Much has changed since process began
BY CEDRIC W. DEMPSEY
NCAA President
The NCAA national office has landed in Indianapolis. We have long awaited the completion of our new building and are excited to be here.
It has been almost four years since the process of determining a new location for the national office began. In many ways, that four years seems like a very short time. The Association has undergone many changes during those four years, not the least of which has been moving the national office staff to a new city.
In August 1995, the NCAA Executive Committee began a routine examination of the Association's lease of the office space in Overland Park, Kansas. That lease was to expire in 2000, and if we were to renew that lease, the payments were scheduled to increase significantly.
It was our fiscal responsibility to explore alternatives. We considered purchasing the Overland Park facility. We also considered other facilities -- and other locations. We solicited proposals from cities throughout the country in an attempt to determine the best possible site from which to serve our members -- a site that was committed to the values of intercollegiate sports and higher education, committed to diversity and a site that would allow the Association to reduce its operating costs.
I remember at the time discussing the situation with a good friend of mine. When I told him we were soliciting bids from cities interested in housing the national office, he told me that we would be amazed at what we would be offered.
Indeed we were. Ten cities -- Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Missouri; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix and San Antonio -- put together solid bid packages. From that list, four finalists were selected. The Association would have benefited from any one of the packages put forth from Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis or Kansas City.
The Joint Policy Board, then the Association's decision-making body composed of governance chairs and division
leaders, along with the NCAA 2000 working group, a membership committee that evaluated prospective sites, certainly had a tough decision to make.
In the end, an overwhelming commitment to intercollegiate athletics was the underlying selling point for Indianapolis.
There was no question that the Indianapolis proposal better met the Association's long-range needs by allowing us to meet our vision without additional economic burden to our membership.
Its commitment to being the "Amateur Sports Capital of America" is not an empty one. Indianapolis was creative in its bid package, involving support throughout both the city and the state of Indiana. It truly was a team effort.
This likely will go down as a historic date for the Association.
The benefits of this transition are many:
Financially, the Indianapolis package is expected to result in a significant savings in NCAA operating expenses over the next two decades. The NCAA 2000 working group projected that there was a difference of almost $54 million between continuing to lease the Overland Park office and relocating to Indianapolis. These savings will allow us to increase the types of services and programs we offer for student-athletes.
By relocating to Indianapolis, the NCAA will be neighbors with several amateur sports governing bodies. In fact, the National Federation of State High School Associations, with which the NCAA enjoys a close affiliation, will be housed in the same complex.
Indianapolis, a city committed to enhancing diversity, offers the NCAA the opportunity to hire the best and brightest individuals and put them to work in an environment that encourages excellence and promotes efficiency.
Our location in the White River State Park among several Indianapolis attractions increases the marketability of our new Hall of Champions. We expect increased traffic from visitors and sightseers, as well as increased interest in sponsorship from NCAA corporate partners and other major companies.
The state-of-the-art facility will offer the technological resources to allow the staff to more efficiently serve the membership. In addition, our increased meeting space will serve as a meeting site for NCAA committees.
It was a difficult decision to leave the Kansas City area.
The national office has enjoyed a marvelous tradition there. But we are looking forward to beginning a new tradition in our new home. We have been welcomed with open arms and are excited to be involved with a city that is committed to the promotion of intercollegiate sports.
Though we are here, there is much more ahead. The NCAA is faced with many challenging issues. Indeed, this might be the Association's most challenging era ever.
We feel rest assured, however, that the decision to relocate to Indianapolis will allow us to meet those challenges to the best of our abilities.
Governor: Visit your new home soon
BY FRANK O'BANNON
Governor of Indiana
We are really looking forward to welcoming the National Collegiate Athletic Association to our state.
We have been excited about this development ever since the NCAA announced two years ago that its headquarters would be moving here.
And why not? It means a prestigious employer bringing good jobs to Indiana.
But it's much more than that.
The NCAA's presence here underscores Indiana's standing as the capital of amateur sports.
And a growing, gleaming capital it is, too. The skyline on the western edge of downtown is being redefined by the new state-of-the art, 140,000-square-foot office complex designed by Hoosier-born Michael Graves.
For the past year, those passing by the national office job site have witnessed the amazing transformation. This complex is truly something special.
Next spring, when the 35,000-square-foot Hall of Champions opens, its educational exhibits will add to the appeal -- to Indiana residents and visitors alike -- of White River State Park. This setting for the NCAA campus already sets the standard for a family-oriented state park in the heart of a pace-setting city.
As the NCAA brings its national office geographically closer to the majority of its membership, your organization will benefit from the greater convenience, not to mention all the services available through the innovative national office conference center.
And, of course, our area's economy will benefit, too. Local businesses look forward to showing you Indiana has earned its reputation for friendliness and service -- a reputation so distinguished that it has its own name: "Hoosier hospitality."
But most of all, we look forward to having the national office staff and their families as our neighbors. The NCAA embodies values of teamwork, fair play and putting education first -- values we hold dear here in Indiana. It is an honor to have them as our newest neighbors and friends.
Come share our excitement! We invite you to Indiana to take a look at the new national office and see for yourself what the excitement is all about!
We're glad you are here.
Amateur sports at home in Indianapolis
BY STEPHEN GOLDSMITH
Mayor of Indianapolis
As mayor of Indianapolis, I am pleased to welcome the NCAA national office to our city.
Although many companies are choosing to call Indianapolis home, it's especially gratifying to be welcoming an organization that shares our love of amateur sports. Indianapolis has long been called the Amateur Sports Capital of the World; what better location could there be for the nation's best-known amateur sports organization?
Indianapolis citizens, companies and volunteers have invested a great deal of time and effort in amateur sports. Since we hosted the 1987 Pan American Games, many sporting events have taken place here; in fact, we have hosted well over 400 national and international amateur sports events in that time.
And that number is growing steadily. In 2001, we will host the World Police and Fire Games, and in 2003 the World Gymnastic Championships will take place here. Plenty of amateur sports organizations have located their headquarters in Indianapolis as well, including USA Gymnastics, USA Diving, Synchro Swimming USA, USA Track and Field, USRowing and the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Indianapolis has always held a special place in its heart for the NCAA. We hosted the men's Final Four in 1980, 1991 and 1997, and we have been chosen to host again in 2000 and 2006, but our relationship with the NCAA goes beyond the famous Hoosier passion for basketball. Consider that in the last two years, five major NCAA events were held here.
The NCAA has been a regular visitor to Indianapolis, and it's exciting to reflect that it is now a permanent resident.
Speaking of residence, the location of the NCAA's new headquarters is superb.
White River State Park and the area surrounding it have experienced remarkable growth in recent years. Once an underdeveloped area on the banks of the White River, the park boasts the Indianapolis Zoo, the beautiful new White River Gardens, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the IMAX Theater, and Victory Field, the home of minor-league baseball's Indianapolis Indians. The area is also within walking distance of Indianapolis's rejuvenated downtown.
What's especially fortunate about the NCAA's arrival is that while it will benefit from its surroundings, it will also contribute to them. The NCAA Hall of Champions is a magnificent addition to Indianapolis's array of museums and halls -- an array that already includes the world's largest children's museum, and that will soon be joined by the new Indiana Museum not far from the NCAA headquarters.
Although we in Indianapolis are confident that the NCAA will enjoy its residence here, we are equally confident that we will enjoy having you. Both Indianapolis and the NCAA are firmly committed to athletics excellence, and our union can only make us both stronger. Again, welcome to Indianapolis.
We're happy and proud to have you here.
To those who helped, thanks for good work
BY DANIEL BOGGAN JR.
NCAA Chief Operating Officer
As the NCAA headquarters moves from Overland Park to Indianapolis, I can't help but think of all the work that has gone into redefining the national office work processes.
They are now benchmarked by a set of long-term goals, which include:
Providing better service to the membership.
Improving communications internally.
Making better use of technology in accomplishing our work.
Making it possible for the various committees that support the decision-making apparatus of the Association to meet in the home office.
The new facility that opened for business July 27 supports all of those goals and probably more. However, be patient with us as we bring all the new systems online. I am hoping that Murphy (of Murphy's Law) is on vacation during this transition period.
As the building opens for operation, many people need to be thanked.
Let me start with the staff, which has worked tirelessly to make sure that we meet our obligations to provide quality service to the members. The affection that the staff has for the NCAA is real and has been tested over the last three years in ways that one would not have imagined just five years ago. Major change has been a constant. A number of important issues that the Association had to address all coincided with the building of a new facility, the implementation of the new governance structure, implementing the new initial-eligibility requirements and defending in court core principles that undergird the basic purpose of this Association. Through all of this, the work of the Association has continued in a professional and responsive way.
Second, we need to thank Michael Graves and his team for the excellent design concepts that have been implemented through the construction of the new office. I previously served at the University of California, Berkeley, and what I miss most about being on campus is having a chance every now and then to see the beauty of the place anew. It is a sense of renewal. For me, the campus environment was refreshing, uplifting and stimulating.
What Graves has captured is that campus feeling in a park setting, by a canal, and next to Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis. The energy generated by the setting will be a positive and productive side benefit to the headquarters building, which has an appeal of its own. But it is the promise of the space, and the vision for the place, that provides us with a unique connection to the park and to the community. The site is special, and so are the buildings.
There has been a major logistical effort underway the last six months to make sure that services are only minimally disrupted as we move the staff. The hope is that we have actually developed opportunities throughout the project to do what we do for the members even better. We have challenged the staff, and they have responded as the professionals they are.
It is with sadness that we see so many of our colleagues leave the national office. We thank them for their commitment and their willingness to stay until the very end.
Those of us who are relocating to Indianapolis will look forward to the new "cheese," as in the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson. I suspect that if we let it happen, the change that already has occurred will help us deal more successfully with the change that must occur as we adjust to our new community and our new workplace.
I hope you, the membership, will join us soon in celebrating the NCAA in its new home.
Come visit your building soon.
