Hutchinson: Football best fit at stadium

Gov. Asa Hutchinson wants War Memorial Stadium to serve as the “mecca of statewide football,” a magnet for high school and college teams across Arkansas, he said Friday, the day after the Arkansas Razorbacks announced they would continue playing games in the storied Little Rock venue.

A consultant retained by the state released a report two months ago describing the 70-year-old stadium as having reached a crossroads — either continue pursuing football or tear down seats to make it an optimal venue for soccer, rugby and other

sports.

Hutchinson, pleased by the state’s new six-year agreement with the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, said “our first priority was football.”

“This is the first piece of the puzzle,” Hutchinson said of how the agreement affects the state-operated stadium’s future.

In a 20-minute telephone interview — while the Republican governor was on his way to Bentonville to vote in the gubernatorial primary election — Hutchinson also touched on his influence on the agreement, how the state will pay for required upgrades and a potential football program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

UA and the state Department of Parks and Tourism, which operates the stadium, jointly announced Thursday that the Razorbacks would host the Missouri Tigers at War Memorial in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The team’s annual spring intrasquad scrimmage is set for the capital in 2020, 2022 and 2024.

The agreement, which needs Southeastern Conference and NCAA approval, also requires Arkansas to make several stadium upgrades before Thanksgiving of 2019. Some of the improvements — new synthetic turf, new speakers and modern broadcasting capability, for instance — are specified, while others are tied to a pending SEC facilities working group report.

Cost estimates for War Memorial upgrades have ranged from $4.9 million to $ 10 million to $ 17 million, depending on the scope and

purpose. Kane Webb, director of the Parks and Tourism Department, has estimated the costs to comply with the Razorbacks agreement will be less than $10 million, but the specific funding source remains unclear.

“This is something that can be handled within the existing budget at War Memorial and Parks and Tourism,” Hutchinson said Friday. “As we go forward and have increased investment needs, we will work through that. I’m fully committed to making sure that we live up to our end of the bargain, but there’s a number of different options for that funding.”

Hutchinson, asked whether his discretionary funds were among the options, said possibilities included “everything from use of normal appropriation process to doing bonding authority with the expected revenues going to War Memorial.”

Hutchinson called the Razorbacks-Parks and Tourism Department agreement a “good solution” to the long-running stadium debate and said the requirements placed on War Memorial — which include attendance thresholds in addition to the mandatory upgrades — are “very reasonable.”

Hutchinson had previously said that he wanted to extend Razorback games in Little Rock. Asked to what degree that position has influenced his appointments to the University of Arkansas board of trustees, he said “none.”

“I’ve made appointments from day one, before this came up,” Hutchinson said. “I didn’t have to do any lobbying with the board of trustees. They understood my position from my public comments. I’m delighted that they — it’s interesting, at first I thought it was something that would go before the board of trustees.

“Ultimately, the administration was able to work through it, and I think they knew they had the support of the board of trustees.”

Former UA Athletic Director Jeff Long, prior to his November dismissal, had indicated he wanted to end the tradition of playing Razorback games at War Memorial Stadium, according to trustees whom Long had spoken to about the arrangement.

Long also gave the same presentation to Hutchinson and Webb, who later said the governor interrupted Long during the discussion and changed topics.

“Director Long made his pitch both to me and to the board of trustees just outlining the economics of it,” Hutchinson said. “I continued to make the point that, notwithstanding the difference in the one- game revenue, that the continued presence in Little Rock is important for the Razorback program and that statewide presence. Before any of the decisions were made, the change in leadership at the university occurred.”

After UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz fired Long “for convenience,” and hired Hunter Yurachek from the University of Houston to replace him, Hutchinson continued to make his position known, the governor said.

A “common view” and “common understanding” formed soon after Yurachek was hired, he said.

“I’ve made my views known, and they didn’t have any issue with that,” Hutchinson said. “Then it was a matter of working through the details, and that’s where Kane Webb at Parks and Tourism took the lead and I think negotiated a very balanced approach to this.”

Steinmetz dismissed Long during the final throes of a 4-8 football season. The head football coach, Bret Bielema, was dismissed days later. The chancellor has said Long’s stance on the Little Rock games was not a factor in his firing.

“If this were simply a dollarsand- cents decision, it would be an easy one for a director of athletics to make,” Yurachek said Thursday, citing the passion of fans and feedback he’s heard since taking the job. “When it comes to the Razorbacks in this state, the investment is much deeper than a simple spreadsheet.”

Yurachek also said Thursday that he and his staff put together the new deal’s framework and proposed it to the Parks and Tourism Department.

The UA agreement places War Memorial on a football-focused path, Hutchinson said. A March report from Texas consultant Convention, Sports and Leisure International suggested that the Parks and Tourism Department could focus on soccer, rugby and track and field by making changes to the stadium, such as stripping out seats in both end zones and expanding the playing surface.

The Little Rock Rangers soccer team, which plays its home games at the stadium, has been considered as a potential United Soccer League franchise but would likely need better facilities to join the league, according to the report, which cost the parks department $160,000.

Asked what War Memorial Stadium might look like two or three decades from now, Hutchinson said:

“I would expect its future to include, obviously, football but concerts and also the soccer that’s there. I see great opportunities for its increased usage.

“I do hope it can be the central Arkansas mecca of statewide football,” he continued. “I’m speaking of, annually, an Arkansas State game, [and] would love to see — whether it’s UCA, UAPB — all of the institutions that have strong football programs ought to look at a game in central Arkansas as a draw and as statewide attractions for their own institutions.”

Hutchinson, who used acronyms to refer to the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, repeatedly mentioned ASU Red Wolves football — an option he said, “I’d love to see.”

ASU System spokesman Jeff Hankins said the university “maintains an open mind about playing a game in Little Rock.” Officials have engaged in “casual conversations” but “no formal discussions,” he said.

“The right financial arrangement and opponent would be critical to making such a game work within our budget,” Hankins said in a prepared statement. “We definitely value our rapidly growing alumni base in central Arkansas. We’ve made significant investments in Centennial Bank Stadium with 100 percent private funds and must fulfill commitments to our sponsors and fans for games in Jonesboro.”

In 2006, all of the state’s Division I college football teams played at least one game at War Memorial.

UAPB has often played an annual game in the stadium, as do Benton and Bryant high schools in the “Salt Bowl.” Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock plays its home games at the stadium, which also hosts high school state championship games and Rangers matches. The rock band Guns N’ Roses performed at War Memorial last year.

Another pressing variable is the ongoing feasibility study over whether UALR could form and support a football program.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said he supports the idea and urged the state to help.

“I wish the governor would take some of his discretionary money and make it available to UA Little Rock for a football team,” Stodola said.

Hutchinson supports a football program at UALR, but does not believe the state should pay anything toward forming one, he said.

“I think whenever you see a Hendrix [College] bringing back football and Lyon College bringing back football, you recognize that football is a major cohesive element, student development part of an academic school,” Hutchinson said. “To me, it’s a natural fit with football as well that would strengthen their athletic program. …

“The state should not be investing in that program. That’s a a decision of the university and the community. I would think that’s important to demonstrate the support of the central Arkansas community for such a program. If the support is not there financially, it would be off to a rocky start.”