Just Imagine: The date is April 26, 2008, and the doors of Chaifetz Arena are finally propped open for public admission.
Cotton candy and funnel cake fill the shouting mouths of Saint Louis University students who flip and whirl on carnival rides. They giggle as they compete for tokens at carnival games, spinning about in a cyclone of prize tickets and raffle baskets. Admission is free, so thousands twirl from lofty swings, wield giant mallets at high-striker pedestals and pummel one another with inflatable boxing gloves. All is pleasant and nostalgic in Frost Campus paradise.
As the festivities proceed, comments about the arena’s impressive size and cost are lobbed about as frequently as beanbags in the carnival booths. The arena’s cost: $80.5 million. The capacity: 10,600. The construction time: more than 19 months. Already, it is a building of legend.
Steeped in adrenaline and high-fructose corn syrup, revelers swarm toward the Chaifetz Arena itself. As the sun sets, affiliates from across the nation gather together for the main event: the evening concert, “Rock, Rap, and Rawhide.” Some Washington University students have even left their bi-annual music concert, W.I.L.D., to attend this much-anticipated concert.
Finally, as the stadium reaches capacity, the lights dim, and a booming voice announces . five separate acts, none of them able to live up to the day’s hype.
Each of the acts scheduled to celebrate the opening of our new arena-Tyler Hilton, Chingy, The Starting Line, Jo Dee Messina and Augustana-are reputable. After a little research, students will recognize at least one of each artist’s ditties.
But the number of artists and array of genres chosen by the Student Activities Board pique curiosity: Why not one huge name, one big-ticket artist, to start the arena off on a high note to match it’s construction cost?
One explanation, SAB President Ainsley Onstott said, is that a variety of artists and genres will appeal to a variety of students. This may be so. But early information from SGA indicated that, originally, a big act was planned and fell through. There’s also the possibility that, after years of criticism, SAB is attempting to appease everyone, offering several acts from different musical genres.
Though the final plans may be back-ups, the fact remains: There’s no way a division of student interest among five, mid-range performers will be as unifying as one, Top 40 favorite-say, Fergie or Kanye West. A top-shelf celebrity act would draw in the entire University community, and then some.With ticket prices soaring toward the triple digits, students would gladly pay a reduced rate for a top-notch act-especially if SAB and SGA subsidized their tickets. Profits from student tickets would offset costs, making a more expensive act feasible.
By profiting from the concert, SLU might even make this carnival an annual event, just like Wash. U.’s W.I.L.D., which “Rock, Rap and Rawhide” organizers hope to emulate.
Though each of these artists would make a great opening act for a real headliner, none are worth the price of a general admission ticket in the end. Thankfully, the concert is free. When Chris Brown, Kelly Clarkson or even the Spice Girls RSVP for Chaifetz, we’ll be there with bells on.
Until then, we’ll see you at W.I.L.D.
