The Univ. of Arkansas has begun doing "groundwork for the addition of about 4,500 mostly club-level seats" on the north side of Razorback Stadium, part of a $160M project that will "take about 22 months from ground-break to polish," according to Matt Jones of the ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE. A defined steel structure "will be visible by the time football season begins." A video board is also being "installed above the south end of the stadium and work soon will begin on the east side where the athletics department's old academic center is being turned into another series of suites and club space that will accommodate around 300 people on game days." If all goes according to plan, Arkansas will "play its first game in the renovated stadium on Sept. 1, 2018." The exterior of the project is "expected to be finished by next March, with the work during the remaining months spent on interior spaces." Once completed, Arkansas' football stadium will "add 38 new suites to the 134 existing suites." Ninety-eight percent of club and suite seats "were sold last year." Razorback Foundation Exec Dir Scott Varady said that the back of the north end zone suites will "open up into an indoor club area creating a 'social-suite atmosphere.'" A number of field-level suites are "designed after AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the Razorbacks play Texas A&M each September." What is "missing from the project is the addition of general-admission seating, although around 1,500 standing-room only tickets will be sold on top of the north end zone structure" (ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , 4/29).
