The Baylor Univ. Board of Regents yesterday announced a gift to the school from former Astros Owner Drayton McLane and his family which will help fund construction of the school's new football stadium. The amount donated was the largest capital gift in the university's history. As part of the donation, the McLane family asked that the new facility be named Baylor Stadium. The facility will hold 45,000 spectators, with the flexibility to expand to 55,000 in the future. It also will feature a bridge crossing the Brazos River and connecting the stadium to the campus (Baylor Univ.). Baylor Dir of Media Communications Lori Fogleman said that the McLane family “didn't want the amount to be disclosed.” However, she confirmed that it “surpasses the $20 million donated by three Baylor law graduates in 1998 to build a new law school” (AP, 3/13). ESPN.com’s David Ubben noted the gift is the "first step toward the fundraising necessary for a stadium Baylor hopes will open for the 2014 season.” Baylor currently plays at Floyd Casey Stadium, “located south and across Interstate 35 from the school's Waco, Texas campus” (ESPN.com, 3/13). In Waco, Cindy Culp in a front-page piece notes the idea of a new stadium "picked up momentum in fall 2011 when Baylor launched a feasibility study and fan survey." Baylor is the only school in the Big 12 Conference "without an on-campus stadium" (WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 3/14).
