Purdue News
Purdue News
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August 1999
Major Ross-Ade renovation on the horizonStory first printed in the 1999 Summer edition of Perspective newspaper.A few seasons ago, Ross-Ade Stadium seemed almost oversized. Smallish crowds meant that most of the north and south ends of the stadium went unfilled.
Then Joe Tiller brought a brand of football to Purdue that has convinced fans by the tens of thousands that Ross-Ade is the place to be on football Saturdays.
Now, the cramped concourse and undersized restrooms and concession areas are becoming a big problem. Long in need of concrete repairs and other safety upgrades, the stadium is ripe for a major renovation to accommodate larger crowds and serve the needs of the program.
"In our research of stadium renovation, two options presented themselves," says Steve Simmerman, facilities operations director in Intercollegiate Athletics. "One was to take care of safety and accessibility issues and leave the larger challenges unaddressed."
In contacts with John Purdue Club members, former players and key University staff, that kind of fix-up was ruled out.
"The consensus was that just taking care of the little things did not do justice to this program and the hard work that goes into building a winning program," Simmerman says. "We want to have a stadium that matches our team."
A number of likely improvements are under review by staff members in Intercollegiate Athletics. With help from architects whose specialty is modernizing stadiums, a plan has emerged to transform the 75-year-old facility into a home befitting the surging Boilermakers.
The master plan now taking shape addresses the challenges that fans encounter every Saturday. It also will serve as a guide for future expansion and changes.
Although plans are tentative, these are some of the elements of the emerging master plan:
As the popularity of football grew in the 1940s and 1950s - and the seating areas along with it - supports were put in place that now severely limit the ability of fans to circulate.
Preliminary plans call for removal of the bracing beneath the stands, to be replaced by other supports.
Fans are well-acquainted with the bottlenecks that occur throughout Ross-Ade. At least in some areas of the stadium, the aisles will be widened.
Placement, number and accessibility of restrooms will be addressed in the renovation.
Plans call for concession outlets throughout the stadium to be addressed in several ways. Menus would be improved and expanded, the concession outlets would be redesigned and their numbers increased, and service would be enhanced.
Deteriorating concrete and aging patches in the curved end of the stadium present a safety hazard. The extent of the necessary repairs will not be known until the old risers are removed, but most of the north end will be upgraded with new concrete. Additionally, spot-patching throughout the stadium will be done.
This part of the project presents a challenge. To provide sufficient space for wheelchairs to enter and exit the seating area, a dozen seats have to be taken out. Typically, not all seats for those with disabilities are sold. To avoid sacrificing this space, temporary, portable bleachers have to be close at hand so the unsold seating area can be occupied. That arrangement presents a storage and set-up challenge that planners are working to solve.
Especially compared with the stately look of the adjacent Cary Quadrangle, the stadium bears little resemblance to the brick-and-limestone theme found throughout the West Lafayette Campus.
Preliminary plans point to enclosing the stadium with a facade that more closely resembles the rest of campus.
Adjoining the press box will be private seating, corporate suites and private suites, sales of which will help fund the stadium renovation.
These suites will offer corporations, groups and individuals the opportunity to watch games from an enclosed suite.
A club-level seating section would give fans willing to pay a higher price for admission chair-back seating and dining and other concession fare not available throughout the stadium.
Preliminary plans call for work to begin on the early phases of the project, including upgrading utilities in and around the stadium, after the 1999 season.
"When people return for the 2000 season, you won't be able to tell a lot has been done," Simmerman says. That will change for the 2001 season.
"No matter how we do this, it will be a two-year process after the 2000 season at a minimum," he says. "We'll play at least one season while the stadium is under construction."
Story by Jay Cooperider
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