The NCAA News - News and Features

February 10, 1997

Committee compares data for possible headquarters sites

The most important step to date in the NCAA Project 2000 initative has been completed, and now the work begins in earnest for comparing data from the presentations made by each of the four cities under consideration for the national office site

Membership and staff representatives visited the four metropolitan areas -- Denver, Dallas, Kansas City and Indianapolis -- between January 21 and January 30 as part of the process to determine a site for the Association's national office after the lease for the current facility in Overland Park, Kansas, expires in 2000.

Each community proposed a set of options for a headquarters facility:

Denver -- Three sites: (1) near Denver International Airport; (2) at Stapleton International Airport; and (3) downtown.

Dallas -- Three sites, all near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Kansas City -- Three sites: (1) an enhanced version of the Association's current facility; (2) Corporate Woods, an office complex near the current facility; and (3) Crown Center, an area near downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Indianapolis -- Two sites: (1) near White River State Park, park land that flanks a river that runs through Indianapolis; and (2) near the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis campus.

After the visits were completed, Robert Lawless, president of the University of Tulsa and chair of the Project 2000 membership committee, said that follow-up information may be needed from some or all of the cities under consideration. It wasn't clear whether additional site visits would be necessary, although the possibility was not ruled out.

However, it still appears that a decision will be made by April or May, which is consistent with the schedule established when the project began. There had been speculation that an announcement would be made in conjunction with the Men's Final Four in late March, but a decision appears unlikely to be made that soon.

Media reports placed dollar values on proposals made by the four cities, but Wallace I. Renfro, NCAA director of constituent communications, cautioned that such information was highly speculative and subject to interpretation. Arthur Andersen and Co. currently is analyzing the information and will provide its report to the Project 2000 membership committee, probably later this month. A report also may be provided to the NCAA Joint Policy Board, the body that ultimately will make the decision, sometime in February.

Membership representatives and the cities they visited were:

Denver -- Charles S. Boone, University of Richmond; David G. Carter, Eastern Connecticut State University; Milton A. Gordon, California State University, Fullerton; and Phyllis L. Howlett, Big Ten Conference.

Dallas -- Boone, Gordon, Howlett and Lawless.

Kansas City -- Eugene F. Corrigan, Atlantic Coast Conference; Lynn L. Dorn, North Dakota State University; and Carter.

Indianapolis -- Carter, Corrigan, Lawless and Gordon.

Eight staff members also visited each site. They were Cedric W. Dempsey, executive director; Thomas W. Jernstedt, deputy executive director; Daniel Boggan Jr., chief operating officer; Frank E. Marshall, group executive director for finance and business services; Renfro; Keith E. Martin, director of accounting; Michael S. McNeely, director of operations; and Suzanne M. Kerley, human resources manager.

The touring groups reviewed similar information at each site, focusing on the following information and activities: