Kansas State Univ. officials at a Cotton Bowl pep rally Thursday announced “a $75 million expansion plan to the West side of Snyder Family Stadium,” according to Kellis Robinett of the WICHITA EAGLE. The school is “aggressively trying to catch up with other Big 12 programs that have pulled away from it in the facilities race.” Designs for the new 250,000 gross square-foot complex "compete with most current structures across the league and resembles Texas Tech's stadium in size and appearance.” The facility will be built “in six phases and include everything from a new press box to renovated restrooms and a student-athlete dining hall.” KSU AD John Currie said that he is “optimistic K-State can begin construction on the project before the start of the 2012 regular season.” His staff has “already raised approximately one third of the money needed for the project,” and once funds “reach the halfway mark, K-State will begin construction.” Currie said that crews will “work around the current facility in a way that will not interrupt its use.” When the expansion is complete, KSU “will benefit from 40 private suites, 36 club boxes and 800 club-level seats.” Fans will also “have a ‘Hall of Honor’ and a new ticket office and athletics store to walk through on the main concourse” (WICHITA EAGLE, 1/6). The project will be led by the sports design firm AE Com (formerly Ellerbe Becket) with design support from Heery Design in conjunction with Construction Managers GE Johnson and Mortenson Construction. The initial construction process will take place around the current press box structure before being fully completed. No tax or tuition dollars will be used, as the facility will be funded entirely by gifts (Kansas State).
COMPLEX CASH: In San Antonio, Dan McCarney reports construction on the initial phase of Univ. of Texas-San Antonio's Park West athletic complex is “set to break ground in March.” Phase 1 of the development “will include 1,000-seat venues for track and women's soccer and a joint press box.” The school received “$22.05 million for the project, which should be completed in the summer of 2013, from several city and county bond elections.” UTSA AD Lynn Hickey said that “roughly half of that money would go to infrastructure.” Of most immediate concern “is getting a facility built for football that would include a headquarters and two synthetic grass practice fields with lights and a scoreboard.” Hickey said that her goal “is to concurrently construct buildings for track and soccer and expand the capacity for both venues to 5,000.” A source “pegged an estimate for such a project at $20 million, but Hickey said the cost is still being evaluated.” Former Vikings, Nuggets and Spurs Owner Red McCombs has already “donated $1 million for the football practice fields” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 1/6).
