The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER 50 1966 2016 cruited Amato and his brother Rosie from Pennsylvania, made a reality. "The plan was in place, but Chuck was the right person in the right place to get things going," Purcell said. "And Philip Rivers's career helped." The first piece of a $100 million reno- vation project was the Murphy Center, a 108,776-square-foot home for the foot- ball program that includes coaches' offices, a football museum, locker rooms, weight rooms and a television studio. At the same time, the south end of the stadium where the long-loved grassy bank had been used for general-admission seating since the sta- dium opened was enclosed with 5,800 chair- backed seats. The nearby Dail Practice Complex gave the team two full natural grass fields and one artificial turf field to practice on. The old press box on the west side was demolished in 2004 to make way for Vaughn Towers, a four-level press box and luxury seating tower that features 51 private boxes and premium seating for some 1,000 season ticket holders. In 2006, the original A.E. Finley Field- house was demolished and the north end zone was enclosed. The $17.3 million project added 5,800 permanent seats atop new home and visiting locker rooms and other storage space. Nearly 2,000 bleacher seats were also added underneath the scoreboard, giving the stadium a new capacity approaching 60,000. In 2009, the crowned playing surface that was originally installed in 1966 was replaced with a sand-based, laser-leveled field, and a new irrigation system was added. The field can now accommodate the most elaborate concert stages, which it did when U2 visited that same year. The Rolling Stones came in 2015, and Beyoncé performed earlier this year. There have been two events at Carter-Finley Stadium that were truly epic produc- tions and garnered massive attention. The opening ceremonies for the 1987 Olympic Sports Festival, which at the time was the largest sporting event in state history, were held at Carter-Finley, as were the opening ceremonies for the 1999 Special Olympics, which overtook the former for the largest honor. Both drew massive crowds on hot summer nights and were televised nationally, and both showcased not just NC State but the great diversity of life in the Old North State. They went off without a hitch, save for the decision in '87 by the United States Olympic Committee to allow a pair of UNC Chapel Hill athletes, basket - ball player J.R. Reid and women's soccer player April Heinrichs, to jointly light the cauldron that burned throughout the 23 days of the simulated national Olympic games. The torch was delivered to the stadium after a statewide journey in which vol- unteer runners — including future Olympic gold-medal winning head coach Kay Yow — ran through 375 cities covering 2,800 miles over 26 days. For the next 11 days, four teams representing the North, South, East and West competed in a total of 34 men's and women's events in venues throughout the state, serving as a warm-up for the 1988 Seoul, South Korea, Olympics. The festival's opening on July 17, 1987, drew a sellout audience of 52,500 fans, which included some 3,000 athletes and 2,000 performers and volunteers. The highly produced event — directed by Raleigh theater veteran Ira David Wood — included performances by a slew of nationally recognized North Carolina artists like Roberta Flack, Charlie Daniels, Shirley Caesar and the Four Tops. Dancing and singing performers preceded the parade of athletes, and concerts lasted throughout the hot Friday evening. The event ended with a fireworks display that rivaled anything ever done during the North Carolina State Fair. A dozen years later, the Special Olympic Summer World Games came to the Tri - angle, and Carter-Finley again hosted the opening ceremonies. Comedian Billy Crystal emceed the nationally broadcast event, while other perform- ers like singer Stevie Wonder, poet and author Maya Angelou, singer Shirley Caesar, evangelist Billy Graham and basketball player Grant Hill entertained the sold-out crowd. More than 7,000 athletes representing 150 countries participated in the 12-day event, competing in 19 sports across the Triangle. — Tim Peeler Carter-Finley Hosted Opening Ceremonies For Two Major Events Carter-Finley Stadium has hosted numerous concert events. The Rolling Stones (shown here in 2015) have played it twice. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS The Wendell H. Murphy Football Center was the first piece of a $100 million renovation project to improve Carter-Finley. It opened in time for the 2002 season. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS