Along with wondering how the football team will fare under new coach Les Miles this upcoming football season, fans are also pondering if the west upper deck will be ready for the first game on Sept. 3.
“The contractor is on a pace that will make the west upper deck habitable for the first game of the season,” said Herb Vincent, associate athletics director for external affairs. “What that means is the seats will be there for fans to watch the game.”
Vincent said restrooms and concession stands will be functional for the first game, but finishing touches such as carpet in the stadium club boxes and paint on the walls will not be complete.
“The goal for the first game is to have seats ready for fans to watch the game,” Vincent said. “It is still too soon to determine how much of the finishing touches will not be completed.”
Athletics Director Skip Bertman said on lsusports.net that “In the event that a small percentage of seats are not usable for the first or second games, we will be able to accommodate any displaced ticket holders with tickets in the south end zone or east upper deck where visiting fans usually sit,”
Vincent said they will be able to place fans in the visiting sections if necessary because the first two home games are against North Texas and Arizona State, which will not likely use the 7,000 seats available to them.
The timeline for the west upper deck to be “habitable” for the first game does include time for some bad weather.
“The afternoon showers that we have in Louisiana everyday will not cause a delay,” Vincent said. “If a catastrophic incident such as a hurricane would come through and cause damage to the stadium, then we would have a problem and have to make some kind of adjustment.”
The current stage of the construction project is placing the 11 raker beams in. Once the concrete for the raker beams is poured and ready, the precast concrete treads and risers — the steps the seats go on — will be placed between them.
The parking situation for the upcoming season will be the same as last season.
Lot A near the west stadium parking lot will be closed because the subcontractors who will be completing the finishing touches on the stadium will need that area to work in once the cranes leave.
Vincent said elevators will be available to the Stadium Club and west upper deck for the first game, and that the elevator situation will be better than last season although not all of the elevators will be available for the first game.
“Ultimately there will be 12 high-speed elevators to go up to the stadium club and west upper deck,” Vincent said. “That is one of those elements that will not be complete for the first game but will continue to improve as the year goes on.”
The construction project on the west upper deck will continue throughout the football season, and the project will be fully completed after the football season, Vincent said.
“The new west upper deck will have a 20-30 year impact on the stadium,” Vincent said. “It will generate $7 million of new revenue for athletics programs every year, which we can spend on other programs and facilities.”
The eastside of the stadium is getting a facelift as well.
The gold seats on the east side sideline are being replaced with new chair back seats because the old seats are no longer manufactured and there was difficulty repairing or replacing damaged seats.
The west side sideline seats will be replaced next year after the west upper deck construction is completed.