Report: Football Stadium Renovation Details
Posted on: May 5, 2014
Image via tailgatewiki.com
Sunday evening Dean Blevins put out a report regarding OU’s expected stadium renovation plans he says he has confirmed through multiple sources. The details are pretty much in line with what has previously been rumored and/or talked about publicly.
* $350-400 millon budget
* New pressbox – Blevins’ report says is would stretch the length of the west sideline
* Bowling in the south end zone, which would increase the stadium capacity to “more than 90,000.”* Updating the football facilities (weight room, locker room, etc.)
* Suite upgrades
Blevins is reporting the renovations would start following the final home game of the coming season (Dec. 6 versus Ok. State) with plans for the project to be completed prior to the 2015 season opener.
An official announcement could come as soon as this week with the Board of Regents scheduled to meet May 8-9.
Thoughts?
42 Comments
Are they gonna attach the south end upper deck with the east and west side upper decks?? I am just saying while you are building the bottom you might as well do the top….That way the top and bottom are built together properly.
I don’t believe that is the plan, at least as I understand it. They’ll likely enclose the lower bowl, but I don’t think they intend to wrap the upper decks.
That’s true, but I imagine they can design it so that the bottom can properly integrate with an upper deck later on, should they choose to expand.
how would this affect this switzer center? I would think with plans to bowl in the south end zone something is going to have to happen to the switzer center
I think it would have to be a part of that whole south EZ remodel.
Hopefully a new trophy room that matches something like Oregon’s. I’ve gotten to tour the Switzer Center a few times thanks so some friends on the inside and what’s there is impressive. That said, a lot of teams are reinventing the locker room (I.e. TAMU Oregon) where it has more feng shui and unity element as well as other modern interior designs. It will be interesting to see how they Incorporate “State-of-the-Art” into building. Nonetheless, exciting time for all Sooner fans!
you toured it….I just walked in like I owned the place could not belive it…
Haha yes, a good friend of mine’s father was apart of the staff. His relationships with the program allowed us to get guided tour by one of the coaches. It was an unbelievable time!
do you ever think …. wow…. I wish I could go back I think I missed something….its difficult to take pictures because you’re so excited about the next display….nothing like it in college football I’ve been to a lot of places Switzer Center is special…one of the seven wonders of the college football world….
The Bowl has to help raise the noise level which I’m sure Bob Stoops will LOVE! Also improved facilities (weight room Locker room) will help with recruiting! Looking forward to seeing the finalized plans!
Boy wouldn’t it be nice to have 100,000+ thousand fanatics in that stadium!!! People would hate to came and play here even more.
For whatever reason, I just don’t think they want to increase the seating capacity to that mark. I think they’re even a little uneasy about taking it to 90k (assuming that figure proves accurate). I can’t tell you why, it’s just the sentiment that comes across every time you hear Joe C. discuss it.
You seeing how much tickets go for to most home games on Craigslist or on the street? Pennies on the dollar (slight exaggeration). I agree with Joe, the demand just isn’t there to add too many additional seats.
I don’t know about you but every game I have been to, with the exception of the first 3 are usually sold out.
I think Joe C is smart on this one. The King said the same thing. Keep the demand for tickets High. It’s simple logistics. With OK’s pop and three D1 universities why fight it? When the Sooners were down a little it was embarrassing to see the empty seats.
100 K??? I sure hop not. 90 K would be fine.
They love that there is a demand for tickets and it u go to 100,000 then it won’t be there plus the money isn’t in the avg person it in the suite
No frills elevators for fans??
By ADA law, they need to provide elevators for the handicapped. For the non-handicapped, escalators are much more efficient.
Very, very good news. At least by putting the plans out there and more importantly a time constraint, the recruits are aware of the future of the program. I know a lot of folks stick by “we are Oklahoma” in reference to our legacy, but I don’t see why we as an elite program cannot put the money in getting the players the best. Ticket sales alone justify the stadium expansion
Unless it got a bunch of “likes” on Facebook or it was endorsed by a celebrity, most kids today could care less about something that happened decades ago.
This is a must have, probably should have happened a season or so ago. Hard to compete with all the money in the SEC, but this will help.
Wouldn’t be the first time ol’ Dean-o has jumped the gun. We’ll see what happens here and if there is any info in the regents agenda in the coming days.
https://twitter.com/jasonkersey/status/463374373517152256
https://twitter.com/jasonkersey/status/463374473664548865
Oh Dean the Dream! I should have known a percentage wasn’t give on the odds of the completion done by the date given or what percentage this will help recruiting.
For those of you on here that do not visit LandThieves, I highly suggest you check out the link here: http://www.landthieves.com/board/showthread.php?68413-Owen-Field-Stadium-Renovation-Speculation-Rumors-Blevins-Report-Pg-12/page8
There are multiple photoshops done of what this will look like. Some are more comical than others (you’ll see), but the serious ones are BEAUTIFUL.
I’ve seen the popular one that was floating around. unfortunately, someone calculated what the capacity would be if the photo were real, and it was something like 105,000…and we know that’s not going to happen (as much as I would like that).
The South endzone stands are not level with the rest of the stadium, so I’m not sure how they will account for that. Given Blevin’s comments, the upgrades will add about 6k-8k seats. If they were to bowl in the entire end, it would certainly add more than 6k-8k seats, so I’m interested to see how they get around the non-level issue and how exactly they bowl it in.
He (or someone) has adjusted that 90,000 down to 88k (or at least that’s what it was the last time I checked the online article).
I am guessing that there is about 90% chance that Dean’s sources are inaccurate, leaving about 10% coming from Al Eshback.
I don’t know about the Al part because AL isn’t as involved as he once was but you sir are correct about Dean. I wish I could comment more. Super K and the boys here have more “inside” sources then most.
I wouldn’t knock dean on this just yet, I think his OU sources are really good, and why wouldn’t he have more information that the super “reliable” newsok guys.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the “denial” coming from OU thru Kersey & Trotter (if that’s what is happening here) is a strategic one in that they want to be the ones who “break the news.” This isn’t something they want leaked before they can make a big deal of it w/ a public announcement.
I’m not intending to say one person is right and the other is wrong or vice versa. And I’m not necessarily saying your comment was directed at me per se (I don’t know if it was or wasn’t). Just trying to make people aware of what’s out there as it becomes available.
Oh no I was just making a general statement I don’t often agree with Blevins opinions but I do think the program gives him solid info that maybe they don’t give to others. I think some of details may be incorrect or not set in stone but I would be shocked if OU doesn’t approve updates.
No offense Zach but Dean doesn’t have anymore and probably much less “inside” info then Super K. How should I say this hmm uh lets just say “some” of the coach are annoyed by Dean sometimes. I promise you he doesn’t have anymore “inside” info then anyone else unless it’s coming from the “king”. Switz and Dean are pretty tight to this day.
No offense taken. I just don’t think deans info is too far off but since things weren’t confirmed it’s possible they still make changes.
My opinion is that they shouldn’t spend too much on the press box I don’t think they should expand it just update it would be nice. They need to use the money to make sure the wow factor is there for recruits and I don’t think a press box gets recruits excited these days. They want luxury for themselves.
I’ve been waiting for them to bowl in the south end zone for years. Should make things considerably louder.
I wouldn’t even care if they just closed it in with luxury boxes and large screens as long as it produced a loud atmosphere. Even 85,000 with good acoustics can be intimidating.
I’m glad they aren’t trying to make major renovations like other Teams are for their stadium; no need for stacking seats to get to 100,000 or whatever it is they’re doing lately.
Bowling in the South endzone? I’m in! Sounds like fun.
Will it be just for players or will fans be able to bowl too?
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OK, in all seriousness, I here that bowling-in the endzone is probably not going to happen. I hope my sources are wrong, but they say the leading design is a huge endzone monolith, ala WVU. IMHO, that would suck.
eh, OU needs to join the pac12 so i can catch a few road games. it was so close to happening….so close…
I wonder, does having the open sections in the South end zone allow the wind to pass through instead of creating a swirling effect if it were closed?
Personally, I would love to see the stadium take on a bowl appearance and see the fans fill all those extra seats.
This is my favorite one!