Editorial the Rice Thresher Friday

The bu i ld ing former ly k n o w n as Autry Court n o w h a s a n e w n a m e a n d a new face , a f te r a lmos t two yea rs of cons t ruc t i on . Former Rice baske tba l l p layer Bobby Tudor (Hanszen '82) fulf i l led a l ong t ime d r e a m w h e n he d o n a t e d $7 mil l ion for Autry r enova t ions , wh ich began in February of 2007. Tudor Fieldh o u s e h a d its g r a n d o p e n i n g last Friday a n d will o p e n for t he 2008'09 baske tba l l s e a s o n tonight w h e n the w o m e n ' s baske tba l l plays Californ ia Sta te Univers i ty-Northr idge. The a th le t ic cour t itself will keep the n a m e Autry in h o n o r of Mrs. J ames L. Autry, w h o s e d a u g h t e r d o n a t e d to the g y m n a s i u m bu i ld ing . Ass i s tan t Athlet ic Director a n d Media Re la t ions Director Chuck Pool sa id a n e w Autry Court h a s b e e n a d r e a m for a very long t ime. Bobby Tudor , a f t e r w h o m Tudor F i e ldhouse is n a m e d , w a s told that r e n o v a t i o n s to Autry Court were on the tab le w h e n he wen t on his h igh schoo l rec ru i t ing trip to Rice 31 yea r s ago. The p l a n s b e c a m e a reality w h e n Rice received a $7 mil l ion c o n t r i b u t i o n f rom Tudor a n d his wife , P h o e b e . Tudor is a fo rmer Rice baske tba l l p layer a n d is now chai r m a n a n d CEO of Tudor , P icker ing , Holt & Co., LLC. The open ing , which took p lace over Homecoming Weekend, inc luded tours of the bu i ld ing ' s interior, a d i n n e r on the floor of the court a n d a p resen ta t ion h o n o r i n g con t r ibu tors . The event was initially p l a n n e d as a Grand Opening , but was scaled back d u e to the con t inua t ion of renova t ions . Pool sa id the bu i ld ing ' s essen t ia l f ea tu re s for f ans a n d a th le t e s are comple te , but s o m e seconda ry e l emen t s , such a s downs ta i rs a r ea s for pos t -game interviews, are not finished. He said this was s t a n d a r d for all types of bui lding open ings . "It's the way it always seems to go when people build houses , " Pool said. "They end up moving in and still have carpenters fixing u p stuff because they had a deadl ine to move in when everything was not quite finished." There a re s o m e ongoing projects , such as the renova t ion of the pool , wh ich will have to wai t unt i l the Recreat ion Center o p e n s next fall , he sa id . "You're not going to walk in on Friday a n d see comple t e total renovat ion of en t i re Autry Court facility," Pool sa id . "But it's a pre t ty significant u p g r a d e f rom w h e r e we were two years ago ." 0 see TUDOR, page 8 DAVID ROSALES/THRESHER