A legion of fund raising volunteers for the proposed Save Mart Center at California State University, Fresno are determined to raise money for a facility that will rival the new event center at Ohio State University, regarded as the nation’s best collegiate event center.

The Schottenstein Center at Ohio State opened in November as the new home of Buckeye basketball and hockey, and it has been heavily booked for concerts and other events, including Luciano Pavarotti, Bill Cosby and the Rolling Stones. Originally projected to cost $75 million, successful fund raising allowed Ohio State to construct a larger and more versatile facility that cost more than $100 million.

Fresno businessmen Ed Kashian and Bob Duncan, co-chairs of the fund raising campaign for the Save Mart Center, believe the same can be accomplished for Central California. They have set a minimum fund raising goal of $103 million.

Kashian said, “At the urging of the co-chairs and other key volunteer fund raisers, the bar was raised to reflect not just an adequate facility, but rather a world class standard. The university has since hired the necessary consultants to design such a facility for the benefit of the entire Central California region. Now it’s up to our fund raising volunteers to get us there.”

Kashian said the best model is the new event center at Ohio State, and he said several fund raising volunteers for the Fresno State project will tour the Schottenstein Center there later this month.

Fresno State Event Center Coordinator Debbie Astone said that, as a result of consultation with many groups, the current plan includes not only athletic facilities but a number of academic areas, such as a high-tech, 300-seat classroom; a media production center for television, computer graphics and photography; a business incubator that will house 25 start-up businesses; the university’s Entrepreneurial Studies program; and the Institute for Family Business. Astone said these facilities will serve the Central California region as well as meeting important academic needs.

Fresno State president John Welty said, “Just as other universities throughout the country have linked themselves to their communities to stimulate economic growth, this event center will serve as a stimulus to launch a new era of Fresno State service to Central California. We envision that, when this project is fully operational, it will create more than 500 jobs annually.”

“Our conceptual design reflects all the program elements that our constituent groups want in the facility,” Astone said. “And we have been advised that if we build it all, the cost will be comparable to Ohio State’s. We can’t talk about exact costs, however, until we bring a contractor on board, and that selection process will occur in the next few months,” she said.

The concept design for the Save Mart Center was produced by the same architectural firm, Sink Combs Dethlefs of Denver, which designed the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State.

University officials said $46.5 million has been raised to date, which includes a sponsorship commitment from Pepsi and Save Mart of about $40 million dedicated to the project and which will be paid over 20 years. Astone said the Pepsi and Save Mart sponsorship will provide the funds “to secure a bond and help with initial operating costs. But now we need the down payment in order to begin construction.”

Campaign teams

The responsibility for raising that money will Test primarily with a volunteer fund drive co-chaired by Kashian and Fresno businessman Bob Duncan. They have assembled four fund raising teams of volunteers: John Ledbetter of Lodi, owner of Vino Farms, heads a North Valley team with a goal of $2 million. Craig Saladino, chairman of the Saladino’s Inc. food company, heads a Central Valley team with a goal of $30 million. Eric Shannon, a partner in S-K Ranch of Visalia, chairs a South Valley team with a goal of $4 million. A national team, headed by former Congressman Tony Coelho, with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante serving as the honorary chairman, has a goal of $47 million. A campaign to lease private suites has a goal of $6.75 million, and the personal seat license campaign has a goal of $13.5 million.

Construction timeline

The CSU Board of Trustees is expected to approve the financing plan in the fall of 1999. University officials then hope to break ground for the Save Mart Center in 2000. The estimated construction period is two years from groundbreaking.

Environmental impact report

Astone said a draft environmental impact report for the project will be available within the next couple of weeks. The draft will be available to the public, and a public hearing on the

draft EIR will be scheduled for late March or ApriL Astone expects the draft EIR to conclude that the impact of increased traffic will constitute the primary area of concern.

Seat licenses

The university expects to raise more than 10 percent of the construction cost through the sale of personal seat licenses. Officials said the seat licenses will go on sale in the fall and will cost between $500 and $3,000 for a 10-year right to purchase season tickets to a specified seat.

Fresno State has been successful with seat licenses in the past. For example, seat-licenses generated about $5.8 million to build Bulldog Stadium in 1981 and $7.7 million to expand the stadium in 1991.

Not all of the Save Mart Center’s seats will be available through seat licenses. About 2,000 are being set aside for student seating. A number of seats also have been set aside for persons making significant contributions to the project.

Persons interested in contributing to the Save Mart Center may contact the Office of University Development at 278-4036.