-The first portion of the project will begin sometime in the next few weeks and will expand the current number of restrooms in the Coliseum from 62 to 155 with an increase from one to four family units, while also almost doubling the concession points of sale from its current 28 to 52. The Coliseum is 46 years old so these updates will allow for a more fan-friendly environment and are expected to be completed by November of this year. The second phase of the project will begin in March 2017 and will expand ADA seating from 42 to 164 seats while adding six suites to the Coliseum. The total cost of this project will be $15 million and will be funded by the bond money that was set aside. The suites will be where the current weight room is on the baseline and there will be additional low seats.
-There also will be an overall expansion of the Olympic weight room from its current size of 4,583 total square feet to 12,035 square feet by building a brand new building. The Olympic training room is also going from 2,179 square feet to 4,761 square feet for a cost of $5 million. That is expected to begin in June and completed by January 2017.
-That same timeline applies to the renovation of the Shell Building where there will be a 1,400 square foot indoor practice facility for golf, 2,000 square foot training facility for rowing, additional storage space, new mechanical systems for environmental control, new restrooms, updating the building’s façade, new indoor track surface and tennis courts resurfacing and upgrades for $5 million.
-The new gold gate will have new windows and a new ticketing area, so you will come inside to purchase tickets an then proceed to enter the lobby. The gold gate will be where the ticket office is located and they will be putting the “Flying WV” in the ceiling as well as adding color. There also will be new things done to the blue gate and they plan to renumber the seating from the odd-even sections to make it make more sense with 100 in the lower and 200 the upper sections in the Coliseum.
-The upgrades to the Coliseum came from looking at other work done at schools such as Illinois, Ole Miss and Clemson to give it an update.
-The Red gate will be renamed to the Country Roads gate, while the Green gate has been renamed to the Mountaineer gate based on fan survey.
-There will also be much more TVs in the concourse and concession stand areas to allow fans to watch the games when they decide to leave their seats.
-There will be some new concession stands with unique personality inside the Coliseum. The Country Roads Pit Stop and Team Shop will be a grab and go convenience style of concession stands where you grab certain items and take them to the counter to pay for them. That will be open throughout the day even when there are not games going on inside the building for students or general public to eat. It will be located where the current Jerry West Room is at. The Mountaineer Café is a new sports-bar type of concession with seating and televisions and it gives fans a place to visit before and after the games. The Almost Heaven Bistro is like a typical concession stand area but will have TVs to let fans stay on top of the game.
-The locker room was privately funded and will be renovated and be primarily used as a game-day facility. It will be updated with new signage and glass, new lockers, new bench area, new flooring and widening the area to make it bigger. The women’s area will be updated with a new fresh look as well. This timeline is the same as the Coliseum and will start in the next couple weeks and is expected to be completed by November 2016.
-One big thing is that through the renovations there will also be beer sales coming this upcoming season inside the Coliseum. It's been something I know fans have been clamoring for so it is nice that beer will now be made available for the general public. Sodexo also will be offering new items to purchase for food as well and I sampled both a turkey panini and a beef quesadilla today and both were top notch especially for concession items. Other items offered were several different types of hotdogs as well as a loaded peperoni roll with chili.
-There will be no changes to the current parking situation but it is something they continue to monitor. Parking is always an issue and it’s something that is a problem across the nation but the national data tells them that they can empty the lot in 35-40 minutes which is the national average.
-There also will be nothing done with Hawley Field right now but the plan is to turn that into a multi-purpose area that could be astro-turfed to be used all year around but that is down the road.
-Part of Phase 2 of the project will be the creation of a new media room, the first inside the Coliseum. It will be where the media eats, interviews and does their work. That is expected to be completed by November of 2017 and press conferences will be able to be aired on television in the Coliseum.
-The Coliseum is still expected to be used for graduations but there will be some obstacles with restrooms and limited entrance points.
-There will be NO changes to the current seats. By that I mean the type of seats, but that is something that they are looking at down the road in order to improve because they are old and outdated.
-On a different note, the work on the football stadium is on track and is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2016 season.
-There also will be an overall expansion of the Olympic weight room from its current size of 4,583 total square feet to 12,035 square feet by building a brand new building. The Olympic training room is also going from 2,179 square feet to 4,761 square feet for a cost of $5 million. That is expected to begin in June and completed by January 2017.
-That same timeline applies to the renovation of the Shell Building where there will be a 1,400 square foot indoor practice facility for golf, 2,000 square foot training facility for rowing, additional storage space, new mechanical systems for environmental control, new restrooms, updating the building’s façade, new indoor track surface and tennis courts resurfacing and upgrades for $5 million.
-The new gold gate will have new windows and a new ticketing area, so you will come inside to purchase tickets an then proceed to enter the lobby. The gold gate will be where the ticket office is located and they will be putting the “Flying WV” in the ceiling as well as adding color. There also will be new things done to the blue gate and they plan to renumber the seating from the odd-even sections to make it make more sense with 100 in the lower and 200 the upper sections in the Coliseum.
-The upgrades to the Coliseum came from looking at other work done at schools such as Illinois, Ole Miss and Clemson to give it an update.
-The Red gate will be renamed to the Country Roads gate, while the Green gate has been renamed to the Mountaineer gate based on fan survey.
-There will also be much more TVs in the concourse and concession stand areas to allow fans to watch the games when they decide to leave their seats.
-There will be some new concession stands with unique personality inside the Coliseum. The Country Roads Pit Stop and Team Shop will be a grab and go convenience style of concession stands where you grab certain items and take them to the counter to pay for them. That will be open throughout the day even when there are not games going on inside the building for students or general public to eat. It will be located where the current Jerry West Room is at. The Mountaineer Café is a new sports-bar type of concession with seating and televisions and it gives fans a place to visit before and after the games. The Almost Heaven Bistro is like a typical concession stand area but will have TVs to let fans stay on top of the game.
-The locker room was privately funded and will be renovated and be primarily used as a game-day facility. It will be updated with new signage and glass, new lockers, new bench area, new flooring and widening the area to make it bigger. The women’s area will be updated with a new fresh look as well. This timeline is the same as the Coliseum and will start in the next couple weeks and is expected to be completed by November 2016.
-One big thing is that through the renovations there will also be beer sales coming this upcoming season inside the Coliseum. It's been something I know fans have been clamoring for so it is nice that beer will now be made available for the general public. Sodexo also will be offering new items to purchase for food as well and I sampled both a turkey panini and a beef quesadilla today and both were top notch especially for concession items. Other items offered were several different types of hotdogs as well as a loaded peperoni roll with chili.
-There will be no changes to the current parking situation but it is something they continue to monitor. Parking is always an issue and it’s something that is a problem across the nation but the national data tells them that they can empty the lot in 35-40 minutes which is the national average.
-There also will be nothing done with Hawley Field right now but the plan is to turn that into a multi-purpose area that could be astro-turfed to be used all year around but that is down the road.
-Part of Phase 2 of the project will be the creation of a new media room, the first inside the Coliseum. It will be where the media eats, interviews and does their work. That is expected to be completed by November of 2017 and press conferences will be able to be aired on television in the Coliseum.
-The Coliseum is still expected to be used for graduations but there will be some obstacles with restrooms and limited entrance points.
-There will be NO changes to the current seats. By that I mean the type of seats, but that is something that they are looking at down the road in order to improve because they are old and outdated.
-On a different note, the work on the football stadium is on track and is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2016 season.
