They have other projects to check off the docket first. Padilla said this was low in the list unless someone comes in and throws a large sum of money at the school to build it, or a sponsor shows up willing to pay for naming rights. Their timeline is dorm renovations, CONHP building, then Victory Village. With the pushback from recent decision being made, and Smalls unexpected resignation. It doesn't help that timeline at all. A new basketball arena is 5 years away which is the right thing to do. Focus on improving the college experience and academic facilities first. As for fundraising. What do you think the national tour is for? The school is reaching an olive branch out to alumni across the country. Whether this is a successful venture, is yet to be seen.
As for the ARC itself, unfortunately I think its already on borrowed time. You can only upgrade the facility so much before its just putting glitter on a pile of poop. The money that would need to go into a full scale renovation is simply too much to the point that a new building would be around the same price. Not to mention the ARC still needs to balance its identities as both a D1 arena and a student REC center.
There’s no cash. And there’s no capital fundraising going on for a new facility. You can do nothing without those two.
It’s a dream at this point.
Sadly, Valpo has given new meaning to the description “non-profit.” It has been hemorrhaging cash for years with no end in sight. At this stage I’m not sure even “dreaming” for new facilities is realistic. Pipe dream might be more like it.
