I flew in the Mini-Dome today and thanked Mike Rhea, assistant director, for his help. I tried earlier to thank Tom Trent, the director of athletic facilities, also but he is on vacation. Mike said that the models were removed from the scoreboard about June 11th but only three were found and 2 were damaged a lot. I don't know whether there is any hope of recovering any, but will recheck. The crew to help with the scoreboard bottom appeared a day late, so scheduling would have been difficult. I was visiting daughter, son-in-law, and 2 grandchildren in FL at that time anyway.
I told Mike that we were grateful to our hosts and that most people seemed happy to be there. I know of no problems with fans left on this year. One contestant said that full illumination was better if your table was at the end of the Dome. Full illumination gives better visibility but makes it slightly hotter.
There are almost no open times in the Mini-Dome. Changing the schedule would require planning about two years ahead and is still improbable. The question occurs frequently.
The other recurring question is the demise of the Mini-Dome. As a Tennessee taxpayer, I know how poorly we support education and know that funds to tear it down will be difficult to find. I would be surprised if it is removed in a decade.
We have been quite welcome because we pay and cause less hassle than some other events. The USIC is a "fringe" activity in the Mini-Dome even if very important to those who attend. Unless you want to contribute tens of thousands of dollars, the scoreboard and its mount will not be removed for the USIC, only raised or lowered and the bottom removed.
I have tried to answer all the recurring questions to the best of my knowledge.
We as contestants owe a lot to the team of CD's who made this USIC work well. I was very pleased that John Kagan reported that attendance was up somewhat. Thanks to all.
Fred Rash
----- Original Message -----
From: John Kagan
To: Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 12:42 PM
Subject: [Indoor_Construction] Re: USIC
--- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "Bill Gowen" <b.gowen@...>
wrote:
>
> I agree but there was talk awhile back about the mini-dome being torn
down in the not too distant future.
I talked to some locals about that (Fred Rash and Hank Nystrom can
probably add a whole lot more insight). The topic is definitely out
there, but it sounds like it is not entirely set in stone. Some local
groups are trying to keep it. The school may want to do something else
with the space, but maybe not right away. That kind of thing.
But you are right, having a backup plan isn't a bad idea. And getting
a new contest in the Astrodome wouldn't suck.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Received on Fri Jun 22 2007 - 14:42:26 CEST
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:45 CET