Univ. of Alabama Eyes $80.6M Expansion For Bryant-Denny Stadium
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Proposed Alabama Stadium Expansion Would
Bring Capacity To More Than 101,000 |
Univ. of Alabama (UA) officials tomorrow "will ask trustees to approve an $80.6[M] expansion of the south end zone" at Bryant-Denny Stadium as part of a four-part project, according to Adam Jones of the TUSCALOOSA NEWS. Included in the project "would be an 8,500-seat upper deck with concourse and concessions, 3,200 club seats split into a 1,500-seat 'South Zone' and 1,700-seat 'Stadium Club,' 34 skyboxes, two expanded skyboxes, a donor hall of fame, Crimson Tide Foundation offices and a ground-level market for food and merchandise." Current seating in the upper rows of the main bowl "would be removed, but the project would net about 9,000 seats, bringing capacity to more than 101,000." The expansion would be "similar to the $50[M] north end zone expansion" completed in August '06. UA AD Mal Moore said that, if approved, the expansion "will be ready for the first home game of the 2010 football season." UA BOD documents indicated that "since the expansion would go where the scoreboard now stands, two video boards would be placed in the corners between the expanded upper deck and the existing upper decks." Jones notes if the trustees this week agree to the arrangement, the executive committee "will meet to award contracts" for the expansion and upgrades to the stadium's sound and video system (TUSCALOOSA NEWS, 2/4). In Alabama, Gentry Estes notes work on the south end zone "would begin this spring and be timed so that Alabama can use the stadium for the 2009 season," but Moore said that the current south end zone scoreboard "would not be in place next season" (HUNTSVILLE TIMES, 2/4).
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