New students may help finance Arizona Stadium renovation
The University of Arizona recently published a campus-wide 2017-19 Capital Improvement Plan listing the estimated cost of renovating Arizona Stadium at $146 million.
This isn’t anything new.
Literally the day after Greg Byrne was hired in May 2010, his staff of lieutenants, including Suzy Mason, Rocky LaRose and John Perrin, gave him an insider’s tour of the aging edifice.
“I realized quickly we had significant infrastructure issues that had to be addressed,” Byrne said last week.
Now, almost six years later, after recently speaking to both graduate and undergraduate student leaders and their peers, the UA has an outline of how to begin a massive remake of Arizona Stadium.
It would assess new students $200 per year; current students would not be affected. Ideally, that assessment could raise about $8 million per year, if the Board of Regents approves.
ASU last year began a student-fee program to raise about $10 million per year to re-do Sun Devil Stadium. Byrne said that all Pac-12 schools except Washington have similar student fees for athletics.
“We are going to be transparent every step of the way,” Byrne said. “There are still a lot of steps remaining for a project the size and magnitude of Arizona Stadium.”
He said he hopes for a resolution this spring. Design and preparation would likely take about two years. Byrne will continue to seek major funding from boosters, as he did with more than $100 million of improvements at McKale Center and the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility.
A year ago, UA president Ann Weaver Hart told me that a student fee for athletics “might be appropriate.”
A $146 million project would replace dated restrooms, concessions facilities and about 50,000 bench seats. Capacity would likely be reduced from about 56,000 to perhaps 52,000, and make the game-day experience more enjoyable.
“We’re going to listen to what students have to say,” said Byrne. “We want their feedback. ‘’
The makeover of Arizona Stadium is inevitable. The school can do it now or wait another 10 or 15 years, at which time the cost to make changes could soar above $200 million.
Cal, Stanford, Washington, Washington State and Oregon State have fully rebuilt their football stadiums recently. Colorado and ASU are in the process of doing so. USC plans to completely overhaul the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
When those projects are complete, Arizona Stadium will be, without much debate, the Pac-12’s worst football facility.
Byrne could’ve left the stadium issue for his successor, whenever that may be. But he has chosen to be a problem-solver. There is sure to be some serious blow-back from students and others, but if you’ve got a better plan, let’s hear it.
