Colorado State AD Joe Parker yesterday during a media tour of the school's new on-campus stadium reiterated that the project is "on time and on budget," according to Kelly Lyell of the Ft. Collins COLORADOAN. The $220M stadium is "scheduled to open for private events in July ahead of the Rams' Aug. 26 football season opener." Parker said, "To see it actually functioning, and functioning with 40,000 people in the building will be when they finally, I think, understand why this project was needed." Lyell notes the new stadium will have 36,500 seats -- 4,000 "more than Hughes Stadium, the building it's replacing -- and a total capacity of 41,000." There is an "open concourse between the two decks, with views of the playing field, and concession stands and restrooms on the opposite side." One of the stadium's "most unique features is the Orthopaedic and Spine Center of the Rockies field-level club, a first of its kind in college football that will allow up to 600 fans to watch the action from behind the CSU bench." One of the final pieces of construction remaining is the New Belgium Porch, an "outdoor bar in the open north end zone designed to accommodate several hundred fans." The football team will have a 9,100-square-foot weight room "below the west stands." Next door will be the CSU football locker room, an area of "more than 8,000 square feet with 125 individual lockers." A new $3M practice facility, included in the stadium's $220M cost, is being "built to the west" (Ft. Collins COLORADOAN, 3/21). In Colorado, Mike Brohard notes in the coming months, the field surface will be "put in place, donor bricks will be laid outside the stadium and the LED scoreboard will be installed" (Loveland REPORTER-HERALD, 3/21).
