TEMPE, Ariz. — Every new hire wants to make some noise. Newly crowned Arizona State athletic director Steve Patterson is poised to drop a bomb on the Valley’s sports landscape.
A good kind of a bomb.
ASU released renderings and announced plans Wednesday for major renovations of Sun Devil Stadium.
In addition to improved concourses and concessions, plans include a canopy, perhaps of cloth, that will shade the stadium from Arizona’s withering sun but allow for critical air movement in the hot months of August, September, October and — who are we kidding — November, too.
As first reported by asudevils.com, the entire project is estimated at more than $300 million, with renovations starting as soon as after the 2012 season, which could necessitate ASU playing at another location for a season. The Devils also could remain at the stadium but have fewer seats available to the public.
The cost, however, is highly fluid, as is usually the case with such projects. The new Cowboys Stadium was expected to cost about $650 million initially but ended up costing $1.2 billion. Clearly, ASU cannot afford to be that far off in its estimate. Jerry Jones is not financing this project.
The greatest factor will be how much ASU can raise through donations beyond what it collects through stadium-district revenue. That number will impact the scope of the project and how much of ASU’s best-case scenario it can realize.
Sources say a renovated Sun Devil Stadium could generate between two and three times more football revenue, but again, that number is dependent on several factors.
Sun Devil Stadium opened in 1958, with subsequent expansions in 1966, 1970, 1976, 1977 and 1989.
In 2007, engineers realized that the concrete base of the stadium was buckling because of the rusting of structural steel supporting the foundation, necessitating improvements. Stadium designers had neglected to waterproof the structure when it was built, assuming that a stadium in the desert would not need waterproof concrete.
A recently established stadium district allows ASU to collect revenue from local businesses. Money from those fees is going toward the funding of renovation projects of ASU’s athletics facilities, including Sun Devil Stadium.
