Penn State Seeks to Update Beaver Stadium

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Pennsylvania State University officials are currently seeking options to renovate or replace the university’s famous Beaver Stadium in the next 10 years.

The stadium currently has an official seating capacity of 106,572, making it the second largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere and the third largest in the world. Some parts of the stadium date back to 1909. Its size and long-standing history in college football attract thousands of visitors each year; however, the stadium has become antiquated.

In 1960, the stadium was moved from its original location to the other side of the campus. It has since undergone seven expansions that have brought fans luxury boxes and high-definition scoreboards, but very little has been done to update the facility’s infrastructure. Outdated plumbing requires maintenance and operations teams to ready the stadium for winter each November, reported the Associated Press. Elevators are also small and sluggish, and concourses are narrow. The stadium even lacks concession options and still uses bleachers.

The last major renovation completed at the stadium was an expansion in 2001. The school installed high-definition video boards at the start of last football season and made improvements to the press box, which cost about $2 million, in time for this season, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour asked Kansas City, Mo.-based architecture firm Populous to survey athletes, coaches, alumni and fans, and to present its findings next July. The university will then try to work on implementing the suggested upgrades, according to the Associated Press.

At the time the university announced its decision to work with Populous earlier this month, Barbour said she would prefer Beaver Stadium to be renovated instead of building a new football stadium, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In addition to meeting the needs of fans, the university plans to explore how to maximize the stadium as a multipurpose venue rather than simply hosting seven football games a year.