Stadium expansion idea not for all fans

FAYETTEVILLE — In February, this column extolled David Pryor for apparently being the lone University of Arkansas board of trustees member willing to question the proposed expansion of Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

That column closed with: “It’s best if all trustees remove their Hog hats and ask hard questions before going on with the game.”

It still is best. And it still seems that Pryor, from his communications with new UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, is the lone inquiring mind among a board otherwise poised to call the Hogs and approve spending a minimum $160 million to add 3,200 luxury seats (suite, club and box) in the north end zone.

The project also entails dismantling then reconstructing the Broyles Center, formerly the football program headquarters that still houses Athletic Director Jeff Long and administrators as well as the football locker room.

The $160 million may be a conservative estimate, given the potential for overruns.

The Razorbacks athletic department is self-supporting, but this project includes a bond issue “not to exceed $120 million,” according to Steinmetz in a letter to Pryor made public by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Long has said $40 million would come from private funds and $17 million already has been raised, the Democrat-Gazette reported Steinmetz wrote to Pryor.

Pryor has asked what if all the bond money can’t be raised? Would that affect students?

“Will they also be engaged in assuming a debt and debt load that is possibly precarious in our overall debt load at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville?” Pryor asked. “I think we need to know what that debt load is.”

Knowing Arkansans’ love for the Razorbacks, the money likely will get raised — but at what cost?

How often can the UA go to the well and not drain dry all but the affluent from backing the Hogs?

Football ticket prices were raised in February. Expect other price hikes and accompanying demands for larger Razorback Foundation contributions as season-tickets prerequisites to follow.

Steinmetz wrote to Pryor, the Democrat-Gazette reported: “We believe that this project is not only important for the University of Arkansas but also for the continued economic and cultural growth of our state.”

If this project works, it will increase the economic engine the Razorbacks provide.

But cultural growth? Do 3,200 corporate suits luxuriously frolicking at a football game really equate to cultural growth more than 3,200 bib-overalled fans calling the Hogs from cheaper seats?

Frankly, it’s the UA’s corporate culture that should worry those who love the Razorbacks and appreciate what they mean to Arkansas.

Uniting all of Arkansas always has been the Razorbacks’ unique calling, which makes them and their Arkansas bond so special.

Reserve the Razorbacks just for the rich, and they become a brand who fewer can afford and for which they will lose passion.