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Study: On-campus USF stadium projected at $200 million
TAMPA — Emphasizing they're very early in the process, USF administrators indicated Tuesday they're exploring four sites on the campus' southern end for a possible on-campus football stadium.
Athletic director Mark Harlan discussed the school's "Football Stadium Conceptual Planning Study" with Calvin Williams, USF's vice-president for administrative services (and a civil engineer). The two said USF looked at 14 other stadiums around the country to get the best perspective of what kind of facility would work best for the Bulls.
"I want to make it really fundamentally clear to everybody … that this is the first step of many steps," Harlan said.
The basics of the 41-page report: The sites are located in two "zones," all bordering or near Fowler Avenue. Projected capacity is 40,000-50,000. Expected costs are roughly $200 million in today's dollars.
Williams stressed no educational or general state funds would be used to finance the facility. Student fees may or may not be another matter.
"At the end of the day, any student fees has to work through their committees and their structure," Harlan said. "So I think right now, we're so early in process it's hard quite candidly to take that off the table."
The four explored sites include the current home of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), across Fowler from the southeast edge of campus. Williams noted, however, that MOSI is owned by the county.
The site that initially appears most compatible with the stated criteria (i.e. parking space, visibility, immediate availability) are the Fowler Fields. Located just south of the Sun Dome, that area currently is used for intramural contests and USF band practices.
"You're right, D checks off all the boxes," Williams said.
"However, both zones if you will, offer advantages. One has more acreage potentially available than another. But again, because of the unforeseen site conditions, we really can't say.
"We are so preliminary in this."
The next step: discussing the study — which cost $75,000 — with the USF Board of Trustees next week. Then a financial strategy.
TAMPA — Emphasizing they're very early in the process, USF administrators indicated Tuesday they're exploring four sites on the campus' southern end for a possible on-campus football stadium.
Athletic director Mark Harlan discussed the school's "Football Stadium Conceptual Planning Study" with Calvin Williams, USF's vice-president for administrative services (and a civil engineer). The two said USF looked at 14 other stadiums around the country to get the best perspective of what kind of facility would work best for the Bulls.
"I want to make it really fundamentally clear to everybody … that this is the first step of many steps," Harlan said.
The basics of the 41-page report: The sites are located in two "zones," all bordering or near Fowler Avenue. Projected capacity is 40,000-50,000. Expected costs are roughly $200 million in today's dollars.
Williams stressed no educational or general state funds would be used to finance the facility. Student fees may or may not be another matter.
"At the end of the day, any student fees has to work through their committees and their structure," Harlan said. "So I think right now, we're so early in process it's hard quite candidly to take that off the table."
The four explored sites include the current home of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), across Fowler from the southeast edge of campus. Williams noted, however, that MOSI is owned by the county.
The site that initially appears most compatible with the stated criteria (i.e. parking space, visibility, immediate availability) are the Fowler Fields. Located just south of the Sun Dome, that area currently is used for intramural contests and USF band practices.
"You're right, D checks off all the boxes," Williams said.
"However, both zones if you will, offer advantages. One has more acreage potentially available than another. But again, because of the unforeseen site conditions, we really can't say.
"We are so preliminary in this."
The next step: discussing the study — which cost $75,000 — with the USF Board of Trustees next week. Then a financial strategy.
