What to Expect in the Future from Tulane Facilities, AD Harris

Welcome to this special edition of The Green Wave Report from On SI Tulane. I’m Doug Joubert. Today the 3rd Part of our wide-ranging interview with Tulane athletic director David Harris on the State of Tulane athletics.

This four-part series focuses on the NIL and the possibility of a Collective Bargaining Agreement with student-athletes, the athletic programs that are successful at Tulane and those that have not seen the ceiling yet, athletic facilities and their future, and what Harris’ vision is for Tulane athletics. The series runs on Mondays and Wednesdays at Noon through this week.

Part one focused on the Give Green campaign at Tulane,.followed up by where Tulane in particular stands on NIL and where Harris thinks will go on a possible CBA for athletes.

Part two had the Tulane AD compare the Tulane programs that have been successful and those still striving for that more favorable outcome.

Today, in Part 3, Harris gives us his take on where Tulane athletic facilities are now and where they can go in the future.

What to Expect From Yulman in the Fall

Last year we did the Uptown Terrace, so we're looking at the possibility of whether we expand something like that if we want to add another premium opportunity in the north end zone, something that's close to the field level, that's something that we'll consider as well. We're looking at doing, I wouldn't say the improvements in the Glacier Club, but we're getting to a point where some of the elements of the Glacier Club, we can change out some furniture or replace some of the seating, just to make sure that it continues to be the place that it has been since the facility opened, which is, it's really the place to be on a game day for Tulane football, and so we want to keep it that way. We always get feedback about our sound system, and so the degree to which we can address that is something that we're considering as well.

We have some issues with our video board, so we're looking at an appropriate way to be able to address that. And then big picture, we're looking at other premium seating opportunities, whether it be the exposed box, the exposed suites, obviously that's stuff that we can get done before the upcoming season, but big picture, we've done some work, some studies behind the scenes, and some of our fans and donors have gotten surveys where they've been asked about whether or not they support a certain type of premium seating option, because we want to make sure that we're able to do it for the long term, and in response to what our fans are really requesting, so we've been doing some of that work, and that won't happen, as I said, before the upcoming season, but certainly in the next few years.

Anything for Fogelman?

I think from my standpoint, while it is an old facility, I think there's a ton of history within the arena, and I think it can be a positive thing to do if you get the right type of environment If the history of what has happened before lends to this type of environment where people enjoy and want to be a part of making the next round of history, then I think the facility can really create an environment where we feel like, hey, this is our arena, this is a place that's special to us, this is a place where we've had a lot of significant memories, and we want to continue to invest in keeping this facility as a part of what we do here at Tulane Athletics. At the same time, when it's an old facility, it doesn't have a lot of the modern amenities that people enjoy as well.

We were talking about premium seating from a football standpoint. Football has some premium seating options we need to be expanded, but they do have some. We don't really have that at all from the standpoint of involvement, but at the same time, because it is an older arena, there are more restrictions, there are more limits, there are more things that you have to consider if you're going to be making investments and trying to modernize that arena.

So those are conversations that we're having and we'll continue to be able to do anything along those lines in Tulane, but we certainly recognize that if we can mediate plans for next year, there are no immediate plans.

And Next Spring at Turchin?

There is already premium seating. They saw suites, et cetera, which you could never have fulfilled in the way it's arranged right now. So what are some of the things you see in the immediate future for Turchin and in the future? Yeah, and some of those things, like Turchin is, of our facilities, when people come to our games, I'm not so sure that, at least from what I hear, that we don't get the most compliments about Turchin, about watching games there, about the quality of the facility.

And so it's really a fantastic facility to be able to come in and enjoy a baseball game. The improvements that we've been doing and having, really, in many cases, are focusing on the student-athlete experience. So, for instance, we're going to be doing some work on the hitting facility, the hack shack, to make it a better facility for those student-athletes.

In the future, is there a possibility that we can take the bullpen area out of the playing area and be able to relocate it to a different area so that we can avoid safety issues? Now, there's nothing on the docket for that right now, but just as you're talking and looking at needs that the stadium may have, that's one that can jump out at you right away, is how can we address that.

The entirety of the interview can be seen by clicking here. You can see this and more on our YouTube channel.

This Wednesday, the final segment of our exclusive interview with Tulane AD David Harris. We’ll focus on his vision for Tulane athletics. In this reporter’s opinion, his answer is one that should make any Green Wave fan sit up and notice. That’s Wednesday at noon.

In the meantime, please join us for our regular edition of the Green Wave Report Monday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. when we report on Tulane baseball, the basketball transfer portal, and the similarities of what we hear from Gainesville and what still echoes in Uptown. Until then, I’m Doug Joubert