Tech to expand stadium over 20 year period

[Phi Delt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2797799

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A master plan for improving Texas Tech's football stadium includes the addition of 30,000 seats over the next 20 years and a five-story building for club, retail and suite space.

Athletic director Gerald Myers presented the plan Tuesday to the facilities committee of the Texas Tech University system board of regents. Improvements to Jones AT&T Stadium would cost an estimated $40 million.

Myers also presented plans for $14 million to $21 million in upgrades for baseball and softball facilities on campus.

The plan presented to the committee had few details on funding.

"The funding for all of this is not complete at this point, but we are working diligently to do all of these things," Myers said in a story for Wednesday's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Planners want to start adding 10,000 seats straddling the north end zone by next spring. The athletic offices, suites and retail facilities would be built on the east side of the stadium.

Proposals for softball improvements include a new fieldhouse, stands and practice facilities. For baseball, improvements would include upgrades to artificial turf, concession additions, and a new press box and eight luxury suites.

"I'm glad to see they're doing a master plan," committee chairman Bob Black said. "I think it's been long in coming, but very, very encouraging to see it coming out of the athletics department."

[smupony94]

I know they are slow in Lubbock but 20 years?

[RGV Pony]

Come on an 80000 seat stadium in Lubbock? They've only just now started to get close to 50k for their successful teams...and it's still in the 40s when they play Missouri, Kansas, Colorado etc.

[CalallenStang]

From the educational rumor mill...Tech is trying to grow the enrollment up there to numbers comparable to UT and A&M.

The 20-year plan is probably just to address future demand for tickets from a larger base of alumni.

[NavyCrimson]

CalallenStang - you just solved the riddle why

That is precisely the reason

[Longtime]

As big as they are, UT and A&M are hard to get into now. That's benefited Tech tremendously. A lot more kids are crossing the border to enroll at OU and OSU, too.

[Stallion]

I don't see any reason why Tech can't average 65-70,000 within 10-20 years especially in Big 12 Games. They filled 96.2% of their seats last year and had over 50,000 for SMU not exactly a big draw during the opening week of hunting season in West Texas.

[PonySoprano]

As big as they are, UT and A&M are hard to get into now. That's benefited Tech tremendously. A lot more kids are crossing the border to enroll at OU and OSU, too.

That is why Tech is known as the "Safety School of Texas" - I think that's why the majority of their fans are such a-holes - they are pi$$ed off that they didn't get accepted to the school of their choice and they ended up at Tech.

[ALEX LIFESON]

We sure saw plenty of them up close last year, didn't we PonySoprano?

[RGV Pony]

As big as they are, UT and A&M are hard to get into now. That's benefited Tech tremendously. A lot more kids are crossing the border to enroll at OU and OSU, too.

That is why Tech is known as the "Safety School of Texas" - I think that's why the majority of their fans are such a-holes - they are pi$$ed off that they didn't get accepted to the school of their choice and they ended up at Tech.

I'm not sure which is more aggravating...seeing that behavior in person out there in backwash land like we did last year or seeing 2/3 of our stadium overrun with them like it will be in September.

I'm buying an extra season ticket just to create more of a buffer zone. Now that I think of it, why do a bunch of visiting fans (whom I am assuming get their tickets from 214-SMU-GAME) always wind up in what is supposed to be Mustang Club 'preferred' seating?

But I digress. How nice it would be to break the Big XII drought.

[NavyCrimson]

"...I'm buying an extra season ticket just to create more of a buffer zone. ..."

Not a bad idea I may do the same. I don't buy season tickets; however, I can buy two & then send them to someone.

Good idea

[Stallion]

BTW I was checking out texasAgs.com and they have a 20 year plan that has been drawn up to raise the attendance of Kyle Field to 115,000.


Updated September 18, 2004 0:10 AM

A&M Regents discuss long-term vision for Kyle Field

By BRETT NAUMAN
Eagle Staff Writer


Special to The Eagle

A long-term expansion plan for Texas A&M University’s Kyle Field would add six decks to the south end zone, boosting the stadium’s capacity to 115,000 and making it the largest football venue in the United States.


Special to The Eagle

Texas A&M University officials on Friday detailed long-term expansion plans at Kyle Field that would create more than 30,000 additional seats at the football stadium.

Six new decks in the south end zone seating would help boost the stadium’s capacity from 82,000 to 115,000, according to plans presented to the A&M System Board of Regents.

But constructing the south end zone and additional seating that wraps around the structure — creating a bowl stadium — likely will not happen for 20 years, regents said.

Regents discussed the Kyle Field expansion and future growth at A&M’s other athletic facilities during a board meeting at the Memorial Student Center.

The project would cost $100 million to $200 million to build today, said Tim Donathen, executive director of facilities, planning and construction for the A&M System.

How fast A&M moves forward with the expansion likely will be driven by ticket and concession revenues from football games, along with gifts from private donors, Donathen said.

“Anything could happen, but there’s no definitive time line to make this go,” he said. “It’s a vision, and much of it depends on the success of the football program.”

A&M completed a nearly $33 million expansion of its north end zone seating in 1999. That expansion boosted Kyle Field’s capacity from 70,000 to 82,000, associate athletics director Alan Cannon said.

Regents reacted favorably to the designs for the future expansion Friday. Included were plans to connect Kyle Field’s north, west, east and proposed south stands.

A lower bowl built behind the stands would give fans the ability to walk around the stadium and get to their seats more easily, said Chris Lammers, a designer with the architecture firm O’Connell, Robertson & Associates.

New restrooms and concession stands at Kyle Field also would make attending games more comfortable, said Lammers, who played football for A&M in the 1980s. A parking garage would be built between the stadium and Wellborn Road as part of the expansion.

A facility with seating for 115,000 fans would be the largest football stadium in the United States, according to the Web site Worldstadiums.com.

The University of Michigan’s football stadium has the most seats among U.S. facilities with 107,501. Penn State University’s stadium comes in second with 107,282 seats, according to the Web site.

The University of Texas’ Royal-Memorial Stadium can seat 84,000, UT officials said.

Though most of Friday’s board meeting revolved around Kyle Field, expansion for several other sports also was proposed as the athletic department presented its long-term plan.

Olsen Field, the soccer complex and softball stadium all would benefit from renovations, Donathen said. Plans call for new seating that would triple the soccer field’s attendance capacity, he said.

A proposed indoor practice facility south of Kyle Field also would allow the football, baseball, basketball, tennis, track and softball teams to escape extreme weather conditions, Lammers told the board.

The practice facility, which would cost between $55 million and $80 million, would have high ceilings and retractable floors that would suit each sport, he said. The building could hold 5,000 people, Lammers said.

G. Rollie White Coliseum would have to be destroyed to make way for the Kyle Field expansion at some point, he said, and the volleyball team would be moved from the coliseum to Reed Arena.

Regents also met Friday in closed session to discuss two candidates for the system’s vice chancellor and dean of agriculture post. But Regent Erle Nye said the board could not choose between the candidates because of confusion over whether one still is interested in the job.

Elsa Murano, undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and John Owens, a vice president and Harlan vice chancellor at the University of Nebraska, are the finalists.

Nye would not say which candidate generated the confusion. Regents likely will make a decision during the next two weeks on who will replace retiring agriculture chief Ed Hiler.

• Brett Nauman’s e-mail address is [email protected].

[CalallenStang]

A long-term expansion plan for Texas A&M University’s Kyle Field would add six decks to the south end zone, boosting the stadium’s capacity to 115,000 and making it the largest football venue in the United States.

I love how they just assume that no other school will expand their stadium to larger than 115,000 within the next 20 years.

It's not like A&M is the only school in America with a 20-year expansion plan

Heck, even SMU has one: Win, get attendance up, expand Ford to 45,000

[RHS]

As big as they are, UT and A&M are hard to get into now. That's benefited Tech tremendously. A lot more kids are crossing the border to enroll at OU and OSU, too.

That is why Tech is known as the "Safety School of Texas" - I think that's why the majority of their fans are such a-holes - they are pi$$ed off that they didn't get accepted to the school of their choice and they ended up at Tech.

I was surprised it took that long for that misconception to hit the thread. A&M grew exponentially in the 70s & 80s because they finally let women in. Welcome to reality.

Do you ralize how naïve you sound? You are talking about maybe 10% of Tech’s student population. The ones who are going to college because they don’t want to go to work right out of HS. There are areas that neither UT nor A&M even try to compete with Tech on. Please enjoy the following rant.

You aren’t going to apply to UT or A&M first if you are going for an Architecture degree. You would probably apply at UTA before you applied at UT or A&M. There is one are of Architecture study that Tech is the only school in the state to offer. Does UT even have an Architecture program? So none of the Tech’s Architecture students are stuck at Tech. I do understand that A&M's Architecture program is improving.

Neither school has a nursing program. Tech’s nursing program is now more respected than TWU’s and gaining on Baylor’s fast. Neither UT nor A&M even try to compete with Tech so NONE of those students are worried about being at a second choice.

Tech’s Biology and Microbiology departments have a huge advantage over UT & A&M because Tech can actually prepare you for Medical school or an advanced degree in the Med School because Tech has a Med School right there & works with the under graduate programs. UT has Southwestern, but that isn’t any more affiliated with UT-Austin as UTSA or UTEP. Tech has a HUGE advantage here because students can transition into a MD much smoother. Since Tech has 4 HSC campuses, only Baylor can compete with getting a young MD started in a career. So again, no second choice here.

A&M has it on Tech in the Pet Eng degree, but these days if you want an Eng degree, you need to go to UTD. Tech's EE, ME, & structural Eng degree holds as much weight as anyone elses. It depends on your GPA more than when you graduate.

Tech is the only school in the state with a Range and Wildlife program so no second choices there.

A&M does have a Vet school while Tech doesn’t, but since the Fed Govt quit giving 90% of funding to land grant schools and evenly distributing the funding, the undergrad Ag degree at Tech is on par with A&M’s. They don’t have all the fun research to themselves any more. Welcome to 1996.

Tech’s History & Psychology departments are as good as anyone else in the state. Tech’s Psychology Dept may be the best in the state.

UT's Law School does have more rep and more pull, but A&M doesn't have a law school. If you want to get into politics, you need to go to UT or Baylor law school. SMU law school is great, if you practice in Dallas. Tech's law school is great if you want to get a high score on the bar exam.

Probably 20% of Tech students are in programs that neither UT nor A&M even offer. Another 10% are in a program that Tech is the better school for the degree.

Another shocker for the local denzians. DFW is Tech's largest pool for new students. Tech is growing fast because more DFW kids are going to Tech than going to local schools or UT or A&M. Part of that is Tech targeted DFW high school councilors to educate them on what Tech is doing because 25 to 30% of Tech's alumni live in DFW. And we are getting our share of the best students from DFW.

The growth from DFW is expected inicrease to where 40% of Tech alums will probably be living and working in DFW, assuming 80% of kids move back home after graduation, by 2010. DFW's economy is good enough to absorb the Tech grads. So you are just going to have to learn to live with us.

The bright side is we fill up your stadium every other year. Neither UT nor A&M will schedule a home and home with SMU or TCU. How many sellouts has SMU had in Ford that didn't involve Tech? We blew up Amon Carter. They ran out of parking, water, food, change and everything but defense that day.

[SMUtrojanFAN]

Oh yeah? Well, where's your presidential library?