Arizona State on Thursday selected K.C.-based architecture firm HNTB to "team up with the Phoenix branch of Gould Evans to design the 60,000-seat stadium at the current Sun Devil Stadium location," according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. ASU also announced it had hired Hunt Construction and Tempe-based Sundt Construction Inc. to "develop the stadium under a collaborative contract with the architects to complete the project faster and save money." The new Sun Devil Stadium's projected cost is $225M, although that "could change depending on fundraising," which began with a $50M drive in January. The project "will be paid for by private donations and revenue from development of a 330-acre athletic-facilities district along Tempe Town Lake, naming rights and other new revenue sources." ASU football will "continue to play at Sun Devil Stadium during reconstruction, with the project tentatively scheduled for completion" in August '17. HNTB's recent work includes the $1.3B Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and the "seismic retrofitting" of Cal's Memorial Stadium. Hunt Construction built Univ. of Phoenix Stadium, AT&T Park and Busch Stadium, "among other sports facilities" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/8). In Phoenix, Mike Sunnucks noted Sun Devil Stadium "currently has a capacity of 71,700," but renovation plans will "reduce that number to 60,000 while taking out the north bleachers and installing better lower-bowl seats and improved boxes and suites." The school "ditched previous ideas of making the stadium site into a dome and then having a canopy structure to protect fans and players from the Sonoran Desert heat." ASU also is "looking to modernize the stadium in the wake of renovations and new stadiums built by other Pac-12 schools." ASU conducted a "formal bidding process for both the design and construction work." There were "seven bids for the architectural work" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/7).
