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Proposed renovations would decrease Beaver Stadium capacity

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Proposed renovations would decrease Beaver Stadium capacity

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has one of the largest football venues in the nation, and proposed renovations for Beaver Stadium won’t change that.

The place will just be a bit more, uh, intimate than it is now.

Phil Esten, deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer for intercollegiate athletics, said Monday the proposed work would reduce the seating capacity of Beaver Stadium from “roughly 107,000” — it technically is 106,572 — to “roughly 103,000.”

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Those renovations, which are planned for sometime after the next five years, include wider concourses, new restrooms, a “significant increase” in chairback seating, new concessions locations and food options and more premium seating options.

An artist rendering of the outside of Beaver Stadium after proposed renovations.
Adam Bittner
Beaver Stadium looks unrecognizable in renovation renderings

The stadium renovations and upgrades were part of a 20-year athletic facilities master plan Penn State officials announced Monday.

Several stressed that the plan is “aspirational” at this stage.

“These facilities have not been designed … they’ve been programmed,” athletic director Sandy Barbour said. “It’s a road map, and like any road map, there will be detours … and rerouting.”

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Esten said the Beaver Stadium project would be executed in consecutive years, with work being done from December through August to avoid conflicts with football games.

Barber characterized the planned work on Beaver Stadium as “a massive project,” and it — along with the other planned construction and renovations — surely will carry a massive price tag.

Just how large remains to be seen, and it’s possible that some projects eventually might be scaled back, if not abandoned, because of financial considerations.

“We’ll ultimately build what we can afford,” Barbour said.

The initial five-year block of work includes a:

• Center of Excellence, a 450,000-square foot facility intended to serve as “the new hub” for the school’s athletes, staff and coaches. It will feature resources for performance enhancement, sports science, sports performance and a nutrition center, as well as locker rooms and coaches’ offices for field hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse, tennis and soccer.

• 108,000-square foot indoor practice facility, similar to Holuba Hall, that will provide practice space for a variety of teams.

• Natatorium featuring a 10-lane, 50-meter competition pool, along with a separate lap pool and diving well, with seating for 2,500 spectators.

• 100,000-square foot indoor tennis facility featuring 10 courts and seating for 500 spectators.

• Major renovation to Jeffrey Field, home of the men’s and women’s soccer programs. Upgrades are planned for the locker rooms, lighting and seats, among other things. This is the only one of the five priority items that will not be new construction.

 

Figuring out how to finance those projects, Barbour said, is “part of this process.”

Among the options are philanthropy, corporate partnerships, student fees and public-private partnerships.

Another way to raise money, Barbour said, would be to have events other than Penn State football games at Beaver Stadium. International soccer, an NHL outdoors game and concerts were the possibilities she cited.

The time frame for work not included in the first five years of the master plan is to be determined.

A basketball practice facility, which would be located near the Bryce Jordan Center, headlines the list of other projects proposed for the 20-year span.

Other new facilities planned during that time include an all-sports museum, cross-country team house, golf clubhouse and indoor practice facility, outdoor track and facility, Olympics sports training site and a parking garage west of Beaver Stadium.

Joining Beaver Stadium on the renovation list are the Lasch Football Building, Bryce Jordan Center, Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park, the field hockey complex, the multi-sport complex, lacrosse field and Sarni Tennis Center.

Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG

First Published: March 13, 2017, 2:39 p.m.
Updated: March 13, 2017, 9:42 p.m.

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