Florida Atlantic Univ. on Saturday will unveil its $70M, 30,000-seat on-campus stadium and the school is "touting its stadium as the only one in the country that offers a view of the Atlantic ocean," according to Tom D'Angelo of the PALM BEACH POST. The facility's "tropical theme is most evident in the more than 300 palm trees in and around the stadium, including the royal palms and beach sand in both corners near the south end zone." FAU AD Craig Angelos said, "We thought we could have the best stadium in a subtropical climate, so we wanted to theme it that way with palm trees/beach club approach. Palm trees are unique, and I wanted to put them as close to the field as possible. That way, we'd be playing 'between the palms.'" The theme "is carried to the beach awnings that cover the walkway where the team will enter the field and the 16,000-square-foot tiki bar on the west concourse that will provide island fare and tropical drinks." Crushed sea shells "are used as ground covering in several" areas. The stadium is "enclosed with the exception of the two corners of the south end zone," where FAU football coach Howard Schnellenberger "someday envisions expanding the capacity to 40,000." Every seat in the stadium "has a chair back, the lone exception being where the band will sit." Fans will be able to "watch replays and keep up with statistics on the third-largest on-campus video board in the state, behind Florida and Florida State." The 30-by-50-foot board is "twice the size of Central Florida's," and "flanked by two large palm trees outlined in red lighting" (PALM BEACH POST, 10/10).
