Penn State's Beaver Stadium Is Changing, but Its Name Will Stay
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Penn State isn't sure yet how different Beaver Stadium will look when its planned four-year, $700 million renovation is complete in 2027. However, Athletic Director Patrick Kraft said, the name won't change.
"Naming Beaver Stadium is not on the table right now," Kraft said in an interview Friday.
Penn State's Board of Trustees on Friday approved $70 million in funding for the first phase of renovations to Beaver Stadium, the nation's second-largest venue. In Phase I of the project, Penn State will hire an architectural firm to design the next iteration of Beaver Stadium, to include what Kraft called a "total transformation" of the venue's west side. In addition, Penn State will address some of the $200 million in backlogged maintenance that Kraft called vital to making Beaver Stadium more of a year-round asset.
After that, Kraft expects design plans to be ready by June 2024, with construction scheduled to begin after the 2024 football season. Kraft said that construction will affect stadium capacity for one season, either 2025 or 2026, with "minimal" seating loss. Beaver Stadium currently seats 106,572 fans. When construction is completed, before the 2027 season according to the athletic department's timeline, the stadium will retain a seating capacity above 100,000 while adding a host of premium options, significantly improving fan movement and circulation and upgrading restrooms and concessions facilities.
At the same time, Kraft said Penn State wants to preserve what makes Beaver Stadium, named for a former Pennsylvania governor, so important to its fans. That includes the name. In a release announcing new project details, Penn State cited "naming opportunities" among the options to help pay for the renovation. But Kraft said that stadium naming rights are not being discussed because, "I think it's important, and I think our fans understand that it's Beaver Stadium. We have no plan right now to touch that."
Why Penn State Is Renovating Beaver Stadium
In February, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi told the Board of Trustees that Beaver Stadium would undergo a "major renovation" in the "most economical way possible." Kraft said Friday that building a new stadium would cost $1.5 billion "if we started construction today and would continue to escalate."
"So I just don't think you should tear down Beaver Stadium," Kraft said. Meanwhile, Kraft saw and heard a demonstrable fondness for the 63-year-old stadium during his first football season as Penn State's athletic director.
"When you start to walk the parking lots and you talk to people about sitting in their seats with their grandparents or meeting their spouses there or whatever it might be, you start to realize that this building means a lot more than just what happens on the field," Kraft said. "That’s a really big part of it."
Kraft. who took over as Penn State's athletic director in July 2022, said the $200 million maintenance backlog became a pressing issue for him when addressing Beaver Stadium's future. Among the key maintenance concerns is a winterization project that would allow Beaver Stadium to host cold-weather events, including a potential College Football Playoff game in December. About $29 million of the Phase I budget is marked for maintenance.
"It’s a big, big building, and so the infrastructure just has to be constantly maintained, and for a long time a lot of things just haven’t been touched," Kraft said. "It’s a safe building, but if we want it to last forever, we’ve got to start to attack this backlog of issues."
The 'Total Transformation' of Beaver Stadium's West Side
The Beaver Stadium renovation will involve venue-wide work, but the biggest changes will occur on the west side. Penn State plans to rebuild the side of the stadium that houses bleacher seating, the press box and the visiting team's locker room. Kraft said the west stands will be "totally transformed" with the construction of premium options such as loge boxes, field-level boxes, club seats and suites. Chairback seating will be available in the new west stands as well. The seating configuration for the rest of the stadium will remain as is, Kraft said.
"There's a lot [that will change]; it's not just the west side," Kraft said. "The west side is going to become the heart of the building, and right now that heart is scattered all over the place. We will have expanded concourses, better circulation, which is a major issue, more points of sale, functioning bathrooms, and all that will go throughout the building. In most buildings, the west side is your heart, and that's where we're going to go with it."
By adding the suites and premium options, Kraft said that Beaver Stadium could double or triple its capacity for event space, an important component for year-round use. Penn State seeks to generate additional revenue from Beaver Stadium through non-football use, including more weddings, meetings, receptions and other events, as well as sponsorships. The Mt. Nittany Club and east suites currently host events, but the west-side renovation will dramatically increase inventory.
"Now, we can use the west side and totally redefine more areas to use 12 months a year," Kraft said. "We're not going into this thinking about [using Beaver Stadium] seven days a year. We're going into it thinking 12 months."
Penn State has been discussing Beaver Stadium's future for more than a decade. Kraft previously said that the university commissioned 19 studies of the stadium, including initial renderings outlined in the 2017 athletics facilities master plan. On Friday, trustee Ted Brown said that Beaver Stadium's future was among the most-asked questions by fans. "I'm so excited that we're finally going to do something with Beaver Stadium," Brown told fellow trustees at their board meeting.
"I think Beaver Stadium is an historic place," Kraft said in the interview. "It’s part of the fabric, not only of the Penn State community but the state of Pennsylvania and college football. It’s just one of those iconic venues that I feel very lucky to be a small part of."
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