College Township Planning Commission on Tuesday reviewed a sketch plan for Penn State’s $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium, setting the stage for a formal land development plan submission possibly as early as next month.
The presentation by Mark Saville, of engineering firm Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, offered few new details about the project but did provide some additional insight, mostly related to fencing planned around the perimeter of the stadium.
A sketch plan is not required and is meant to garner feedback before the submission of a land development plan. Saville described the sketch plan overview as “a heads-up” and said moredetailed information would be forthcoming in the land development plan.
Penn State’s Board of Trustees voted 26-2 in May to authorize up to $630 million for the renovations, on top of the $70 million approved in 2023 for preliminary work.
Plans primarily center on the stadium’s west side, which “hasn’t seen a whole lot of attention until this point,” Saville said, and which will be replaced in its entirety. The overhaul will provide “improved access for greatly improved circulation, new restrooms, upgraded concession offerings, much-needed premium seating and an updated broadcast level.”
The premium seating, university officials said last month, is integral to increased revenue that will help finance the project — no tuition or state dollars are being used — and generating a profit in the long-term. Several trustees have questioned the economics of the plan.
Elsewhere in the stadium, “much needed improvements… that will greatly enhance the fan experience,” include field lighting upgrades, vertical circulation improvements on the east side to address accessibility needs and restroom and concession additions on the north and east side, Saville said. A presentation to trustees last month also detailed new elevators, escalators and stair towers, as well as improved wifi and cellular service.
Outside, Penn State plans to construct a new fence that will “create a secure perimeter that is further from the entrances, which will positively impact fan entry,” Saville said. Within the fence will be new plaza areas to create “fan zones.”
“A lot of the perimeter area … is repurposing some of that fan space outside the building with perimeter fence areas inside for secure access to it,” Saville said. “We’re shifting a little bit of the TV truck locations but the majority of all that is going to have further detail information obviously coming forward with the land development.
“It’s intent is to improve fan experience and security,” he later added.
Planning Commission member Ed Darrah said “a lot of stadiums in the Big Ten” have use fencing in a similar manner, citing Michigan and Purdue.
Saville did not discuss, and the sketch plan does not detail, a 21,000-square-foot welcome center included in plans presented to trustees last month. The welcome center, university officials said, will be available for use for a multitude of events.
A land development plan will be submitted “hopefully in July” with construction slated to begin after the conclusion of the upcoming football season, Saville said. The project is expected to be completed before the 2027 season.
Whether the land development plan includes full design renderings — early draft renderings were shown to the trustees in May —of what the completed renovations will look like remains to be seen. Penn State project manager Dwayne Rush, however, said he expects “at a minimum there will be an elevation and a cross-section [drawings] of what we anticipate that west side will look like.”
In the meantime, College Township Council is scheduled to review the sketch plan during its meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The meeting will be broadcast live on C-NET and streamed on YouTube.
