A 20-year Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) master plan includes a new football stadium, with the 6,000-seat facility proposed for an on-campus location.
On Friday, the WSSU Board of Trustees unanimously approved the master plan, which comes with a price tag of $556 million in 2018 dollars. A major component of that concept is a new stadium for WSSU’s football program. The venue is being envisioned for a location on the east side of campus, and is part of an athletic facilities initiative that also calls for a new 3,000-seat convocation center.
WSSU football currently plays its games at Bowman Gray Stadium, and there has been some discussion about the possibility of the university buying that facility from the City of Winston-Salem. The stadium outlined in the master plan does not necessarily rule out the possibility of WSSU buying Bowman Gray Stadium, but shows how the university could proceed if it does not move forward with a purchase of the facility. More from the Winston-Salem Journal:
A spokesman for WSSU said the university would continue in the short term to work toward buying Bowman Gray Stadium from the city of Winston-Salem, but that designers were asked to see if a stadium could be built closer to the core of the school.
“We were pleased when they came back and determined there is space for an on-campus multipurpose convocation center and a football stadium,” said Jay Davis, the director of media relations for WSSU….
Davis said that WSSU had to develop its master plan on the reality that it does not own the stadium, but that plans may change if WSSU does eventually end up with the stadium.
“There are many complexities around Bowman Gray Stadium,” Davis said, adding that “if we were to own the stadium, it would change our perspective on the football facility detailed in the plan.”
As detailed in the WSSU master plan, the new football stadium would feature seating on its west and north sides.
Rendering courtesy Sasaki Associates, with Design Distill.