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Penn State to Release Master Plan for Beaver Stadium in February

Beaver Stadium during the football game vs. Temple, Sept. 20, 2008

The much-anticipated facilities master plan that outlines potential upgrades to Beaver Stadium is expected to be released later this month. 

Penn State University has been expected to include Beaver Stadium in its master facilities plan, thereby mapping out future upgrades to the venerable facility. More details about how the renovations will take shape should be available after the master facilities plan is released, but Penn State officials have openly discussed the possibility of reducing the stadium’s seating capacity.

Beaver Stadium’s capacity currently exceeds 106,000 fans, so Penn State would have plenty of room to work with if it opts to drop the number of seats in favor wider chairs. That would follow something of a trend around college football, as more programs are look to reduce capacity in favor of a more comfortable seating bowl and more flexible premium or group ticket options.

The university plans to discuss more specifics later this month, when the master plan is released, according to athletic director Sandy Barbour. More from StateCollege.com:

“We need to finish the master plan for Lasch [Football Building] itself,” Barbour noted on Wednesday morning. “And then of course the public is waiting very patiently or maybe impatiently for our overall facilities master plan to be unveiled at the end of the month. A lot of work to do, but it’s all about conditions for success.”

The plan, which is reportedly slated to cover a span of up to 20 years of infrastructure and branding upgrades across all of Penn State’s athletic buildings, was originally tentatively scheduled for a release sometime in October according to previously made comments by Barbour. That date came after Penn State initially anticipated a release sometime during the summer of 2016. Barbour noted in an interview with StateCollege.com in July that the plan would be completed by August of 2016.

Why the plan’s completion and public release has faced multiple — but perhaps predictable — delays is a detail Barbour hasn’t divulged. Also commenting on the project, Deputy Director of Athletics Phil Esten has previously stated that it has been a process of due diligence.

Penn State has been working with the design firm Populous on the facilities master plan.

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August Publications