Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum Costs?

Ever wonder what Sanford Stadium actual cost UGA once you factor in all the renovations and then adjust for inflation? You probably haven't thought about it, but it intrigued me.

I started goofing around the cybertubes until I found an Inflation Calculator*. The site adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 to 2007.

I researched all the significant upgrades to Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum listed on Georgiadogs.com and other sources. Then I totaled the original expenses vs. the value adjusted for inflation.

It's not an attempt to compare what it would cost to build these facilities today. The cost of construction materials has exploded such that a comparison of that variety would need to be made by looking at recent peer investments. It's more of a discussion related to what that investment means in 2007 dollars**.

Sanford Stadium	Year	Cost	Inflation Adjusted
Original Structure	1929	$ 360,000	$ 4,321,237
Double Deck Both Sides	1967	$ 3,000,000	$ 18,440,513
Enclosed East Endzone	1981	$ 11,500,000	$ 25,917,591
Installed Lights	1982	$ 1,000,000	$ 2,122,131
Letterman's Club (East End)	1984	$ 386,390	$ 761,788
West End Lower Bowl	1991	$ 3,700,000	$ 5,566,676
Sky Suites	1994	$ 6,000,000	$ 8,293,229
Sky Suites Addition	2000	$ 12,000,000	$ 14,318,151
North 3rd Deck (600 level)	2003	$ 25,000,000	$ 28,137,004
North Sky Suites Under 600 level	2004	$ 8,000,000	$ 8,716,206
Sanford Total:		$ 70,946,390	$ 116,594,527
Stegeman Coliseum
Original Structure	1964	$ 4,200,000	$ 27,800,508
Reseating and A/C (Pre-Olympics)	1996	$ 3,000,000	$ 3,927,648
Lighting, Lockers, Sound, Etc.*	2001	$ 2,500,000	$ 2,935,973
Practice Facility	2007	$ 30,000,000	$ 30,000,000
Stegeman Total:		$ 39,700,000	$ 64,664,129

So what conclusions do I draw from all of this? Well...

• Damn Good Deal - That initial 1929 investment in Sanford Stadium was one hell of a deal. Even with all the add-ons and adjusting for inflation, it's a steal at $116.5 million.
  
• We Ignored Hoops - There was no significant investment in Stegeman from 1964 until 1996. If you want to know why our b-ball program has faced such an up hill climb, that's it. Dooley simply ignored it. Within months of taking over, Damon signed off on the practice facility which adjusted for inflation is almost equal to all other b-ball investments in our 100 year history.

Just something that interested me.

PWD

*This was a staggered investment over a series of years.
**The site I used didn't have 2008 data.