Penn State Sports Magazine
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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 13 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State athletics director Patrick Kraft had only been on the job for 27 days, when he fielded questions at Big Ten Media Days in mid- July. He was well aware that one of the major topics of conversation would be the future of Beaver Stadium. The iconic 106,572- seat venue on the east side of campus has been the subject of an ongo- ing debate ever since the university unveiled its Facilities Master Plan in 2017. The plan, produced by Penn State and the sports architecture firm Populous, in- cluded a rendering of a vastly different stadium, with a brick façade covering up the exposed girders and beams of the cur- rent facility and a limestone colonnade on the west side greeting visitors. There was no construction timeline or cost estimate attached to the renderings, and in the absence of any firm plans, fans have debated the facility's future. Would a renovation project be suf- ficient to modernize Beaver Stadium, which has been in use at its present lo- cation since 1960? Or should it be torn down to make way for an entirely new stadium? Kraft, who succeeded Sandy Barbour as athletics director on July 1, didn't have an answer to that looming question when he addressed reporters at Big Ten Media Days, but he acknowledged that there is some urgency to make decisions about the stadium's future. "I've played there," he said, recall- ing his days as a football player at In- diana in the late 1990s. "I've been on the sidelines as an administrator. I get goosebumps every time I come from the airport, and I look at our logo lit up. It's a special, iconic building. "I got very emotional walking with my two children, that gate opening, and seeing my face on that scoreboard. I get goosebumps thinking about it now. I love that building. And it's a historical building in my eyes. "What I have to figure out is, is it safe? How long can we keep it standing? That's the question. But if it's going to fall down, then you've got to figure it out. We're go- ing to do everything to keep that thing up and running." Penn State has long used Beaver Stadium almost exclusively for football. It has a natu- ral grass field, which is more fragile than the artificial turf in use at many other stadiums. However, in recent years the university has allowed the stadium to host concerts and other events. In the summer of 2017, the stadium played host to a con- cert by country music star Blake Shelton. This past June, PSU welcomed the Topgolf Live Stadium Tour. Golfers paid anywhere from $40 to $185 for the opportunity to tee off at targets on the field. Those non-football events have been rare, though, and one of Kraft's priorities is to take better advantage of the univer- sity's most well-known sporting venue. "We have to find other ways to use it," he said. "That building should be used more than seven days [out of the year], in my opinion. We have to find ways to do that. We've got to provide ourselves with the opportunity to generate more revenue off it." This past spring, the university con- ducted a survey of Penn State fans asking what they wanted to see in a modernized Beaver Stadium. Kraft said the feedback will prove useful while Penn State decides how to proceed. "We've got to make decisions, and then move on to the next thing," he said. "That one is a big one, because of the time and money. We have to really focus. "There was a study, and we're starting to peel the onion on that. What does it really mean, and what's the next step? I think we'll have that answer in short order." ■ New AD Patrick Kraft On Stadium: 'We've Got To Make Decisions' G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G. P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M "What I have to figure out is, is it safe? How long can we keep it standing? That's the question. But if it's going to fall down, then you've got to figure it out. We're going to do everything to keep that thing up and running." K R A F T Beaver Stadium has been hosting Penn State football games since 1960. Before being moved to its present location, it was known as Beaver Field and was located where the Nittany Lion Inn and Nittany Parking Deck stand today. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL