(08-17-2023 08:49 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 08:59 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  

(08-10-2023 11:18 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  Here’s a recent concept video rendering of the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District (NASED). The $400 million in public funding for the new stadium has already been appropriated by the Hawaii legislature and approved by the governor. An RFP is current being written to select a development team that would (1) demolish the existing condemned stadium and build the new stadium with the public funding, (2) design and coordinate build-out of the surrounding privately-funded mixed-use entertainment district, and (3) use some of the profits from the mixed-use development to operate and maintain the stadium for 30 years.

Because writing the RFP, selecting the development team, and executing the public-private development contract is expected to take until mid-2025, the target opening date for the stadium is mid-2028.





https://nased.hawaii.gov/stadium-project/

Rice Stadium was built for $3.3 million in 1950 by Brown and Root who built it at cost, using two crew shifts. When they were asked whether it would be ready for the first game, they asked when was the game. When told it was a evening start, they were informed it would be ready.

We are coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Rice Stadium Super Bowl.

Congratulations on that. Lots of history there. I understand Kennedy gave his famous 1962 "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard" speech (which included a comparative reference to Rice playing Texas) at Rice Stadium.

I also know Brown & Root is still around (merged into KBR), and I would sure like those guys to come out and do their magic here. Efficient construction engineering and execution are not typical of Hawaii public works projects.

The convention center in Houston is the George R. Brown Convention Center. If I have done my arithmetic correctly, it can hold 14 football fields in the exhibit space. Brown was on the Board of Regents at Rice (where the George R. Brown School of Engineering is located). As a member of the board of regents, Brown arranged for a donation of land from Humble Oil (later Exxon and ExxonMobil) to Rice, which donated to NASA where the Johnson Space Center is located. The first word from the Moon in 1969 were transmitted to there, "Houston"

At the time in 1962, Rice had a 17-15 lead in the series from 1930 (if you go back further Texas had dominated). The two played to a 14-14 tie a few weeks later. Since that time Rice has won twice.

It tends to be misremembered that Rice hardly ever beat Texas. But instead it was the small academic school was able to go head to head against the big state school and hold their own.

From 1930-1962 SWC championships.

UT 8.33
TCU 6.33
Rice 5.00
Ark 4.83
A&M 4.50
SMU 4.00
Bay 0.00
Tech 0.00 (3 seasons)

From 1963-1995

UT 10.50
A&M 8.00
Ark 6.00 (skipped 4 seasons)
SMU 3.50
Hou 2.50 (20 seasons)
Bay 2.00
Tech 0.50
Rice 0.00
TCU 0.00

In the written speech, JFK asked the rhetorical question, "why 35 years ago, did we fly the Atlantic", he then ad-libbed "why does Rice play Texas"

Now the speech might be, "why 71 years later, do we fly volleyball teams from Los Angeles to New Jersey or San Jose to Miami for a volleyball game?"