As construction continues on the west upper deck of Tiger Stadium and with the upcoming season just four months away, fans will not have to worry about being in their seats come September barring a natural disaster.
“It will take a lot to not have people in their seats by Sept. 3,” Herb Vincent, Executive Director of External Affairs at the Tiger Athletic Foundation said. “We’re comfortable with the situation.”
According to Vincent, seats in both the west upper deck and the new Stadium Club will be “occupy-able” for the start of the 2005 season.
“’Occupy-able’ means the fans will be in their seats,” Vincent said. “In the clubs, there may not be carpet down, or there may not be paint on the walls. But that will continue through the season.”
Construction of the west upper deck, which began after the Tigers’ final game last season, is being paid for by TAF at a cost of $60 million.
With around 600 new stadium seats, as well as 3,200 new club seats available, Tiger Stadium’s capacity will rise from 91,600 to around 93,400.
Yet according to Vincent, the purpose of the project was not to increase the number of seats.
“The purpose of this renovation project was not to create new seats, but to generate revenue,” Vincent said. “And that’s exactly what the new club seats do.”
Vincent said the revenue from the new Stadium Club seats help fund other athletic projects, which includes the new LSU Football Operations Center.
“The new west side construction will generate revenue for other projects like the Football Operations Center,” Vincent said. “And the benefit of the Football Operations Center is putting the entire program under one roof.”
Unlike the stadium construction, which has delayed the project, the new Football Operations Center construction has been running smoothly.
“It’s a different project because once we have the roof on it, we’re not susceptible to weather problems,” Vincent said. “It’s going very well.”
The Football Operations Center is set to be open for the 2005 season.
Due to recent weather problems delaying construction, not every aspect of the construction will be complete by the Sept. 3 opener against North Texas.
With the possibility of select ticket-holders not being in their seats for the game raising some eyebrows, Vincent said a contingency plan is in place.
“If in the event some areas would not be ready, we can still accommodate those people,” Vincent said. “We have 7,000 visiting seats, and North Texas will not use all of those.”
A total of 7,000 visitor tickets are made available at each home game for the visiting fans.
In addition, the west side construction has completely cut off the stadium parking lot from students, as well as those fans with a parking pass for game days.
“We’ve made arrangements from a football parking standpoint to put people in other spots,” Vincent said. “And we apologize to the students for the inconvenience, but they’ve been great in staying out of the area.”
Just across the street, construction of Mike the Tiger’s new habitat is well ahead of schedule, according to Vincent.
“Mike the Tiger’s new habitat is long overdue,” Vincent said. “It’s one of the most visited sites in Baton Rouge, even more than the state capital.”
The $2.9 million project, which began last year, is set to be complete for the 2005 football season.
In addition, a new Web site, www.MikeTheTiger.com, has been created in support of the new 15,000 square foot environment.
“TAF created it to expose Mike even more,” Vincent said. “It gives people the opportunity to make donations, and more than anything, it’s a fun thing for fans and kids.”
Other recent campus projects, including the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes, have been funded by TAF. Aside from the three current projects taking place, renovations of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center were recently completed through TAF funding.
“TAF did renovations of the concourse,” Vincent said. “But the athletic department, with the University, funded the replacement of the roof. The athletic department is also funding the replacement of all the seats.”
In addition, current projects are currently in the works for particular renovations, including a new indoor tennis facility and a gymnastics practice complex.
According to Vincent, the goal is to have most renovation projects done by 2010.
“Within this decade, we’ll be able to address every sport,” Vincent said. “We’ll get them all up to speed and be able to move forward with numerous maintenance projects rather than creating new construction projects.”