Features

When Colorado State and North Texas stepped onto the fresh turf at brand-new Hughes Stadium Sept. 28, 1968, they were christening what became known as the "Showcase of the Rockies", which was regarded as one of the top facilities in the region.

Thirty-six years later, the stadium has found itself listed as one of the worst facilities in the Mountain West Conference. Thanks to receiving what was the university's largest-ever athletics donation, the stadium is being modernized and prettied up and is expected to once again be known as one of the region's top facilities.

The new structure on the west side features 32,000 new square feet. The dark silver steel panels you see will serve as the permanent siding.

After a year of work, the official unveiling of the renovated Hughes Stadium--now known as Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium--is a mere seven weeks away, and construction crews are furiously working to make sure every last detail is taken care of.

According to Doug Max, Colorado State's Associate A.D./Facilities and Scheduling, who is overseeing the project, workers are ahead of schedule in some areas, and behind in other areas, but still on target to have the facility "substantially complete" by August 29, which is more than three weeks prior to the first home game. Max is confident everything will be done on time, but admits, "It's going to be tight."

"There's a tremendous amount of work that has been done," Max said. "We've completely added 32,000 square feet of space so far, and when this thing is done, it's going to be a first-class facility."

Turner Construction has had crews of 150-200 workers on site over the last few weeks, and even after August 29, they'll be handling minor details right up until kickoff of the September 24 game vs. Nevada. Recent work has included hanging dry wall, dropping the ceilings, tiling the bathrooms and suites, and painting. Work on the near-term agenda includes completing audio and visual wiring for the sound system and televisions in the suites, Rams Horn and press box; applying additional coats of paint throughout the entire structure; installing the stadium-style seats in the suites; finishing installment of the cabinetry in the suites; and lastly, laying the carpet. Once the carpet is laid, televisions and furniture will be brought in to furnish the suites and Rams Horn area.

By the time fans tour the stadium during the Hughes Stadium Open House event September 17 (an idle week for the football team), the stadium will be "99.99 percent" complete.

Hurdles

As has been well documented, the entire project was initiated two years ago when Pat Stryker's Bohemian Foundation donated $15.2 million to the CSU athletic department to dramatically renovate and expand Hughes Stadium. Workers are currently in a second phase of construction after last year's addition of around 4,000 endzone seats, the addition of a giant replay board in the south end zone, a new scoreboard in the north endzone, paved parking areas on the northwest and southwest sides of the stadium and a new artificial turf practice field on campus. The current phase involves a renovation and expansion of the Rams Horn seating area (including a new atrium), new elevators and stairways, the renovation of the press box, and the addition of 12 new luxury suites--six on each side of the Rams Horn/press box structure. The endzone seats, which were in place for the 2004 season, as well as the expanded Rams Horn and new suites, combine for a total of 18 percent increase in seating capacity at the stadium.

Due to cost overruns, other planned segments of the stadium improvements are being delayed until a future phase. One area cut from this year's construction schedule is a new artificial playing surface, which likely will be "Field Turf"--the popular rubber-pellet-based surface--is being shelved for now, despite aggressive efforts by athletic department officials to raise additional funds to have it in place for the 2005 season. Also being cut from this phase are plans to expand concession space by 71 percent and restroom facilities by 36 percent, all primarily in the north endzone.

The overruns have drawn criticisms from fans who feel like $15-plus million should have been enough to get the entire project done. But Max says that several factors, including steel costs soaring to unprecedented prices, have contributed to unavoidable budget overages.

"What has gone down in America cost-wise?" he asked rhetorically. "Not much. Also, across the Front Range, there's $1 billion in construction going on--just look around Loveland. When you're starting to build and all the other contractors are busy, you end up paying more to get access to their services. Everybody knows that their dollar doesn't go as far as it did last year. The biggest culprit was steel prices. There was a shortage of steel and prices skyrocketed. I've been in construction long enough to know that you can plan as best you can, but you're still going to have unknowns. The project has gone relatively smooth and the end product is going to be outstanding."

Max also said that contrary to cries from the public, CSU was unable to "lock" into prices at last year's rates before they skyrocketed.

"You cannot lock into prices, especially with steel," Max said. "Once the order is put into the factory, that locks the price in. It's like locking in an interest rate. Once you apply and are accepted, you are in. Same with something like steel. Until you actually purchase the steel to obtain it, you cannot lock in the price."

About $11 million of Stryker's donation actually goes towards the materials. The other $4 million goes towards what Max calls "soft costs", which are services such as architectural design, labor, licensing fees and insurance. The increased cost of steel caused CSU to go about $1.4 million over its planned budget, and CSU will offset that cost almost entirely by omitting the new playing surface and north endzone concessions and restrooms from this phase.

Max reiterated that CSU was merely a victim of bad timing and that for the money spent, an awful lot is getting done. He pointed to the fact that Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver was built for $400.8 million and that Wyoming recently spent several million just to remove deteriorating concrete seating sections in the upper-west stands of War Memorial Stadium and replace it with new pre-cast concrete seating areas.

"Building is expensive," Max said. "Despite our additional costs, we're still getting so much bang for the buck. People are amazed at what we're doing with $15.2 million."

Max should know, he's handled several construction efforts during his tenure at CSU. He was instrumental in the building of the McGraw Athletic Center, as well as the Hughes Stadium lighting project, the building of the Jack Christiansen track, and the construction of an indoor track at the field house on South College Avenue.

The beginning

CSU officials have been investigating the renovation and expansion of Hughes Stadium for several years. In fact, dating back to Tim Weiser's tenure (1998-2001), Weiser and then-university president Dr. Albert Yates hired Kansas City-based HOK Sport + Venue + Event and Fort Collins-based Aller-Lingle to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine expansion and renovation options at the stadium. HOK and Aller-Lingle provided an analysis with 29 different options on where to place seats, how to expand, the best places for restroom/concessions, and cost efficiency. They then laid out details on what would be needed to accomplish those plans.

In 2003, after athletic director Jeff Hathaway's first year at CSU, Stryker contacted department officials to inform them of her intentions to donate money for such an effort. Using information and plans from the preliminary investigation, the university officials presented a plan to Stryker explaining what they would like to build, and outlined how much a certain amount of money would buy based on prices at the time. Stryker made a dollar-amount decision based on that information. At that point, CSU had to begin interviewing for a general contractor, which drew interest from eight or nine companies. With help from CSU's facilities department, the athletic department had a set of criteria it was looking for in such a general contractor. One of the primary desires was a company with considerable past experience. CSU ultimately chose Turner Construction, which is the largest such builder in the United States. Locally, Turner built Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium and performed the recent renovation at the University of Colorado.

From the preliminary design phase, Turner assessed the plans from HOK/Aller-Lingle and determined exactly what it would cost for each piece of construction. CSU had already hired an outside cost estimator to make sure Turner's assessment was accurate. Initial construction on the north endzone seating began following the 2003 season and was completed in time for 2004. In addition, Barco Sports, one of the largest video producing companies in the world, installed the large video board in the south endzone. Phase 2 began immediately following the 2004 season.

Smooth construction

One of the biggest challenges has been retrofitting the new structure to the existing structure.

Phase 2 has gone as good as can be expected when retrofitting a new structure onto an existing structure, according to Troy Denike, project manager at Turner Construction.

"We've run into some interesting work with the original stadium layout being a large segmented radius," said Denike, who has been with Turner since graduating from CSU in 1989 with a degree in Construction Management. "The bowl is an oval shape so we've had issues with tying into the existing building, and that's typical of renovation."

When looking at suites from south to north, there can only be a variance of three inches in the connections. The new structure is about 60 feet off the ground, which in itself has presented challenges, but windy weather also made for some interesting days, Denike said. Another issue they've run into came during Phase 1 last year when building the north endzone seating. Construction crews ran into bedrock and utility lines ran into a substantial amount of hard rock. The bedrock hasn't been as much an issue in building the west structure because crews were able to just drill through it to put the foundations in.

HOK occasionally visits the site to double-check that construction is going according to plan and assist with any issues, which according to Denike, there have been few of.

"The job has had some of its challenges but overall it has gone very well," he said. "We've enjoyed working with the design team and CSU. I think CSU fans are going to be excited about it. It's another step up into the big league. I don't see how fans won't love it and be excited about it. The amenities that will be offered will be fantastic and I think the atmosphere will be energized."

Luxury viewing

Crews will soon be finishing installing cabinetry in the suites, and in some suites, cabinets have already have been installed.

When fans see the new structure above the west stands, they will be awed at its size--it spans 32,000 additional square feet. To get up to the structure, fans can travel via two new elevators, which will be located just west of the existing elevator shaft. (The old elevator will still be used by the media, police, and other officials.) There are two new staircases as well on each side of the structure.

The Rams horn, press box and 12 luxury suites feature large glass windows across the entire façade, and the structure is enclosed externally by dark silver steel panels, which will serve as the permanent siding. Fans in the luxury suites will be able to fully open their windows. The Rams Horn and press box feature butted glass windows that eliminate sight obstruction. These windows cannot be opened, but hopper windows above the butted glass can be opened, allowing fresh air in, and letting spectators experience natural crowd noise.

In the Rams Horn, the first thing fans will notice is the ability to move around. While CSU has added 100 new seats to the area, the entire structure has been made more spacious, with an atrium on west side featuring tables/chairs and large windows for mountain views. There will be improved sight lines through the entire seating area, as all pillars have been removed to eliminate obstructed views. There will also be new seatback chairs to replace the old, large plasma TVs throughout the area, an all-new sound system, air conditioning and heat, and new restrooms. The area now has permanent lighting (it previously only had temporary lighting), and, as always, food service will continue.

As of Monday, only 10 of the new 100 Rams Horn seats remained. To have the opportunity to purchase tickets in the Rams Horn, fans must donate a minimum of $2000 per pair of seats, and then purchase the tickets on top of that for $347.50/person, which includes season ticket, parking pass, buffet and free non-alcoholic beverages (a cash bar is also available).

The hallway behind the suites.

The sold-out luxury suites will feature stadium-style seating, a living room area with kitchenette, couches, TVs and catered food service. There are a total of 12 suites--six on each side of the Rams Horn and press box spanning the third and fourth levels. Third-level suites are 15 x 30 feet (about the same size as Invesco Field or Pepsi Center box seats on average) and have 18-permanent seats and four stools across the counter top for a total of 22. The fourth-level suites are slightly smaller with 16 total seats, including two rows of six bolted down chairs and four chairs up top. The suites won't have their own restrooms, but there are community restrooms on both ends.

The suites were offered in three- or five-year commitment deals. For the 16-seat suites, the price was $25,000 for five years or $26,500 for three years. For the 22-seat suites, the price was $28,500 for five years or $30,000 for three years. Tickets are included in those prices, as well as a $200 food service credit. The suites were quickly purchased by both corporate businesses to individual fans; and of course, the donor who made it all possible--Pat Stryker--has her own suite.

Between the new Rams Horn seating and luxury suites, CSU expects to net over $350,000/year in new revenue.

According to CSU project manager Jim Stoddard, who assumes overall responsibility for the Hughes Stadium, practice field and new scoreboard/video board construction projects, fans are going to love the Rams Horn and luxury suite areas.

"If you not already a member of the Rams Horn club or a suite owner, you should give it serious consideration," he said. "Those facilities are on par with any in the Mountain West Conference."

Press box

The press box will be bigger, nicer and equipped with better technology.

The press box, still located on the fourth level, is getting a major overhaul that will make it bigger, nicer and equipped with better technology, which is long overdue according to long-time media relations director Gary Ozzello.

"I really believe that our press box area will now undoubtedly be among the finest in the region," Ozzello said. "We had the opportunity through the generous gift by the Bohemian Foundation to include the latest in technological advances such as high-speed Internet access and in the future wireless access.

"There is more space and better equipment so that we can provide great service to the media. This is really going to be a showcase for our entire program. When you include the suites and the expanded Rams Horn, as well as the changes made last year to the facility, this is really going to make a difference in many ways for our program."

Per MWC rules, an instant replay booth will be provided to coincide with the conference's implementation of an instant replay system this year. CSU did not have to build a booth, however, as it simply plans to use a renovated secondary radio booth, which typically was vacant on gamedays anyways. There will also be a booth for the video board operators, with full wiring and keyboard capability to allow officials to use the board to its full potential. The booth will coincide with a production truck, which will use video feed from in-house video cameras that CSU will be operating to provide instant replay capability and video board footage. Ruckus Media, which currently handles video board production at Invesco Field and the Air Force Academy, and is owned by CSU alumni, will handle production of the video board at Hughes.

In addition, the visiting athletic director's box adjoined to the press box will be enhanced, so much so that Turner Construction project manager Troy Denike says, "The visiting athletic directors will go home and be like, 'Man, we've got to do something to our own stadium'. The visiting AD's box will be probably nicer than the box they have at home."

Miscellaneous fix-ups

The high cost of steel has prohibited spending on other areas of need at the stadium, but CSU is managing to do some minor work on areas like the Hughes Room. The room, which is reserved for Ram Club members, received a little bit of a face lift. Crews cleaned out asbestos in the ceiling, tore out the existing lighting and put in new lighting and dropping the ceiling for a new look. CSU also bought new furniture. The room received a fresh coat of paint and new carpet last year.

Not much is being done to the team locker rooms underneath the south concourse. The locker rooms have typically been put on the back burner due to only being used five to six times per year. Donors over the past few years have allowed CSU to do some minor fix-ups, such as new carpet and paint last year. But, one addition to the locker rooms this year will be a new timing clock in both locker rooms that coordinate with the scoreboards on the field to let teams know when they must be on the field.

One additional seating fix-up is also in the works. Most people may not have noticed, but in the seatback chair sections (D-F), which are designated for Ram Club donors, the top few rows of those sections did not have seatbacks, but rather bleachers like everywhere else in the stadium. However, crews are now replacing the bleachers atop those three sections with seatback chairs that were previously in the Rams Horn area.

A minor addition to the field will be new retractable net that will be installed behind the north endzone to keep footballs from entering the stands on extra points and field goal attempts.

Outside the stadium, thanks to Pinkerton Construction, CSU is having a new ticket booth built on the southwest side to replace the small shack that currently sits there. Pinkerton is donating materials and labor to build a six-window ticket booth, which will allow better customer service and more professional appearance for fans, will call patrons and player comps.

Lastly, permanent lighting has been added to the parking lots and additional lighting will be added on the east side, as well as around gates 1-3. This work, however, is not part of the current construction plans, but rather part of the changes suggested by the alcohol task force. Funding and planning for this lighting is being spearheaded by the university.

Artificial turf field in 2006

Because of the cost overruns, installation of a new artificial turf playing surface is being put on hold until 2006. The initial decision to replace the natural grass surface with an artificial grass has sparked some debate among university personnel and fans. The new field of choice will likely be a "Field Turf" type of field, which is a longer blade of "grass" and features a rubber-pellet base, made up of ground-up tires, for cushioning. It is the field that Sonny Lubick has been clamoring for since CSU first played on a similar surface at the University of Nevada in 2000. While many fans have insisted on keeping natural grass at the stadium, officials point to the benefits of artificial turf, such as near-maintenance-free upkeep, better traction during wet weather and better drainage. It would also allow CSU to host outside events, such as high school games, lacrosse games and other festivities.

CSU officials attempted to raise money to have the field done for this season. And while it raised a significant portion of the necessary funds, ran out of time to have the field installed. The artificial turf practice field south of Moby Arena was completed in 75 days last year, meaning in a best-case scenario, field work work at Hughes would have had to commence in early- to mid-July to be ready in time for the home opener. Most turf companies request 90 days to install a new field to compensate for bad weather and other obstacles.

The good news is, all of the extensive testing on the field has been complete, so CSU officials know exactly what needs to be done to have the field installed. Tests showed that bedrock at the stadium is between 3 and 4 feet below the surface in most places. At practice field, bedrock was 15 feet down, so it wasn't as much of an issue (although, they did have problems with clay). Typically, for proper drainage, crews will need to dig down about 10 inches, bring in new base and drainage system and lay turf.

Officials promise to have a new turf field installed by the 2006 season, and according to Max, work can begin immediately following the 2005 football season or in the spring after the soil defrosts. CSU has not yet hired a company to perform the work, but estimates that it will cost the athletic department in the range of $900,000 to $1.3 million (based on this year's prices), depending on any unforeseen issues underneath the soil.

Future plans

Aside from the completion of work left off out of this year's phase, athletic director Mark Driscoll is dreaming big in his plans for Hughes Stadium. He has quietly stated his vision for someday building a second level over the east stands, which would bring in much more revenue than endzone seats because it's a better vantage point and CSU could sell the seats in combination with Ram Club memberships. Doing so, however, would cost upwards of $15 million or more according to Max. He agreed that east side expansion is the most ideal but said the most realistic future expansion will begin in adding to the north endzone.

"One of the good things we did was pull all the utilities all the way round to the north endzone, so when we want to add on, we can easily build there. About 4700-5000 new seats could be put atop the north endzone seats, making it one of our easiest options. We've targeted that as being the next spot to add seats. After that, we'd look at the east side, creating an upper level with more seats or more club seating. We're limited on south endzone because right below the south endzone are the lockerrooms, which makes construction more costly. It's also under the scoreboard, which makes the seats less attractive to fans.

"Until then, we just need to keep adding amenities to help fans, such as restrooms and concessions," he concluded. "We expect a lot of that to happen in the north endzone next year."

If you had $100 million?

When asked if CSU would consider building an on-campus stadium from scratch if they were handed $100 million, Max said that wouldn't be near enough money to consider doing so. He admitted that within the last four years, athletic department officials have researched possible sites for a new 45,000-seat stadium. But what they found is that the costs incurred for having to build the necessary infrastructure, streets and parking, is phenomenal, and in Max's estimation, something that probably should have been better researched more than 36 years ago when the original plans for Hughes Stadium were made.

That's when university officials decided to build on a school-owned parcel of land out at the current site of Hughes Stadium. At the time, it made some sense because city officials had intended to build a bypass highway around the city that would have provided easy access to the area. School officials considered alternate sites, such as the parcel of land where the Rams Village apartments complex currently sits. But, building on school-owned property as opposed to acquiring new land for a stadium site apparently made more sense to university officials.

That aside, with the current renovations at Hughes Stadium, Max said he doesn't think CSU could build the same stadium it has now for $150 to $200 million.

"If someone wanted to fund (a new on-campus stadium), and we could come up with the land, we'd look at it," Max said. "Something like that would take more than a few big donors. You'd need to get the community and city together to build something like that."

Intangible benefits

The new Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium will be light-years ahead of the former "Showcase of the Rockies". With the technological advances like the video board and top-of-the-line sound system, luxurious aesthetically pleasing suites, and new endzone seats, the fans' experience at the stadium will be vastly improved in 2005. The video board should aid in getting the crowd into the games; the new seats will contribute to larger, more imposing crowds; and ultimately, a new playing surface will assist the players on the field.

Will this newly renovated stadium be enough to attract a higher level of recruit?

According to former wide receiver Pete Rebstock, the answer is yes and no.

"Unfortunately it does make a difference in recruiting," he added. "Athletes seem to be going to programs because of the amenities that they have access to rather than just because the offense is a good fit or because the coaches are really good. Kids are too vulnerable these days to the Nike Swoosh, the indoor facilities and the giant stadiums. But that is reality and it doesn't matter how great a coach Sonny is or how good a season we have; if we can't compete with our competitors from a tangible standpoint we stand no chance going forward.

"To be honest, to me none of that stuff (facilities and stadium) was a big deal--I just wanted to have the biggest crowd possible to play in front of," he concluded. "I think it is a bigger deal to the fans because now they can watch the games in a more comfortable environment and even watch replays on the big screen. I am hoping the new upgrades bring in a more consistent fan base week in and week out. The players and coaches deserve a consistent 35,000 fans every home game regardless of the competition or our record. Now it is up to the athletic department to attract and retain these fans. The players and coaches have done their part."

We'll soon find out if the new "Showcase of the Rockies" does its part.

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For a progressive photo gallery of the construction effort, visit our Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium Expansion News and Photos page.