UCF is creating a "beach-themed club" at Bright House Networks Stadium as "part of a new premium seating experience called the East Side Club," according to a front-page piece by Shannon Owens-Green of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. Construction on the project is "scheduled to start in three weeks" and is expected "to be completed before UCF football's first game" of the '15 season. School officials "wanted a signature visual element for their young stadium." Nassal Co., an attractions construction management company that "assisted with the look of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, has been hired by the school to create the illusion of a beach setting." There "won't be actual water or beach sand" at the club. Membership for the club "starts at $900 per person and is offered as a full season pass." The East Side Club will have a "covered sundeck lounge on what is typically the side of the stadium hit hardest by direct sunlight." Additionally, there will be "Wi-Fi access, televisions and bars where fans will be served a variety of beers and frozen alcoholic drinks." The club will be located between the lower- and 200-levels. Previous season-ticket holders who "sat in those areas will have the first opportunity to become members or will be reassigned to other seats" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/27). ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted UCF is "taking out 2,000 seats to make way for the new club area, but those seats are being replaced with about 950 to 1,000 chairback seats." UCF Senior Associate AD/External Operations Zack Lassiter said, "If this is successful, we might do other areas of the stadium" (ESPN.com, 1/26).
