Univ. of Louisville Senior Associate AD/Development Mark Jurich on Wednesday said that the school is "on pace to finish its expansion of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and the adjacent team complex by the start" of the '18 season, "having already sold all 12 of the planned field-level suites, all 70 premium boxes and about half of the 1,000 club seats," according to Steve Jones of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. Jurich also announced that the fundraising for the $55M project "has been successful enough that the Howard Schnellenberger Complex expansion will now be greater than initially planned." The redone complex "will now have 100,000 square feet of new space -- 30,000 more than first announced -- with Jurich saying the price tag of the entire project will increase somewhat." Construction on the stadium "will begin as soon as this season ends." The expansion of the stadium "calls for enclosing the north end zone with an increase of 10,000 seats, making a new capacity of 65,000." Jurich said that building the stadium seating structure "likely will be done first, and the team complex renovations will be done second." He added that the field-level suites, which were "inspired by the ones" at AT&T Stadium, "carried a six-figure initial contribution." The premium boxes "had a $40,000 initial contribution with a $4,000 annual donation, and the club seats require an $8,000 initial contribution with a $500 annual donation" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 10/6).
MOVIN' RIGHT ALONG: In Philadelphia, Marc Narducci notes the lack of news about Temple's attempt to build an on-campus football stadium "has led to the perception that not much is happening and that the idea is dying." But Temple AD Patrick Kraft said that "nothing was further from the truth." Kraft: "It's not like we hit the brakes by any stretch,. We are moving forward and continue to provide information through this whole process and that has not stopped at all." Narducci notes, "One of the biggest hurdles is working with the people in the neighborhood on several issues, including traffic." Temple's agreement to play at Lincoln Financial Field expires after the '17 season, but the school "has two one-year options that could extend the stay" through '19 (PHILLY.com, 10/7).
