UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State plans to overhaul 23 athletic facilities, including its football stadium, though renovations to the program’s iconic home will not begin for at least five years.
Once completed, the 106,572-seat, nearly six-decade-old Beaver Stadium could include a brick facade and see its capacity decrease to 100,000 to improve fan comfort and increase its ability to host events in such sports as professional hockey and soccer.
“This is an aspirational plan,” Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said March 13 in a public meeting where concept art of the stadium and other facilities was revealed. “We’ll ultimately build what we can afford.”
Barbour said the athletic department would need to raise at least $120 million to fund an initial wave of five projects before work on the stadium can begin. Penn State does not have a start date for the stadium renovations and will continue to work with Kansas City, Mo.-based architecture firm Populous to implement the construction in phases.
The athletic department hopes to complete work on all 23 facilities within 20 years.
The first five projects include building a new hub for athletes, an indoor practice facility to be used by the school’s baseball, softball, golf, lacrosse and soccer programs. Penn State also plans to build a new 10-lane natatorium and indoor tennis facility, and to renovate its soccer stadium.
“The five projects that we’ve identified are not small projects,” deputy athletic director Phil Esten said. “So it’s going to take an enormous effort on our behalf to pay attention to those five projects, and that will be our focus for the next five years.”
Barbour could not say whether construction on the football stadium would begin for sure by 2022. A completion date has not been targeted, either. Work on any of the five initial projects will not begin until at least 2018.
“You’re not going to be able to pin it down,” Barbour said. “because we feel we need that runway to design, sequence and fund. I don’t think until we actually get into design, sequence and funding mechanisms that we can set a goal.”
The football stadium has undergone seven expansions since moving from the other side of campus, near Rec Hall, in 1960. But it remains relatively antiquated, despite additions of luxury boxes, high-definition scoreboards, new elevators and a refurbished press box.
If the final product looks like the concept art presented at the meeting, nearly three-quarters of Beaver Stadium’s exposed structural foundation will be hidden by bricks and glass.
Originally expected to be released last summer, Penn State’s plans for its facilities were delayed as the athletic department and Populous entertained multiple approaches and considered feedback and survey responses from Penn State fans and athletic department donors.
“There are lots of things in this master plan that have been tweaked,” Barbour said. “Maybe Populous came to us with and we were like, ‘That doesn’t quite fit the needs as we see them.’”
Those needs include maximizing the stadium’s usage potential. Currently, the stadium is only used by the Nittany Lions’ football team, though it will host its first concert later this summer.
Both the athletic department and NHL have expressed interest in holding a hockey game at the stadium and Barbour confirmed Penn State has spoken with FIFA representatives about hosting professional soccer in the venue. But antiquated infrastructure has prevented its wider use.
Outdated plumbing requires complete winterization each November, and there are other obstacles, such as narrow concourses, lack of chair back seating and limited concession options.
Penn State plans to pay on a project-by-project basis and to fund each one through multiple means with philanthropy, operational revenue, corporate partnerships and the possibility of other public and private partnerships, Barbour said.
Among the five projects slated for the first five years, four involve new construction.
NEW NATATORIUM
A new 130,000-square-foot swimming facility will have a 10-lane, 50-meter competition pool; a separate lap pool that can be used for campus recreation; and a diving well for competition with 1-, 3-, 5-, 7.5- and 10-meter boards and platforms. It will include seating for about 2,500, campus community locker rooms and facilities for Penn State’s varsity swimming and diving teams.
The building will be constructed either on the site of the current McCoy Natatorium, which was built in 1967, or north of the outdoor track near Porter Road. A location decision is expected in the next few months, and the university said the new natatorium will allow for more swimming and diving events and campus and community uses than the current facility.
NEW INDOOR TENNIS FACILITY
A 100,000-square foot tennis complex will include 10 courts, seating for about 500, a pro shop, facilities for the varsity tennis teams and campus recreation space. The new building will be located west of the Field Hockey Complex.
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
A 450,000-square-foot building will be constructed where the East Area Locker Room is currently located and will be a centralized hub for services and resources for student-athletes, coaches and staff. The new building will house “performance enhancement, sports performance, and sports science facilities as well as a nutrition center,” according to the release.
It also will have locker rooms and offices for the field hockey, lacrosse, soccer and tennis teams, and a 500-space parking facility will be built under the center.
NEW INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY
Attached to the new Center of Excellence will be a 108,000-square-foot indoor practice facility to be used by the baseball, softball, golf, lacrosse and soccer teams. It also will have workout space for all 31 varsity teams and could host Penn State sports camps and other events.
JEFFREY FIELD RENOVATIONS
The home of Penn State’s men’s and women’s soccer programs will undergo a number of renovations. New home and visitor locker room facilities, chair-back spectator seating and covered seating on the west side of the facility will be added, along with concessions and restrooms, media facilities, a video board and new lighting. Seating capacity is expected to be about 4,000 upon completion.
In addition, the 20-year plan calls for new construction for:
■ All-Sports Museum (to be located at the intersection of University Drive and Curtin Road)
■ Basketball practice facility
■ Cross-country team house
■ Golf clubhouse
■ Golf indoor practice facility
■ Olympic sport training facility
■ Outdoor track and facility
■ Parking structure west of Beaver Stadium
In addition to the Jeffrey Field, Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center, renovations or upgrades are planned over the next 20 years for:
■ Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park
■ Penn State Field Hockey Complex
■ Lasch Football Building
■ Multi-Sport Complex
■ Penn State Lacrosse Field
■ Sarni Tennis Center
Dauer Road, which runs along the south side of the Bryce Jordan Center, will be extended. The road will continue south of Pegula Ice Arena and extended between the new Center for Excellence and the Field Hockey Complex, connecting with the existing road south of the Sarni Tennis Center, and on to Bigler Road.
“The master plan includes a phased and prioritized implementation strategy and corresponding conceptual level total project cost estimates,” a release from Penn State said.
“The project also includes a site plan that establishes site relationships, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, open space and landscape concept and identify branding and business opportunities. The (athletics) master plan also has been integrated into the University Park campus master plan.”
“The primary goals of the athletic master plan were to consolidate operations and enhance the life of a student-athlete,” said Scott Radecic, senior principal at Populous, a Penn State graduate and former Nittany Lions football player.
“The consolidation of activities provides opportunities for more interaction between student-athletes, coaches and administration. As a former student-athlete, that interaction is a key part of a great collegiate experience.”
Travis Johnson of the Associated Press and Geoff Rushton of StateCollege.com authored this story.
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