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The Renovation of Penn State's Beaver Stadium Has Begun

Penn State is wasting no time after the Nittany Lions' home schedule concluded to begin the $700 million project's next phase.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State's Beaver Stadium is under construction prior to the 2024 college football season.
Penn State's Beaver Stadium is under construction prior to the 2024 college football season. | Mark Wogenrich/Penn State on SI

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A crew from Penn State's Office of Physical Plant began surveying the Beaver Stadium press box only hours after the Nittany Lions' 38-10 win over SMU in the College Football Playoff. First job: turn off the water. Penn State's first-round home game delayed the $700 million Beaver Stadium renovation but not for long. Penn State is working quickly to begin the next phase of the three-year project, which will include dramatically overhaul the nation's second-largest stadium.

The Beaver Stadium press box will be demolished in early January, the first significant step of the planned reinvention of the venue's West side. When completed for the 2027 Penn State football season, Beaver Stadium's West side will be transformed with loge boxes and suites, club seating, a new media facility and the Lubert Family Welcome Center, which university officials intend to become Penn State's front door.

Just days after Penn State's first-round playoff victory, the parking lots around Beaver Stadium's West side were fenced and construction equipment moved into place. Penn State spent about $4 million of its initial renovation budget on repair and maintenance to ensure that Beaver Stadium could host a December playoff game. With that success behind it, Penn State now gets to work on the core of the renovation.

According to a timeline Penn State released last summer, Phase 1 of the renovation begins with the first elements of the West side demolition. Penn State plans to bring down the press box and the upper deck seating and replace both sectors. Penn State Athletic Director Patrick Kraft has said that some fans will have temporary seating conditions during the 2025 season.

During Phase 2 of the renovation, which begins in 2026, Penn State is scheduled to demolish and replace the stadium's lower bowl. Fans will be impacted during the 2026 season as well. If the project goes according to schedule, Penn State will reintroduce a revitalized Beaver Stadium for the 2027 season.

"There have been no major improvements to Beaver Stadium since 2001, whereas many of our peers in the Big Ten Conference and around the country have made significant financial investments to enhance their home stadiums," Kraft said when the project was approved in May. "We are behind, both in fixing the necessary structural needs within the stadium and what we provide our fans. It is time for Penn State to catch up with its peers."

Penn State has secured more than $66 million in donations for the renovation, which primarily will be funded through bond issues. Penn State took the first bond issue last year for $70 million. The university estimated that the renovation could generate $134 million in donations. Penn State also has made new revenue streams a base of the renovation's long-term financing.

"By making these renovations, Beaver Stadium would be one of the only multi-use entertainment facilities at this scale between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,"Kraft told Penn State's Board of Trustees last spring. "The enhancements to Beaver Stadium will create significant new revenue and increase philanthropy opportunities that will allow us to reinvest funds into all of our student-athletes and allow athletics to continue to be self-supporting. Equally as important, by equipping the stadium for these events, we’ll be able to increase the number of visitors to the region, which will help bolster the local economy. ... The opportunity to host non-football activities and large-scale events at Beaver Stadium will bring additional economic growth year-round."

Penn State has yet to release updated concept art of the renovation. Here's what the initial art, from the design firm Populous, looked like last summer.

A computer rendering of the proposed renovation of Penn State's Beaver Stadium.
A rendering of the proposed $700 million renovation of Penn State's Beaver Stadium, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027. | Courtesy Penn State Athletics

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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