As it moves forward with a planned renovation of Foreman Field, Old Dominion University has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a design firm.
Old Dominion University has been considering a major overhaul to Foreman Field, a facility that opened in 1936 and is currently home to its football program. Populous was hired by Old Dominion in 2015 to produce a master plan for the venue, and ultimately recommended increasing the capacity to 22,130. That would add a little more than 2,000 seats to the 20,118-seat venue, and initial expansion would take place on the east and west sides of the stadium, both of which would be completely demolished and rebuilt.
In its recent RFP, Old Dominion stipulated that prospective firms have experience in the design of at least five new or renovated Football Bowl Subdivision stadiums over the last decade. A firm is expected to be chosen by September, as Old Dominion looks to complete the expansion by the beginning of the 2019 season. More from The Virginian Pilot:
The RFP instructs potential bidders to hold overall costs to $55 million, $45 million of that set aside for construction. “Developing a comprehensive building program which meets the football needs of the University within the project’s square footage and financial budget is perhaps the most important portion of the work,” the RFP states.
The RFP does not specify that the designer adhere to every recommendation made by Populous, saying the design firm would work with a building design committee “to define the building program as it best captures the University’s current athletic needs and vision for the future.”
ODU plans to hire a design firm by Sept. 1, and finalized stadium plans are expected to be done by July 31, 2018. A construction firm would be hired in 2018, but the design company would remain on retainer to help ODU oversee construction.
The construction schedule is ambitious. The east and west sides of the stadium would be torn down after the 2018 season and then reconstructed over eight months. The RFP notes that “design must take into account an extremely compressed construction schedule.”
Old Dominion has sought to complete the project without raising student fee. The football program’s first game at Foreman Field in 2019 is currently scheduled for August 31.