The newest rendering of renovations to Sun Devil Stadium, released yesterday by Arizona State Univ. athletics, is the "closest yet to what the completed project will look like" in fall '17, according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The "most obvious change" in the new renderings, from K.C.-based architecture firms HNTB and Gould Evans, is "the removal of an outside video ribbon, once envisioned as a way to project images on the east and west sides of the stadium." Instead, the stadium will be "open on the sides to better connect with the buttes it is located between and spectators can see into the stadium from the contiguous concourse, creating a more open feeling and better air flow." The stadium "now has a more symmetrical, balanced and consistent look than in previous renderings." A student-athlete facility will be "built under the north end zone with a patio deck for fans to congregate during games as the roof" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/4). ASU student newspaper the STATE PRESS' Fabian Ardaya notes the release of the rendering comes "just a week before Sun Devil football season ticket renewal begins, allowing season ticket holders to get a better look of where they will be sitting next season." Prospective season-ticket holders "will be able to see a 3-D rendering of their seat selection in the renewed model." Phase 1 includes "moving the student section, coined 'The Inferno,' to the south end zone." In addition, overflow student section seating will "take place in the north end zone to create what ASU football coach Todd Graham called the 'Double Inferno.'" This phase will also include the "removal of the existing steel bleachers and replacing them with permanent seating." The existing loge sections in the southeast and southwest end zones "will also be largely removed" (STATE PRESS, 3/4).
