Ever wonder what Sanford Stadium actual cost UGA once you factor in all the renovations and then adjust for inflation? You probably haven't thought about it, but it intrigued me.I started goofing around the cybertubes until I found an Inflation Calculator*. The site adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 to 2007.
I researched all the significant upgrades to Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum listed on Georgiadogs.com and other sources. Then I totaled the original expenses vs. the value adjusted for inflation.
It's not an attempt to compare what it would cost to build these facilities today. The cost of construction materials has exploded such that a comparison of that variety would need to be made by looking at recent peer investments. It's more of a discussion related to what that investment means in 2007 dollars**.
| Sanford Stadium | Year | Cost | Inflation Adjusted |
| Original Structure | 1929 | $ 360,000 | $ 4,321,237 |
| Double Deck Both Sides | 1967 | $ 3,000,000 | $ 18,440,513 |
| Enclosed East Endzone | 1981 | $ 11,500,000 | $ 25,917,591 |
| Installed Lights | 1982 | $ 1,000,000 | $ 2,122,131 |
| Letterman's Club (East End) | 1984 | $ 386,390 | $ 761,788 |
| West End Lower Bowl | 1991 | $ 3,700,000 | $ 5,566,676 |
| Sky Suites | 1994 | $ 6,000,000 | $ 8,293,229 |
| Sky Suites Addition | 2000 | $ 12,000,000 | $ 14,318,151 |
| North 3rd Deck (600 level) | 2003 | $ 25,000,000 | $ 28,137,004 |
| North Sky Suites Under 600 level | 2004 | $ 8,000,000 | $ 8,716,206 |
| Sanford Total: | $ 70,946,390 | $ 116,594,527 | |
| Stegeman Coliseum | |||
| Original Structure | 1964 | $ 4,200,000 | $ 27,800,508 |
| Reseating and A/C (Pre-Olympics) | 1996 | $ 3,000,000 | $ 3,927,648 |
| Lighting, Lockers, Sound, Etc.* | 2001 | $ 2,500,000 | $ 2,935,973 |
| Practice Facility | 2007 | $ 30,000,000 | $ 30,000,000 |
| Stegeman Total: | $ 39,700,000 | $ 64,664,129 |
So what conclusions do I draw from all of this? Well...
- Damn Good Deal - That initial 1929 investment in Sanford Stadium was one hell of a deal. Even with all the add-ons and adjusting for inflation, it's a steal at $116.5 million.
- We Ignored Hoops - There was no significant investment in Stegeman from 1964 until 1996. If you want to know why our b-ball program has faced such an up hill climb, that's it. Dooley simply ignored it. Within months of taking over, Damon signed off on the practice facility which adjusted for inflation is almost equal to all other b-ball investments in our 100 year history.
PWD
*This was a staggered investment over a series of years.
**The site I used didn't have 2008 data.
13 comments:
Considering the depreciation taken on these assets, the cost basis is extremely low on both facilities. A nice demonstration of the power of RE given time and resources. It would be interesting to know at what value the carried the land.
The Athens/Clarke County Tax digest list the values as follows:
Sanford Complex: $159,300,000.00
Stegman Coliseum: $60,950,000.00
Not a bad educated guess on the part of our lead blogger.
FYI, Stegeman is owned by UGA and the Practice Annex is owned by UGAAA. Technically, they are two buildings and are built that way with corridors/rated doors connected them.
The tax roll may say one thing, but govt property, particularly University property, is not subject to property taxe.
The East endzone entrance was also given a major facelift around 2005.
Anon 8:40,
I think the Gate 6 renovations are included in the 2003 and 2004 costs. But I could be mistaken.
The articles at the time are very confusing. So I went with Georgiadogs.com upgrade info.
PWD
As a point of recent comparison...
B-Ball Gyms:
South Carolina built a new arena in 2000 or 2001. It's structurally very nice and modern, but it's pretty obvious that it's "house poor." Meaning it looks like they ran a few million short when it came to decorating it. It cost $65 million at the time, and the cost was subsidized by the City and County. That facility today would cost around $100 million with escalating construction costs.
Football Stadium - The Minnesota Golden Gophers have built a PALACE on campus facility that only seats about 50-55k. It's expandable to more like 80k, but it's GORGEOUS.
It opens in '09. And it cost them $288 million.
Yep, I really want UGA to schedule Minnesota just because of their new stadium.
If not, I'll head up there anyway to catch a game.
I'm still pissed about them taking away the railroad track seating.
HVL Dawg
The main thing that sanford needs is a wider concourse. It is way too narrow in there.
Mitch...
Ditto.
Funny how despite no major renovations the some of the best years of UGA basketball were in Stegeman before any renovations took place!
Good players and good coaching does a lot. It is not like Cameron is a world class facility! (Yes, I am sure they have great practice facilities).
I'm not sure this adds much to the issue, beyond proving that I'm a big loser, but the Clarke tax office lists the stadium and surrounding area at $159 million in total value.
http://tinyurl.com/cfly5e
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