The $250 million stadium, equipped with 5,000-square-foot scoreboard, will seat 45,000 fans and replace the 63-year-old off-campus Floyd Casey Stadium positioned miles from campus. At 860,000 square feet, the stadium will include a pedestrian bridge providing connectivity with campus, nearly 250 portable and permanent concession points and canopy shades will provide shading to 45 to 55 percent of seats throughout the day.

Designed by Kansas City, Mo.-based Populous and constructed by a partnership between Dallas-headquartered Austin Commercial and Flintco, LLC with offices in Austin, Texas, the new stadium will provide a much grander view to the university’s team loyalty.

“The stadium will now become the front door to the university it has prominent visibility will provide year-round connection to the campus,” said Sherri Privitera, principal at Populus. “When fans come to game day they’re really going to be coming and experiencing campus now like they never have before.”

The 93-acre site is scheduled to open for the 2014 football season and will become a spectacle to those driving down I-35. Visitors can arrive easily by car and enjoy the increased parking spaces, by boat or by foot via the pedestrian bridge, Privitera said. Much insight for the design was drawn from the unique qualities of Baylor architecture, Privitera said.

“The inspiration really came from campus,” Privitera said. “We spent significant time on campus and with Baylor officials, drawing from what their goals are as far as the football stadium and the university as well as their connection to the city.”

The firm created a set of eight design principles from the information they gathered on campus, she said, adding that the columns and kind of brick used at the stadium is representative of the campus.

“We designed this stadium for Baylor,” Privitera said. “We would not design the aspects of the stadium for any other location”

The unique shape of the stadium was planned to shade as many football fans as possible given the several angles of the sun and the allotted budget for the canopy. The numerous shaded open concourses, which Privitera said are similar to a baseball stadium’s concourses, also provide additional views to the school.

“You have a connection back to the city, back to the university and to the surrounding site,” Privitera said. “You’ll also be able to stand on the lower or upper concourse and always be connected back to the game.”

The family-oriented design of the stadium will create a fantastic weekend experience with great tailgating opportunities, Privitera said, and its proximity to Waco nightlife, restaurants and businesses will generate a boost in the local economy.

“It will attract nationally and locally more attention to the stadium,” Privitera said.

The Baylor University Board of Regents also approved the $13.6 million track and field stadium project to be built on the far east side of the stadium. Populous will also design the 5,000-seat stadium that will include a 13,500-square-foot indoor practice facility.

"It is a great and humbling day for the Baylor track and field family," said Todd Harbour, head coach of Baylor’s track team, in a statement. "It will be a huge blessing for us to be on campus with all of our other outstanding facilities. When completed, the overall facility, including the indoor workout area, will be one of the nation’s finest track and field complexes.”

Construction on the track and field project is expected to begin this summer with a projected completion date of spring 2015.

The post Baylor Athletics Transforming Facilities appeared first on School Construction News.

“The need for the replacement of the track and field facility is undeniable,” Dumas wrote in a memo to city and school employees. “Despite our repeated attempts to maintain and repair the track, the reality is that the track has become irreparable. The existing track has been unusable for years. In fact, the Attleboro High School track team has been unable to host a home track meet since 2008.”

The decision didn’t come completely out of left field, as the school recently received correspondence from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the accreditation authority presiding over Attleboro High School. The letter requested an update “on the district’s work and findings to identify funding to address the unsafe and unusable condition of the track facility."

Dumas contended that the artificial grass would be the most cost-effective option. “Annual maintenance costs are drastically reduced and synthetic turf is more durable than grass,” he affirmed. “More games and practices can be played on the new artificial turf. This alone will allow other fields to be taken off-line and revived.”

City councilor Jeremy Denlea supported the mayor’s efforts in an email to the Attleboro-Seekonk Patch. “This proposed new facility is a welcome solution to a very serious problem. The AHS track used to host different local and regional meets as well as the local Special Olympics; all of these events have since been moved due to safety concerns. I want to see Attleboro High School’s athletics facilities become the powerhouse they once were."

The city’s last capital improvement plan also identified the track as an urgent need. Dumas said this was because its level of disrepair, “poses a safety hazard to students and the general public.” A school committee recently budgeted $13,530 for a feasibility study on the prospective project.

Dumas warned in his memo that grants and other “free” sources of funding would be difficult to obtain.

“Unfortunately, repeated attempts to secure private funding for this project through organizations such as the National Football League Grassroots Program have been unsuccessful. In addition, the Massachusetts School Building Authority has made it clear that track and field projects are not eligible for reimbursement.”

The grassroots program is a non-profit that identifies its mission as helping schools “improve the quality, safety and accessibility of football fields in underserved areas of NFL markets.”

Dumas ended his proposal with a bit of a rallying cry: “Although we will continue to seek available grants and private funding wherever possible, this part of our journey towards restoring Attleboro’s flagship school into one of the top high schools in the Commonwealth is entirely up to us."

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