Work is bringing the linebacker home yet again. Scott Radecic has been spending extra time in State College and at Beaver Stadium with his high-profile engineering job, reminding him of one of the most important milestones in his life — running out onto that field at Beaver Stadium as a freshman.
And what a most different Beaver Stadium it was back in 1980. Only 84,000 fans fit into the place then, the view of Mount Nittany still unobstructed from inside.
“Never forget the first time,” says Radecic, who played his final game for Penn State in 1983 and went on to play for more than a decade in the NFL with Kansas City, Buffalo, and Indianapolis. “I couldn’t have imagined ever being in front of that many people to play a football game. There’s a lot of emotion to it. The crowd roaring was deafening, so loud. When you’d try to make a defensive adjustment you could never hear yourself talk. How could anyone else hear?
“It’s a pretty special place, to continue to see it grow …”
He’s talking about growing better with age, not just bigger. So it’s a most unique situation now that he’s a senior principal at Populous, the architectural and design company hired to create a master design and renovation plan of Penn State’s athletic facilities.
That means he’s the point man for the comprehensive examination of all of Penn State’s venues, which includes 31 sports using about 20 practice and game facilities. It’s about identifying short-term needs and long- term growth and stability.
His company will provide details and cost estimates on everything from much-needed overhauls of the indoor tennis and swimming venues to an upgrade for the facilities for the two soccer teams, including the women’s team that won the 2015 national title. (The soccer locker rooms are a half-mile away from Jeffrey Field).
Of course, the No. 1 attraction on the design list is Beaver Stadium, which, at least to some, desperately requires a facelift on a significantly larger scale than the one completed in 2001, also overseen by Populous. Renovation seems the most likely scenario, though Populous and Penn State officials have not ruled out building a new stadium, either.
During a town hall meeting with the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, Phil Esten, Penn State’s deputy director and chief operating officer of athletics, said the expectations is to renovate Beaver Stadium.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said at the town hall, according to the Centre Daily Times.
The results of the master plan are expected to be announced in mid- to late-summer and will include rough cost estimates for potential facility upgrades, Radecic says.
No matter the recommendations, any potential work on Beaver Stadium probably would not begin for a at least a year or two, until funding is in place and construction details are finalized, says Esten.
Meanwhile, Penn State does appear in good hands. Populous is one of the largest architectural firms in the world and has led the building and renovation of everything from the new Yankee Stadium and Chicago’s United Center to Wembley Stadium in London and Sochi’s Olympic Stadium in Russia.
Penn State holds a certain uniqueness, though. It represents the largest athletic master plan Populous has ever worked on, Radecic says.
“Not many schools even have 31 sports,” he says.
Already, Populous officials have met with more than 80 “user groups” of Penn State facilities to gather input for renovations and improvements. They’ve helped stage town hall meetings to gather public opinion. They are now awaiting feedback from a vast survey mailing to Penn State alums and supporters.
Every facility will be considered in the plan, including those much younger than Beaver Stadium, such as the 20-year-old Bryce Jordan Center.
But football is what brings the community together like nothing else. Beaver Stadium is a gathering place for up to 100,000 fans and more from all over the country on seven Saturdays each fall, no matter the lasting effect of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, NCAA sanctions, and the mediocre rebuilding seasons that have followed.
And, certainly, Populous knows it well. It oversaw that last stadium upgrade that included the addition of premium seating, new scoreboards, and sprucing up the exterior and grounds. That renovation added 12,000 seats to push capacity to its present 106,572 — making it the second-largest stadium in the nation and third largest in the world.
A strikingly different upgrade may be needed now.
Structural work, including overhauls of electrical and plumbing systems, may be needed. Those certainly would be required to enable Beaver Stadium to host other large nonfootball events, such as professional soccer, ice hockey games, and concerts, or even ski jumping, which Boston’s Fenway Park held this winter. Making Beaver Stadium a multiuse venue seems more of a priority now than ever under athletic director Sandy Barbour.
First and foremost appears to be the focus on the football game-day experience. That figures to involve creating more comfortable and potentially roomier seating and upgrades to archaic restroom and concession facilities.
Radecic understands those needs as well as anyone, since he played in Beaver Stadium and returns frequently for work and pleasure. He believes his Penn State past will help Populous map out its future.
“The more you know about the client and the objectives and goals, the better …. But you have to be really careful. I have to be objective,” he says. “I’m not trying to [push] what Scott Radecic wants or what Populous wants. It’s, ‘What are the best moves for Penn State?’ ”
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The steel bones of old Beaver Stadium were moved across campus, west to east, and reassembled at its present site in 1960. At the time, the stadium held less than half of its current capacity and was shaped like a horseshoe.
That’s when Mike Patrick began going to games as an undergrad — and as a short-lived walk-on quarterback. He’s sat most everywhere in the stadium over the years, from the student section to those luxury boxes. And like several fans that were polled, he’d like to see the stadium renovated rather than building a new one. While he believes cosmetic improvements are in order, it would be prudent not to significantly alter the overall atmosphere.
That’s what gives Beaver Stadium its appeal.
“That stadium is awesome, it’s intimidating,” says Patrick, 75, who lives in York County. “I’ve been to Michigan and the Horseshoe at Ohio State, and I still think it’s as intimidating a place as it is in the country. I think we have one hell of a stadium.”
Penn State officials agree. Though the master plan won’t even be released for a few more months, “we think we can achieve our goals with renovation rather than having a rebuild,” Esten says.
That sentiment, in part, speaks to the affinity fans and alumni have for Beaver Stadium.
“There’s a lot of wins on that field. There’s a lot of tradition and memories and friendships built in that stadium,” Esten says. “If we can accomplish what we want to accomplish and not move, that’s our primary goal.”
Of course, cost could ultimately make the decision for Penn State officials. The only stadiums built recently offer only about half the seating capacity of Beaver Stadium, including ones at Minnesota and Baylor, and still cost between $250 and $300 million.
Texas A&M shot down building a new stadium, despite the exorbitant price tag of $450 million to renovate and expand Kyle Field over four years.
No matter the vehicle, the Penn State football fan experience seems destined to be improved.
Other focus areas include traffic ow to and from the stadium and the tailgating experience around it.
Chuck Fusina understands all of that. Beaver Stadium was renovated twice when he quarterbacked the Lions in the mid-1970s. He knows that building a new press box with even more premium seating could generate extra revenue. And that more seatback chairs and modernized concourses and walkways (with handrails) and better Wi-Fi would enhance the fan comfort. That’s all part of the never-ending fight to make the games more appealing than watching from high-definition, big screens at home.
Fusina has been returning regularly to Beaver Stadium since his playing days ended, now as a tailgating fan sitting in the middle of it all like everyone else. He says he’d rather keep the old stadium but, at the same time, wouldn’t protest even if Penn State opted for a rebuild with a smaller capacity.
“I think anymore, our tradition at Penn State, because so much has happened, has got to be within ourselves,” he says. “It doesn’t matter even if there’s a new stadium, we’ve gone through so much together.”
