Purdue News
Purdue News
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December 3, 2001 Ross-Ade project to close Beering Drive through mid-MarchWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - With the regular season complete and the Purdue football team preparing for a Sun Bowl showdown on Dec. 31 against Washington State, work has begun in earnest on the next stage of the $70 million renovation of Ross-Ade Stadium. Between now and the start of the 2002 home season, a new four-story pavilion will be erected on the west side of the stadium, North University Drive will be rerouted on the east side of the stadium, and concrete demolition and restoration will take place in the north end of Ross-Ade. Beginning today (Monday, 12/3), Beering Drive will be closed from Tower Drive to just north of Victory Drive, the east-west connector between Beering and North University Drive. Fencing will tie in with the new retaining wall west of the stadium and will run through the existing parking lot north of the stadium. Victory Drive will be closed, and available parking in the stadium lot will be reduced by the fenced area. The section of Beering Drive will be closed until March 18. At that time, North University Drive from Tower Drive to just north of Victory Drive will be closed for the realignment of North University, similar to the rerouting of Beering Drive that took place in 2001. That part of the project also will involve a retaining wall similar to the wall built on the west side of the stadium. Before the start of the home football season on Aug. 31, the working press area of the pavilion and indoor club seating will be completed. After more than four decades of service and 256 games, plans call for the time-worn press box at Ross-Ade Stadium to be disassembled in sections, beginning Tuesday (12/4). The Purdue-Notre Dame game Saturday (12/1) was the last time the Robert Clute Woodworth Memorial Press Box hosted the working media and John Purdue Club supporters, bowl representatives and game-day workers. The press box first was used on Sept. 24, 1955, for the first and only game played by the Boilermakers against the College of the Pacific. The Boilermakers prevailed 14-7. The press box was built as a two-story structure and was part of an expansion that included new seating that expanded Ross-Ade to 55,500 seats. In 1969, a third story was added as part of an expansion that put Ross-Ade capacity at 68,000. It was named in memory of Woodworth, the Purdue director of athletic publicity from 1928 to 1964. In addition to being in charge of publicity for intercollegiate athletics, Woodworth was on three different occasions director of the Purdue News Bureau. In 1937, he served as acting director of intercollegiate athletics. One section of the new working press area will retain the Woodworth designation. At the conclusion of the 2002 home season, the remainder of the pavilion interior will be completed, including a stadium club and private suites. In addition, concrete restoration work will be completed on the east and west sides of the seating area. At completion, the project will leave a wholly new stadium. Aisles will be wider, with handrails for improved safety. A new concourse will surround the stadium on the east, north and west. Along the concourse will be vastly expanded restroom and concession stands. The $70 million first phase of the project will reduce seating capacity from the current 67,332 to about 62,000. The original master plan maps out a second phase consisting of a deck on the east side of the stadium and a deck on the north. Those phases will proceed if ticket demand remains strong. Writer: Jay Cooperider, (765) 494-3197, coop@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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