Planning on a new $130-million Temple football stadium is moving forward, as University President Richard M. Engler will file a project submission to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission as it seeks approvals for the proposal.
“We have said from the start that our first priority has been to engage with our neighbors and local leaders to determine the potential for, and impact of, this facility,” Englert said in a press statement. “After more than two years of these discussions, and in light of the project’s tremendous value for Temple and North Philadelphia, I have concluded that the time is right to take this step.”
The goal, Englerty said, is not to only provide an on-campus home for the Owls but to also add to neighborhood and university offerings. The new stadium would be part of a site development that would include retail offerings, with the stadium also featuring year-round classrooms and meeting and research space.
The proposed site is within the Temple footprint and owned by the university. The area is bound by Broad Street on the east; Norris Street on the north; 16th Street on the west; and Pearson-McGonigle halls and the Aramark Student Training and Recreation (STAR) Complex on the south.
The proposal is not without controversy; members of the campus community and residents of nearby neighborhoods have previously weighed in with their objections to the facility. Those objections are likely to continue as the stadium moves through the city approval status.
Temple is planning on soliciting private donations and issuing bonds to back the project. The Owls will play home games at Lincoln Financial Field through 2019 after extending its lease before the new stadium opens in 2020, assuming fundraising and city approval moves forward. Besides gate and concession revenues, Temple is expecting to sell naming rights to the facility.
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