do think the apartments they are building every where are a bit lame. They look cheap as hell.

And building the concession stands into the apartments seems a bit wierd, but whatever i guess. At least they are doing something, even if its 40 years late.

[Rogue]

At least it's not "The Fock!" The name, that is.
Under another username, I frequented the forum that sf.com created to bitch and moan about the name change. I still hate it!

[olevetonahill]

Its gonna be sold out. I recommend folks buy tix as soon as they go on sale. I can buy tix on the visitors side behind the Sooner bench, which also happens to be student section. I might be able to help some people out if'n I don't get swamped with requests.
Just remember I asked 1st ;)

[Jimminy Crimson]

Look, kids, hills and trees! ;)

[bri]

Meh, it'll always be Skelly to us. :D

[OklahomaTuba]

The most exciting thing I see is the plan to destroy 11th street and replace it with a forest.

[Ardmore_Sooner]

So Skelly won't look like a big blue castle anymore!? :(

[KC//CRIMSON]

Bout time they painted that turd.

[bri]

So Skelly won't look like a big blue castle anymore!? :(

Nope, it still will. The outer walls of Skelly Stadium (suck it, donor boy) are a registered historic landmark. They're just, you know, working around them. :D

[Mjcpr]

Thank GAWD they are finally doing something.

I do think the apartments they are building every where are a bit lame. They look cheap as hell.

And building the concession stands into the apartments seems a bit wierd, but whatever i guess. At least they are doing something, even if its 40 years late.

Are you a member of the Optimists Club?

[Mjcpr]

it will be the last season for storied, historic Skelly Stadium.

I think it kinda sux to rename it, given how much history is there, but I reckon that's what big donors expect.

The Big House, Touchdown Jeebus, Skelly.

[hurricane'bone]

Technically the name of the place was always Skelly Field. It's what is carved into the original facade, it was just known as Skelly Stadium...so by keeping the name Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium it keeps its integrity.

Tuba - If you think those apartments look cheap as hell. Then I'd love to see your idea of what a nice apartment looks like.

[Okla-homey]

The Big House, Touchdown Jeebus, Skelly.

Only college stadium on Route 66 beyotch!

Winningest team in Oklahoma until Bud arrived at OU.

First team in America to go to bowl games five years in a row.

I know it ain't much, but I think Tulsa will play in a BCS bowl game during this decade.

I also wish Paul Smith was playing his senior year at OU

[KC//CRIMSON]

I know it ain't much, but I think Tulsa will play in a BCS bowl game during this decade.

Whenever you're cleaning out your ear with a Q-tip and you feel a slight resistance, you're supposed to stop pushing.

[bri]

What, the WAC is good enough to land a BCS slot, but not C-USA?

[mdklatt]

First team in America to go to bowl games five years in a row.


Sure, but how many teams have done it since they've repeated the feat? ;)

[JohnnyMack]

I'll take the over on a decade for TU playing in a BCS Bowl.

[KC//CRIMSON]

What, the WAC is good enough to land a BCS slot, but not C-USA?


Dude, Jenks has a better chance of getting invited to a BCS bowl game.

C-USA is the WAC's younger ugly sister.:D

[bri]

No, actually the WAC is the Mountain West's ugly sister. If anything, C-USA is the Big East's JV.

Which, you know, seeing as how the Big East is the ACC's JV, that would make us the ACC's 9th grade program. :D

[SteelClip49]

WAC has some awesome history:

Frank Kush years at Arizona State before joining the Pac 10 in 1978

BYU for many years under Edwards with several 10+ win seasons including the 1984 national title.



Tulsa's projected new look actually looks state-of-the-art unlike that Lego set in Stillwater.

[Shneeg11]

First of all, those apartments look nicer than most you are going to see, but I would hate to live in them on Saturdays with the concession downstairs. All you will smell is Nachos, Hot Dogs, and Chili... Some people may like that, but I'll pass

[Vaevictis]

First of all, those apartments look nicer than most you are going to see, but I would hate to live in them on Saturdays with the concession downstairs. All you will smell is Nachos, Hot Dogs, and Chili... Some people may like that, but I'll pass

It wouldn't be so bad if you were a fanatic. Being that you would be doing gameday stuff and all, you probably wouldn't mind.

[bri]

WAC has some awesome history:

Frank Kush years at Arizona State before joining the Pac 10 in 1978

BYU for many years under Edwards with several 10+ win seasons including the 1984 national title.

So, the Pac-10 and Mountain West have some awesome history? ;)

[SteelClip49]

huh?

[OklahomaTuba]

Tuba - If you think those apartments look cheap as hell. Then I'd love to see your idea of what a nice apartment looks like.

Wood frames and siding for starters. Where is the brick and stone??

I just think that covering the campus in apartments looks cheap. If they had made them look like traditional residences, it would have been nicer.

Or, do what most colleges do, have an area dedicated just to residences instead of littering the campus with them.

Either way, I am happy TU is doing something.

[Okla-homey]

Wood frames and siding for starters. Where is the brick and stone??

I just think that covering the campus in apartments looks cheap. If they had made them look like traditional residences, it would have been nicer.

Or, do what most colleges do, have an area dedicated just to residences instead of littering the campus with them.

Either way, I am happy TU is doing something.

Tuba,
I think TU is doing the best it can given it is space limited. Sure, if it could acquire surrounding property for dedicated dorm space, that would be super -- but it can't seem to get anyone to sell east of Harvard or north of Fourth. The alternative is to ask the city to condemn property in these areas and take it by eminent domain for sale to TU. Politically, that would drive a lot of folks nuts.

Meanwhile, the school's enrollment continues to increase and due to the lack of suitable rental property in the vicinity, they have to put the kids somewhere. They went with the notion of siting these apartments in various locations on campus in order to efficiently utilize the space they have.

[OklahomaTuba]

The alternative is to ask the city to condemn property in these areas and take it by eminent domain for sale to TU. Politically, that would drive a lot of folks nuts.

And are you telling me TU wouldn't use eminant domain? They sure tricked the owners of the Metro Diner and Starship then.

[JohnnyMack]

Tuba-Logic:

1. Don't spend public funds on making improvements to the city. On anything.

2. If someone spends private funds on improving the city, complain about it.

[Boomer.....]

I can buy tix on the visitors side behind the Sooner bench, which also happens to be student section. I might be able to help some people out if'n I don't get swamped with requests.
In, please.

:pop:

[C&CDean]

Reason #876 of why I laugh when I see people say "Tulsa > OKC."

Hell, Tulsa < Norman.

[JohnnyMack]

Reason #876 of why I laugh when I see people say "Tulsa > OKC."

Hell, Tulsa < Norman.

Don't you have a cow to artificially inseminate or something?

[C&CDean]

Don't you have a cow to artificially inseminate or something?

Has momma come back in heat already?



Dude, you made me say it.

[JohnnyMack]

Has momma come back in heat already?



Dude, you made me say it.

Heh.

And yes. All am Is a piece of meat at this point.

<sobs>

[Okla-homey]

And are you telling me TU wouldn't use eminant domain? They sure tricked the owners of the Metro Diner and Starship then.

To be clear, TU didn't use eminent domain. It can't. It is my understanding that the city of Tulsa did and then sold the property to TU. Or they may have merely threatened to condemn the property in order to force the sale. I'm not sure. Either way, it worked. Condemning commercial property is one thing. De-housing mom and pop is another. I know, parsing and mincing, but that's the way I see it. Frankly, that Metro diner was a dump. We ate there once. Good riddance. As far a Starship went, well, let's just say I never needed to buy a bong or a roach clip anyway, but if I did, I'd make my own.;)

[King Crimson]

I always kinda liked Skelly, was it a WPA project like many high school stadiums in OK?

as for the resistance to name change, all the Bronco fans i know were mortified with the Invesco purchase of the "new" Mile High......and now, after the blue collar crowd that MADE the Broncos have been priced out of season tix, they all say "Invesco Field" just like they were programmed to do so.

[Okla-homey]

I always kinda liked Skelly, was it a WPA project like many high school stadiums in OK?



Nope. It was built with oil money, specifically $125K from the Skelly family back in the 1920's.

[JohnnyMack]

To be clear, TU didn't use eminent domain. It can't. It is my understanding that the city of Tulsa did and then sold the property to TU. Or they may have merely threatened to condemn the property in order to force the sale. I'm not sure. Either way, it worked. Condemning commercial property is one thing. De-housing mom and pop is another. I know, parsing and mincing, but that's the way I see it. Frankly, that Metro diner was a dump. We ate there once. Good riddance. As far a Starship went, well, let's just say I never needed to buy a bong or a roach clip anyway, but if I did, I'd make my own.;)

I was sad for about .4 seconds when I heard Metro was getting the wrecking ball. I mean when I was little and we used to go get Oreo shakes and hamburgers it was cool, but the last 15 years or so hadn't been kind to that place.

[yermom]

As far a Starship went, well, let's just say I never needed to buy a bong or a roach clip anyway, but if I did, I'd make my own.;)

Starship is easily the best place i've seen to buy music in Oklahoma

[RFH Shakes]

The most exciting thing I see is the plan to destroy 11th street and replace it with a forest.

It also looks like it will all be built on one of the worlds largest continuous slabs of concrete:).

[KC//CRIMSON]

Starship is easily the best place i've seen to buy music in Oklahoma


Yep. Legendary. Too bad it couldn't stay in that location.

[yermom]

i know, 11th and Delaware is still stuck in my head from their commercials

[bri]

11th and Delaware is stuck in most of their customers' heads because years of drug use have eroded their cognitive functions. :D

[OklahomaTuba]

Tuba-Logic:

1. Don't spend public funds on making improvements to the city. On anything.

2. If someone spends private funds on improving the city, complain about it.

No, spend public-funds intelligently, not on stupid ****, like giving the city workers the nicest office space in town for 80 million dollars when their existing property isn't worth 1/10 of that.

Or building a 18,000 seat arena with a "original design" that was ripped off from Miami's arena, with used seats, built across the street from a city bus station, YMCA, court house, post office, and other places where all the homeless like to hang out, instead of where all the restaurants and entertainment venues are.

Thank GAWD someone torched the homeless flop house across the street from the arena. At least that's one eye sore the talon's and oiler fans won't have to look at when they fill up all 18,000 of those seats.

The reason Tulsa has declined so much isn't all that hard to understand when you put together so many of these lame *** ideas that get floated around, like the channels, or the good ideas the city manages to **** up.

[OklahomaTuba]

To be clear, TU didn't use eminent domain. It can't. It is my understanding that the city of Tulsa did and then sold the property to TU. Or they may have merely threatened to condemn the property in order to force the sale. I'm not sure. Either way, it worked.

The City did it because TU (a PRIVATE institution) asked them to do it, instead of TU just buying the property, like what every other private organization should do.

[bri]

Okay, who had "post #49" in the "When Will Tuba Find A Way To Bitch About The BoK Arena?" pool?

[Mjcpr]

Okay, who had "post #49" in the "When Will Tuba Find A Way To Bitch About The BoK Arena?" pool?

Not me, I had 2.

[bri]

Oooh, tough draw. ;)

[Okla-homey]

The City did it because TU (a PRIVATE institution) asked them to do it, instead of TU just buying the property, like what every other private organization should do.

:les: THEY REFUSED TO NEGOTIATE!

Do you really think Tulsa would be better off with some run-down greasy spoon built around the carcass of a filling station, or a nice looking green space that heralds the entrance to a fine and historic private university?

Look, it's over. Midkiff and Kelo are the law in the United States. GADOCADWI.