I'm not going to link this article out of respect for V and this site, but there's a video interview you can find out there, too.
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Lyons: Football Stadium Construction to Begin This Fall
Posted: Jun 18, 2015 5:43 AM EDT
Updated: Jun 18, 2015 1:12 PM EDT
Posted by Matt Hauswirth
MORGANTOWN -If your program is to survive in college athletics during this era, facilities must be towards the top of the priority list.
When Shane Lyons replaced Oliver Luck as WVU's Director of Athletics earlier this year, he made it a point to discuss how important it is to consistently upgrade facilities in order to attract a higher quality recruit to West Virginia University.
Across the WVU athletic department, those construction projects have gotten underway for a variety of teams on-campus. A majority of the facility upgrades took place under Luck's watch, while additional upgrades will also move forward in the coming months as part of his plan for the long-term success of the department.
Following the development of the Monongalia County Ballpark, the next project was to take place at Milan Puskar Stadium.
“Obviously, the first thing going on right now is at the football stadium where the concourse is being widened. That's for our fan base. We've got to give back to them so they can have a place to enjoy the football games – have more concessions, have more restrooms. So that will start this fall. Actually, some of the work is being done right now as we speak,” Lyons said.
On a personal note, having traveled to half of the venues in the Big 12 Conference this past season, it's rather evident how important the league views its facilities. Nearly all of the football programs in the Big 12 are either in the midst of major projects to its stadiums, or are coming off major enhancements.
In fact, Baylor just skipped the whole upgrading process and decided to build a brand new stadium. McLane Stadium, which cost $250 million, is now considered one of the top venues in college football today.
Iowa State is in the midst of creating 4,200 more seats to increase its capacity to 61,000, which will be the third-highest capacity for college football in the Big 12. ISU is also installing a new HD video board beyond the south end zone. The renovation cost the university $60 million.
Kansas State added 1,000 more seats, including club suites and a new HD video board. Additionally, K-State also built an entirely new, state-of-the-art press box in 2013, which rivals any in the country. The more recent project cost the school $65 million.
Oklahoma State installed new field turf last year, while Kansas removed the track around its field, allowing for more practice space for the team. Also, Texas Tech finished construction in 2013, making Jones AT&T Stadium into as modernized a stadium as there is in Division-I college football.
Oklahoma has passed a comprehensive renovation plan to modernize Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, but not increase capacity. For years, OU's stadium had featured an old-school structure where the seating did not connect to form a bowl shape. The new plan calls for that, as well as a new press box, suites and a video board. Similar to WVU's improvement plans, OU's should be vastly completed by the 2016 season.
TCU has endured one of the biggest construction projects to its stadium in recent years. Amon G. Carter Stadium was essentially redesigned from the ground up in 2012. Although it only holds 45,000 fans, there's potential one day to increase the capacity to 50,000.
Texas features one of the biggest stadiums in all of college football with capacity meeting a monstrous 100,119. The recent installation of new field turf, along with a new HD video board by the brand name of ‘Godzillatron,' has boosted Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to a level unmatched by many schools across the country.
That is what WVU is up against. It serves as a reality check, prompting school officials to make sure they are keeping up with everyone else.
Although Milan Puskar Stadium has undergone sporadic improvements here and there, it's still lacking in the ‘wow' department. However, there are not many stadiums across the country that features a majestic sort of atmosphere when a sold out crowd of 60,000 fans packs the bleachers for a Mountaineer Football game.
The renderings of the widened concourse at Milan Puskar Stadium surfaced nearly a year ago. At first glance, it looks like the construction should help give a facelift of considerable proportions. Brand new restrooms and concession stands will also enhance the fan experience.
But aside from the fan, the next most important area of concern is for the players. Of course, an upgraded weight room inside the Milan Puskar Center and state-of-the-art team room has both been completed. On top of all that, there has been talk around replacing the turf on Mountaineer Field. Back in March, a bid was placed on not only replacing the turf, but also removing the crown from the field. The estimate for replacing the turf came to $1.7 million. With talk surfacing of replacing the crown, that cost is expected to rise exponentially. Taking out the crown on the field, which was initially needed for drainage purposes when the stadium opened in 1980, is not needed anymore due to the evolution of modern-day field turf.
The addition of a new concourse should give Milan Puskar Stadium exactly what it needs: A modernized appearance.
“It's going to be done next year,” Lyons responded when asked about replacing the current field turf. “There was talk about doing is this year, however, I wanted to take the crown out of the field. The crown is kind of dated. So in order to do that, the timeline was pushing us right up into August. Of course, that's without any delays. I didn't want to do that. So we're going to wait until December. Then the new turf will go down, take the crown out next December, which will take about six months to get that done. The concourses will be widened.”
“So really by the 2016 season, about three-fourths of the stadium, widening the concourses and all that, should be done. With the upcoming 2017 [season], it'll all be done,” he added.
So, there you have it. Before you know it, Milan Puskar Stadium will not look as familiar as it used to be. But it's all for the better. In order to legitimately compete with schools in the Big 12 Conference, there needs to be a heightened sense of urgency in terms of building facilities that offer attractive features both inside and out.
After all, it's what recruits want. Similar to Luck, Lyons shares the same philosophy: ‘If you build it, they will come.'
“It's what the student-athletes want in recruiting. If you're not building, they're not going to come. So my philosophy is that, and I've seen it happen at Alabama when I was there. We've got to build top-notch facilities to be able to recruit and retain these student-athletes so they have the best places to train and compete, and I think that's part of the formula for success,” Lyons concluded.
A higher percentage of that formula consists of the players playing and coaches coaching during games. But success arrives when all parties meet halfway. Certainly, they seem to be inching closer as times goes on.
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Lyons: Football Stadium Construction to Begin This Fall
Posted: Jun 18, 2015 5:43 AM EDT
Updated: Jun 18, 2015 1:12 PM EDT
Posted by Matt Hauswirth
MORGANTOWN -If your program is to survive in college athletics during this era, facilities must be towards the top of the priority list.
When Shane Lyons replaced Oliver Luck as WVU's Director of Athletics earlier this year, he made it a point to discuss how important it is to consistently upgrade facilities in order to attract a higher quality recruit to West Virginia University.
Across the WVU athletic department, those construction projects have gotten underway for a variety of teams on-campus. A majority of the facility upgrades took place under Luck's watch, while additional upgrades will also move forward in the coming months as part of his plan for the long-term success of the department.
Following the development of the Monongalia County Ballpark, the next project was to take place at Milan Puskar Stadium.
“Obviously, the first thing going on right now is at the football stadium where the concourse is being widened. That's for our fan base. We've got to give back to them so they can have a place to enjoy the football games – have more concessions, have more restrooms. So that will start this fall. Actually, some of the work is being done right now as we speak,” Lyons said.
On a personal note, having traveled to half of the venues in the Big 12 Conference this past season, it's rather evident how important the league views its facilities. Nearly all of the football programs in the Big 12 are either in the midst of major projects to its stadiums, or are coming off major enhancements.
In fact, Baylor just skipped the whole upgrading process and decided to build a brand new stadium. McLane Stadium, which cost $250 million, is now considered one of the top venues in college football today.
Iowa State is in the midst of creating 4,200 more seats to increase its capacity to 61,000, which will be the third-highest capacity for college football in the Big 12. ISU is also installing a new HD video board beyond the south end zone. The renovation cost the university $60 million.
Kansas State added 1,000 more seats, including club suites and a new HD video board. Additionally, K-State also built an entirely new, state-of-the-art press box in 2013, which rivals any in the country. The more recent project cost the school $65 million.
Oklahoma State installed new field turf last year, while Kansas removed the track around its field, allowing for more practice space for the team. Also, Texas Tech finished construction in 2013, making Jones AT&T Stadium into as modernized a stadium as there is in Division-I college football.
Oklahoma has passed a comprehensive renovation plan to modernize Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, but not increase capacity. For years, OU's stadium had featured an old-school structure where the seating did not connect to form a bowl shape. The new plan calls for that, as well as a new press box, suites and a video board. Similar to WVU's improvement plans, OU's should be vastly completed by the 2016 season.
TCU has endured one of the biggest construction projects to its stadium in recent years. Amon G. Carter Stadium was essentially redesigned from the ground up in 2012. Although it only holds 45,000 fans, there's potential one day to increase the capacity to 50,000.
Texas features one of the biggest stadiums in all of college football with capacity meeting a monstrous 100,119. The recent installation of new field turf, along with a new HD video board by the brand name of ‘Godzillatron,' has boosted Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to a level unmatched by many schools across the country.
That is what WVU is up against. It serves as a reality check, prompting school officials to make sure they are keeping up with everyone else.
Although Milan Puskar Stadium has undergone sporadic improvements here and there, it's still lacking in the ‘wow' department. However, there are not many stadiums across the country that features a majestic sort of atmosphere when a sold out crowd of 60,000 fans packs the bleachers for a Mountaineer Football game.
The renderings of the widened concourse at Milan Puskar Stadium surfaced nearly a year ago. At first glance, it looks like the construction should help give a facelift of considerable proportions. Brand new restrooms and concession stands will also enhance the fan experience.
But aside from the fan, the next most important area of concern is for the players. Of course, an upgraded weight room inside the Milan Puskar Center and state-of-the-art team room has both been completed. On top of all that, there has been talk around replacing the turf on Mountaineer Field. Back in March, a bid was placed on not only replacing the turf, but also removing the crown from the field. The estimate for replacing the turf came to $1.7 million. With talk surfacing of replacing the crown, that cost is expected to rise exponentially. Taking out the crown on the field, which was initially needed for drainage purposes when the stadium opened in 1980, is not needed anymore due to the evolution of modern-day field turf.
The addition of a new concourse should give Milan Puskar Stadium exactly what it needs: A modernized appearance.
“It's going to be done next year,” Lyons responded when asked about replacing the current field turf. “There was talk about doing is this year, however, I wanted to take the crown out of the field. The crown is kind of dated. So in order to do that, the timeline was pushing us right up into August. Of course, that's without any delays. I didn't want to do that. So we're going to wait until December. Then the new turf will go down, take the crown out next December, which will take about six months to get that done. The concourses will be widened.”
“So really by the 2016 season, about three-fourths of the stadium, widening the concourses and all that, should be done. With the upcoming 2017 [season], it'll all be done,” he added.
So, there you have it. Before you know it, Milan Puskar Stadium will not look as familiar as it used to be. But it's all for the better. In order to legitimately compete with schools in the Big 12 Conference, there needs to be a heightened sense of urgency in terms of building facilities that offer attractive features both inside and out.
After all, it's what recruits want. Similar to Luck, Lyons shares the same philosophy: ‘If you build it, they will come.'
“It's what the student-athletes want in recruiting. If you're not building, they're not going to come. So my philosophy is that, and I've seen it happen at Alabama when I was there. We've got to build top-notch facilities to be able to recruit and retain these student-athletes so they have the best places to train and compete, and I think that's part of the formula for success,” Lyons concluded.
A higher percentage of that formula consists of the players playing and coaches coaching during games. But success arrives when all parties meet halfway. Certainly, they seem to be inching closer as times goes on.
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