Washington-Grizzly Stadium expansion approved
1/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Season ticket holders, students battle for seating
An additional 4,004 sets of fanned hands and wiggling fingers will be added to the Washington-Grizzly wave next season.
After the $2.3 million project was approved by the Board of Regents earlier this month, the UM Athletic Department got the official go-ahead to expand the north endzone.
And, for any Griz fan who has had to stand sandwiched between people in the aisles in the student section, an expansion could mean more elbow room.
Though it has been suggested by UM Athletic Director Wayne Hogan that a portion of the new 4,004 seats be turned into student seating, the majority of the new spots will be reserved for season ticket holders.
Although Hogan is proposing to grant 650 of the seats exclusively to students, the extra room won't come without a pricetag, said ASUM Vice President Kristy Schilke.
The money to complete the $2.3 million project has to come from somewhere and to get more student seats, the student athletic fee will likely be increased by approximately $9, Schilke said.
"We need the seats, and it's fair to ask for a fee increase since the general athletic fee hasn't been raised in awhile," Schilke said. "But the ASUM needs to take into consideration the best interests of all 13,000 UM students and not just those who attend games."
Discussion and negotiations between the athletic department and ASUM are underway regarding student seating, and while nothing definite has been decided yet, the proposed fee increase could go before the Board of Regents or be decided by a referendum.
The athletic fee charged to students is currently $60, an amount that has not been raised since 1993. And, UM's general athletic fee is one of the lowest in the Big Sky Conference.
If the money doesn't come from the proposed fee increase, it will have to come from selling more season tickets.
The Athletic Department has already raised money by pre-selling 2,700 of the season tickets at $148 a pop, including a $75 deposit. The department used this money as collateral before going to the Board of Regents to ask for a loan to cover the project.
In addition to the loan and revenue created from ticket sales, a Griz alum and former player, Walt Brett, agreed to put up the rest of the money as an interest-free loan to the UM.
Brett, a developer in Park City, Utah, has also used his ties with AIMES Construction Inc. to help defray construction costs.
"All we have to do is make the economics fit," Hogan said. "The end product, the expanded stadium, will be louder with more people and more excitement. It creates more of a Griz mystique."
Season ticket holders Adele Gibbs and Julie Beckel agree that more seats will translate into more fans and more noise.
"The expansion is wonderful," said Gibbs, whose seats are in the south endzone. "Griz football is too wonderful to limit the seating capacity to just 20,000."
Although Gibbs and her husband Matt have been season ticket holders for a number of years, she would like to see the extra seats go to the students.
Beckel, who has season tickets in the north endzone, said she would also like to share an aisle with more students rather than other season ticket holders.
"We need more students in the stands," Beckel said. "They are the heartbeat, so to speak, of the University and the whole stadium feeds off their spirit."
Although it's unclear at this point exactly who will be sitting in the new seats, the project is set to be completed before the first game next season. If construction goes according to plan, the new seating will climb 10-12 rows higher than the present stands.
Adding on to the north endzone was ideal because construction there will be easier than adding on the east or west sides, and fans on the north end have the best view of the screen, said Hogan.
"The north endzone is the most popular place in the stadium," Hogan said. "People have created their own culture down there...they're crazy, man."
An additional 4,004 sets of fanned hands and wiggling fingers will be added to the Washington-Grizzly wave next season.
After the $2.3 million project was approved by the Board of Regents earlier this month, the UM Athletic Department got the official go-ahead to expand the north endzone.
And, for any Griz fan who has had to stand sandwiched between people in the aisles in the student section, an expansion could mean more elbow room.
Though it has been suggested by UM Athletic Director Wayne Hogan that a portion of the new 4,004 seats be turned into student seating, the majority of the new spots will be reserved for season ticket holders.
Although Hogan is proposing to grant 650 of the seats exclusively to students, the extra room won't come without a pricetag, said ASUM Vice President Kristy Schilke.
The money to complete the $2.3 million project has to come from somewhere and to get more student seats, the student athletic fee will likely be increased by approximately $9, Schilke said.
"We need the seats, and it's fair to ask for a fee increase since the general athletic fee hasn't been raised in awhile," Schilke said. "But the ASUM needs to take into consideration the best interests of all 13,000 UM students and not just those who attend games."
Discussion and negotiations between the athletic department and ASUM are underway regarding student seating, and while nothing definite has been decided yet, the proposed fee increase could go before the Board of Regents or be decided by a referendum.
The athletic fee charged to students is currently $60, an amount that has not been raised since 1993. And, UM's general athletic fee is one of the lowest in the Big Sky Conference.
If the money doesn't come from the proposed fee increase, it will have to come from selling more season tickets.
The Athletic Department has already raised money by pre-selling 2,700 of the season tickets at $148 a pop, including a $75 deposit. The department used this money as collateral before going to the Board of Regents to ask for a loan to cover the project.
In addition to the loan and revenue created from ticket sales, a Griz alum and former player, Walt Brett, agreed to put up the rest of the money as an interest-free loan to the UM.
Brett, a developer in Park City, Utah, has also used his ties with AIMES Construction Inc. to help defray construction costs.
"All we have to do is make the economics fit," Hogan said. "The end product, the expanded stadium, will be louder with more people and more excitement. It creates more of a Griz mystique."
Season ticket holders Adele Gibbs and Julie Beckel agree that more seats will translate into more fans and more noise.
"The expansion is wonderful," said Gibbs, whose seats are in the south endzone. "Griz football is too wonderful to limit the seating capacity to just 20,000."
Although Gibbs and her husband Matt have been season ticket holders for a number of years, she would like to see the extra seats go to the students.
Beckel, who has season tickets in the north endzone, said she would also like to share an aisle with more students rather than other season ticket holders.
"We need more students in the stands," Beckel said. "They are the heartbeat, so to speak, of the University and the whole stadium feeds off their spirit."
Although it's unclear at this point exactly who will be sitting in the new seats, the project is set to be completed before the first game next season. If construction goes according to plan, the new seating will climb 10-12 rows higher than the present stands.
Adding on to the north endzone was ideal because construction there will be easier than adding on the east or west sides, and fans on the north end have the best view of the screen, said Hogan.
"The north endzone is the most popular place in the stadium," Hogan said. "People have created their own culture down there...they're crazy, man."
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