Coloradoan Survey: Majority against CSU stadium

Nearly 60 percent of those who responded to a Coloradoan survey about the proposed on-campus stadium at Colorado State University indicated they do not want the project to move forward.

With just three months until CSU's self-imposed deadline to decide whether it will build on campus, 59.12 percent of respondents indicated they did not want it to be built, 37.2 percent of respondents were in favor of the project and 3.68 percent were neutral.

The pro-stadium response was in line with a survey Colorado State University published in March 2012 that found 37.1 percent in favor of a stadium. In CSU's survey, 42 percent were opposed and 20 percent said they were conflicted or needed more information.

CSU has said the proposed stadium would be built using private funds. A decision from CSU president Tony Frank on if the university should move forward with the $254 million project is expected by October.

Athletics is responsible for approximately $220 million of the cost of the stadium — the rest of the cost is for classroom space — and Frank has said half of that must be raised in donations before approval is granted. CSU told The Coloradoan last week that as of June 30, it had secured $24.2 million in donations.

The Coloradoan's survey was open for two weeks in July. There were nearly 6,500 responses to 10 questions. Additionally, more than 3,000 respondents elected to add comments detailing their position on the issue.

Those opposed to an on-campus stadium said they thought getting to and parking at games would be difficult.

"It will be too much of a hassle to attend the game at the on-campus stadium. Even if there is tailgating, can you imagine what it will be like? A good part of going to the game is the tailgating," said one respondent who also indicated membership in Ram Club, a CSU athletics booster organization.

CSU's intramural fields to the north of the proposed stadium site, on the corner of Meridian and Pitkin streets, are potential tailgating locations. Parking garages are included in the university's master plan, with or without a stadium.

When readers did vote in support of the stadium, 72.9 percent of them cited a better game-day experience as the reason. Others cited that the stadium would be a recruiting tool (20.57 percent) and that they wouldn't have to drive so far to attend games (6.53 percent).

"After graduating from CSU, I completed a master's at a school with an on-campus stadium in a college town similar to (Fort) Collins. The enhanced atmosphere, options for pre- and post-game dining and the ease of walking around the campus is a luxury that is well-ingrained for me," said one pro-stadium respondent.

Those for and against the project agreed that if built, the stadium would bring more traffic to the area on game days. About 75 percent thought Fort Collins would be more congested.

If the stadium is approved, CSU will work with the city to develop a game-day traffic plan. Traffic and parking will be discussed at the Aug. 4 meeting of the Community Design Development Advisory Committee, or CDDAC, from 6-9 p.m. at 215 N. Mason St. in Fort Collins.

Nearly half of those who completed the Coloradoan survey thought businesses would benefit. Roughly 46.78 percent of respondents said businesses near CSU would see more activity. Meanwhile, 30.84 percent thought businesses would be negatively impacted. In June, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce endorsed the project, stating it will provide an economic boost to the city during and after construction while adding brand recognition to CSU.

Sixty two percent of respondents said they attend football games at Hughes Stadium, which is located 3 miles west of campus. And 53 percent said they wouldn't if the Rams played on campus.

Nearly 70 percent thought CSU students, faculty and staff or taxpayers would foot the bill for at least a portion of the stadium. Seventy-two percent did not expect the stadium to be funded entirely by private donations. CSU does not expect to raise all of its private funding via donations.

HOW WE DID IT

The survey was open from July 1-15. It was shared on Coloradoan.com, on Facebook and Twitter, in the print edition of the paper and via email.

Respondents were not permitted to complete the survey twice from the same device. However, a respondent could use multiple devices to do so — for example, an iPhone and a desktop computer.

Of the 6,458 times the survey was taken, 1,636 of those were from IP addresses that appeared at least twice in the results log.

If data from recurring Internet addresses were removed, surveys completed at computers on the CSU campus or by those with a DSL-based connection, including CenturyLink customers on a fiber optic network, would have been omitted. We chose to leave the data set intact.

However, if we omitted duplicate IP address responses, 62.46 percent of the overall responses were against the stadium and 33 percent were in favor.