Regarding site improvements....
What is the status of the relationship between our team (mods, admins, developer, etc) and the owner of this site? I have the impression that ownership is essentially MIA. If that's the case, I wouldn't advise anyone to put real time and effort into improving this place unless they get enjoyment out of doing the work. Ownership could nuke the whole thing (either intentionally or due to inaction when needed) at any time.
In fact, every time this site goes down I find myself wondering if it will be gone forever. I assume that one of these times, it will be.