Montana State University has announced plans to renovate Bobcat Stadium, with a new football operations facility highlighting the proposed changes.
As part of a 20-year master plan, Montana State is pitching a number of changes to its facilities, including Bobcat Stadium. One of the main projects slated for the stadium is on the north end, where a new athletic facility would be constructed to house football operations and other amenities. The project, as depicted in a rendering (shown above), would also create new seating and enclose the north end zone.
Montana State will work to secure funds for the project, and the timeline for its completion will depend on when the university has enough financial backing to move forward. University officials believe that new space for the football program will help other sports as well. More from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:
The new football building will free up space in Brick Breeden. Head coach Jeff Choate admitted his team occupies such a vast amount of rooms that other sports are squeezed into small spaces in lower portions of the facility.
“Our locker room is the biggest locker room. If you go into our Olympic sports locker room, their lockers are about this thin,” said Choate, holding his hands about 6 inches apart, “and they are all stacked on top of each other. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could allow them to have more space? That’s the domino effect that’s created by starting this project.”
Choate and [athletics director Leon] Costello also stressed the need for more designated academic space. Choate said his primary recruiting tool — along with highlighting the quality of living here plus MSU’s academic profile — is showing prospective students the game-day experience. Academic resources often are ignored.
“We don’t take them to the academic center because that’s not going to be the prize that we want to show them,” Choate said. “That’s something that we need to be able to do. We need to take recruits and their families and say, ‘Here’s where your son or daughter is going to be able to focus on their academics. If your son or daughter is injured, look at this state-of-the-art facility that we can take care of them in.’
The north end addition is being pitched as part of the first stage of the master plan, with the first phase estimated to cost $16 million. Bobcat Stadium could receive additional improvements, including a renovation to the press box tower on its west side and a replacement of the grandstand on its east side.
Rendering courtesy A&E Architects.