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Opinion: Why Penn State Should Build a New Football Stadium

Feb. 8, 2023 was a red-letter day for tens of thousands of Penn State football fans. That was the last day to renew your season tickets for the upcoming slate of home games in Beaver Stadium this fall – the marquee matchup of the season being on Nov. 11 against Michigan. And the season also includes a game against West Virginia, who Penn State hasn’t played since a 40-26 win in Morgantown in 1992. 

For the last few years, this renewal process, which used to be the proverbial “no-brainer” decision in our home, has been a topic for family discussion. Our cost for tickets, parking, donations and the service fee has crept well into four-digit territory, and that expenditure is complicated by our son playing college football at a school other than Penn State – meaning we have a conflict with just about every Penn State home game. And of course, going to his games always wins out. Consequently, in recent years we’ve only used our Penn State tickets once or twice each season. So, what was once an automatic process now involves a little hesitation on our part.

But, creatures of habit are we, and a few days before the renewal deadline, we dutifully submitted our payment and again became a part of the 107K Family. Although we do now take advantage of the payment plan to spread that expense (pain) over a few months.

And then, interestingly in its timing, less than 10 days after the renewal deadline there was a huge announcement from the university: a major renovation is under consideration for Beaver Stadium!

Reading the university’s press release, a few things stood out to the discerning eye. First, the language is not definitive that the project will be done. “Under consideration,” “intent to renovate,” “may be receiving,” “has the potential to,” and “the direction we want to take,” were some of the phrases sprinkled throughout the release.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the desire to put a budget-conscious face on this announcement – so soon after 107K people parted with great sums of money – was also evident in the language. “No tuition or education dollars will be used” was the sub-headline, and university President Neeli Bendapudi used the word “economical” twice in four sentences.

Which goes hand-in-hand with a basic human understanding of renovation: that it’s less-costly to renovate than to build new. Which can be true depending on the extent of the renovations. And as I’ve written on these pages before, we certainly love our renovations — from George and Mary Bailey renovating the old Granville house in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” to Hope and Michael living in a constant state of construction in their Philadelphia home in “thirtysomething,” to the popularity and spinoffs that resulted from “This Old House” and the calm demeanors of Bob Vila and Norm Abram. 

We project a mystical and magical quality on renovations because we envision what could be out of what already is. As President Benapudi said in the press release, “…we will do what we must to preserve one of our most iconic spaces…” 

Except, in addition to trying to save some money, many renovations happen because of one thing, that old retail maxim: location, location, location. We renovate because there is no space left to build where we want to be – or are. So, our choices are to tear down and build new on the same spot, or renovate.

The first option works well when you have another place to live or work. Not something most people can afford. Or, as on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” when the new-build turnaround time is just one week and you can take a vacation while demolition/construction occurs. Since neither is likely for the average person, most people choose to renovate while living and/or working in the space.

Which is apparently what we have here at Penn State – the powers-that-be suggesting that the best option is to renovate Beaver Stadium. While the football team continues to play in Beaver Stadium. 

Now, because Penn State hasn’t provided any details about what they are planning to renovate – just widen some walkways, update a few bathrooms, add escalators in the corners, or go full-blown demolition and replace the east and west stands and press box – we don’t have any sense of what the renovation cost is versus a completely new stadium. But that’s why you’re in the Big Ten, whose new television deal – which is almost completely due to football – could see schools eventually receiving $100 million a year. You’re going to get money.

And for my money, there are two reasons that it’s time to build new.

The first is that the guts of Beaver Stadium – the lower horseshoe bowl – have been in use for almost 74 years since Villanova played Penn State on Sept. 24, 1949 at New Beaver Field. And it’s been over two decades since any substantial additions have been made to the stadium. In other words, it’s old. As much as President Benapudi refers to it as an “iconic space,” at the end of the day it’s a reasonably ugly amalgamation of steel and concrete with a few engineering feats included. For a university with its own architecture program and a penchant for touting the visual significance of many of its buildings, a new stadium would seem to be something that not only fans, but also the university might appreciate. Plus, with the many sustainability programs at Penn State, features could be incorporated into a new stadium in ways that would reduce its “footprint.” And those programs could find ways to recycle the old stadium. 

The second reason to build a new stadium is that Penn State doesn’t have the location issue I mentioned previously. Many other universities are forced into renovations because there is no place to put a new stadium on their campus, and demolishing and building a new stadium in the same spot can’t be accomplished between seasons. Recent renovations and announcements at schools such as Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Tennessee were likely a function of these stadiums being landlocked, so building new was out of the question. 

This is Happy Valley; there is plenty of space to build. In fact, right across Park Avenue from Beaver Stadium is a plot that would require tearing down only a minimal amount of buildings to clear the land for a new Beaver Stadium. Buildings that are ancient and for which the occupants would probably appreciate replacements that could be built on open land to the northwest for a fraction of the total project cost. And, as an added benefit, building a new stadium there affects very little gameday parking. Stadium construction could occur and most football fan’s experiences wouldn’t change a bit.

Granted, by the time any of these changes occur I might be at an age where I won’t be able to navigate my way in and out of the stadium regardless of whether it’s a renovation or totally new stadium, but if it’s the best fan, player, coach, press, staff experience we’re looking to provide, a new stadium is the way to go, and Penn State is one of the few colleges that could pull it off. Let’s break ground!