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UW-River Falls athletic director Rick Bowen said the idea of making improvements to the Ramer Field football stadium is a no-brainer.
“We can’t afford not to do something,” he said. “Just in the last 4 or 5 years, Eau Claire and Stout have redone community stadiums. Oshkosh has redone a community stadium. Whitewater has an incredible stadium and La Crosse is redoing theirs. I believe we don’t have any choice. This university and this community are too good to accept second rate. And right now our facilities are second rate.”
Four of the WIAC’s eight schools that field football teams—Eau Claire, Stout, Platteville, and Oshkosh— have made, or are in the process of making, improvements to their facilities. UW-La Crosse recently kicked off a campaign to make improvements at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium while UW-Whitewater’s Perkins Stadium is one of the largest and nicest Division III stadiums in the country.
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Ramer Field, meanwhile, has seen little in the way of remodeling in its 39-year history. Rest rooms and a small locker room at the south end of the field were added in the 1970s and a new public address system was installed about five years ago but the facility remains largely as it was when it was built in 1967.
Bowen believes it’s time to change that.
“If all these other schools can do this, why can’t we?” he asked. “We just want to keep up with the Joneses; we’re too good to accept what we have.”
The proposed $3 million in improvements would include enclosing the existing bleachers in brick and building a concession stand and small locker room underneath, replacing the lights and moving the light poles from inside the running track to behind the bleachers to give fans unobstructed views, installing artificial turf, extending the press box the length of the bleachers, installing an elevator to make it handicapped accessible and placing suites at either end for alumni and fundraising events. Plans also call for the planting of about 250 trees around the field.
Bowen said the artificial turf, or Field Turf, has become the standard for any facility that has wide usage. Carson Park in Eau Claire, Don and Nona Williams Stadium at UW-Stout, Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium in Platteville and the new J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium at the UW-Oshkosh Sports Complex all have artificial turf installed.
“Field turf would expand the opportunities for the stadium, not only for the university but for the community.” He said. “We could have soccer games, band competitions, concerts, any number of things.”
Another thing UW-RF has in common with other schools that have made improvements is they also host local high school teams.
“I want to emphasize, this is a community project. The university is going to do this, but the community is going to benefit too,” Bowen said. “For the community of River Falls to build a stadium out at the high school would be a waste of money. Let’s build something here, now and let’s all use it.”
Bowen stressed the project will be funded solely through donations, with no tax money involved.
“There will be no River Falls High School tax money involved at all,” he said. “All they will be charged is what it cost us to put on an event. We’re not making any money. If it costs us $2,000 to run a football game, that’s what the high school will be charged.”
He said while the Kansas City Chiefs will be approached about helping fund the project, he is not relying on the NFL team to pay for it.
“The facts are, we’re operating with one-year contracts and there are three universities in Missouri that are willing to build the team its own facilities,” he said. “There are plans to renovate Arrowhead Stadium and the state is pressuring the Chiefs to stay home. To be fair, they don’t need to do this. Hopefully they will be generous and contribute.”
The project received a huge boost this summer with the donation of $500,000 from First National Bank of River Falls and the family of former president Dave Smith. But Bowen stressed a lot of work needs to be done in order to reach the university’s goal of $3 million.
“We’re not done,” he said. “I have to get people to step up to the plate. We will raise a significant amount from former UW-River Falls football players, and hopefully former River Falls High School football players, but this is a community project. We need people in the community to step forward.
“They can contact me, if I don’t contact them first,” he added.
Bowen said if he could dream a little, he would like to be able to hold a groundbreaking ceremony during UW-RF’s 2008 homecoming.
“It would be great if we could turn a spade over at the 50-yard line and say this is going to happen,” he said.
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