A birds-eye view photo of Carter-Finley Stadium hangs in Ray Brincefield’s office at the base of the stadium’s Vaughn Towers. For Brincefield, the assistant athletic director for outdoor facilities, it’s easy to see the progress the stadium has made in the past 10 years.

From the addition of the Murphy Center and the Vaughn Towers, to the new north end zone and the side’s new grand entrance, progress has been quick. But from that photo, it’s just as easy to see what still needs to be done.

Brincefield quickly points to the field, where a crest can be seen in the middle of the grass that has been there since the stadium was built 42 years ago.

He points to the stadium’s east side, opposite of the Vaughn Towers. The east side sticks out like a sore thumb for Brincefield. After all the changes throughout the stadium, the east side is the last portion of Carter-Finley that doesn’t have a grand entrance or re-modeled bathrooms and concession stands.

There’s even the idea of an indoor practice facility that fans and coaches have been whispering about since the Vaughn Towers were built.

“There’s a lot of ideas that are being kicked around. You’ve got your fans, you’ve got the Wolfpack Club, you’ve got the Athletic Department, you’ve got your coaching staff,” Brincefield said. “But whether or not all that gets tied together in one major project or as needed is something else.”

Because of the speed of renovations done to Carter-Finley, a hefty debt has piled up, leaving the Wolfpack Club still having to pay off the more than $100 million worth of work done to the stadium.

But despite debt, Athletics Director Lee Fowler says the University is not stalling. Fowler will gather a committee this fall to figure out what needs to be renovated, at what price that will come and how quickly it needs to be done. The trouble may be coming to a consensus.

The plans

The coaching staff wants a new field and an indoor practice facility. The Wolfpack Club and the fans want a renovated east concourse and seating section. Adding more seats is always in the horizon, and there’s even talk about adding video banners throughout the stadium, like in the RBC Center, to increase ad revenue.

With plenty of options about what needs to be done, the different parties are trying to prioritize and map out their next steps.

The field is an obvious one, but requires more than just planting new grass. Carter-Finley’s field was built using the old model: a turtle-back field, or one that has a crest in the middle. The modern way of building fields is flat with a sand base, kind of like a golf green.

“It’s going all the way down past the subgrade and rebuilding the field to today’s standard,” Brincefield said. “It’s a six or eight week project, it’s an expensive project, but it would benefit our football program.”

The restrooms on the east side are another obvious option. With all the renovations being done to the stadium’s other three sides, both the east side’s entrance and the restrooms lag behind.

“The fencing, the gate, the concessions, the restrooms, the seats, the whole side needs to match the rest of the stadium,” Purcell said. “It’s just something we need to do for the people who sit on that side. We owe it to them.”

And though Fowler said there is no immediate need for seating additions, there always needs to be a plan of how to add for when it is needed.

“We’re selling out, but it’s not like we have a long waiting list of people wanting to get tickets,” Fowler said. “So you don’t want to overbuild if you don’t need it, but you also want to be prepared if you do need it.”

Maybe the most interesting addition for fans and the coaches would be an indoor practice facility. Many of N.C. State’s SEC brothers to the south already have practice facilities.

But despite the big money that Wolfpack football brings in, it doesn’t match the that of the SEC powers. Besides, a lot of things would have to be considered before construction could take place.

“There’s so many variable that go into that. Where do you put it, how do you build it, are you able to kickoff and punt in it? Do you put track around it for the school’s other sports?” Brincefield said. “Every increment really raises the price.”

Money issues

Any price could be tough for N.C. State to pay right now.

Because of the quick construction of the Murphy Center, the Vaughn Towers and the north end zone, the Wolfpack Club is still paying off debt.

According to Purcell, the Wolfpack Club — which typically pays for renovation and expansion of the football facilities — borrowed money to pay for each of the three projects.

Most of the donations from members to pay for the facilities came through pledges in which certain amounts of money are given over a five to 10-year period. The Wolfpack Club uses those pledges as they come in to pay off the debt.

“It should be about three to four more years before we get the Murphy Center paid off,” Purcell said of the first new building constructed. “Once we get the Murphy Center paid off, we’ll be in much better shape.”

Specific projects are usually funded through capital projects or a large private donation. Those are the kinds of funding an indoor practice facility would need.

“That’s the kind of thing that if someone were to donate a large sum to put their name on it, then we could move forward and start the campaign to have that done,” O’Brien said.

More immediate concerns are expensive as well. Fowler said the new field will cost about a million dollars but is something that has to be done within the next two years.

With the University having just finished building a new soccer stadium and a softball field, funds can start going other places. One aspect that Fowler credits for construction in areas other than football is student fees. The University gets $134 from each student for athletics as a whole, and $66 from each student for athletic facilities and maintenance.

“It’s really a godsend that students have been willing and able to help athletics out,” Fowler said. “We’re still behind North Carolina in terms of what students give to us by about $50, but we hope to catch up in the next couple of years.”

Riding the trends

Carter-Finley is in a strange position. While some of its facilities, like the Murphy Center and the Vaughn Towers, rival any ACC program, other elements, like the field, lag way behind. In fact, the football field is the only State athletic field still built using the old model.

In comparison to SEC schools, the rest of the country doesn’t measure up. Brincefield notes that it’s just a matter of time before ACC schools’ facilities are at the level SEC schools are now.

“They were building football centers like the Murphy Center 15 years ago. We built ours five years ago,” Brincefield says. “We are in the same progression that they are, it’s just the ACC is five or 10 years behind the SEC. It’s just supply and demand.”

Fowler said he is forming a committee in the next month or two to start discussing the next best route to take. And since coaches and facilities experts will determine which project must come first, Fowler says the committee can figure out how it will happen and when.

But one thing all parties agree on is that success is what will make each project happen.

“Whether it be tennis or softball, or doing extra stuff to Reynolds, we have to be successful so that our interest stays where it needs to be,” Brincefield said.