Penn State Trustees Set Meeting to Weigh Beaver Stadium Plan

A year after announcing its planned $700 million overhaul of Beaver Stadium, Penn State appears ready to unveil its renovation plan. Penn State's Board of Trustees has scheduled a meeting for May 21 labeled, "proposed project approval, Beaver Stadium renovation." No further details were available, though the meeting will be streamed to the public.

In May 2023, Penn State announced that it planned a four-year, $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium, the nation's second-largest stadium. The massive project is scheduled to completely alter the stadium's west side, adding suites, club and loge suites and other significant enhancements.
Penn State chose to renovate the 63-year-old football stadium rather than build a new one that could have cost more than $1.5 billion, Penn State Athletic Director Patrick Kraft said last year. Kraft has said that the renovated Beaver Stadium would retain a seating capacity above 100,000.

Penn State hired Populous, the Kansas City-based architectural firm, to design and oversee the renovation plan. Populous has designed more than 1,300 sports stadiums worldwide, including the new Buffalo Bills venue that broke ground in June. Populous also led the $485 million redevelopment of Texas A&M's Kyle Field. At Penn State in 2001, Populous renovated and expanded Beaver Stadium to its current capacity of 106,572. The firm also oversaw the Lasch Football Building renovations that began in 2015 and the designed the university's 2017 Athletics Master Plan that called for a sports district on campus.

Work already has begun to upgrade and winterize Beaver Stadium to prepare it for a possible College Football Playoff home game in December. In addition, some demolition began at Beaver Stadium following the 2024 season. According to a project bid description, Penn State plans to demolish and remove the stadium's "west sideline structure" in two phases after the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Construction will impact seating during the 2025 and 2026 football seasons, though Kraft has said he expects the seating loss to be "minimal." Beaver Stadium's new west side will include significant
additions of premium seating (including planned suites, club seats and loge boxes), new restrooms and concession spaces, and improved circulation. Penn State plans to complete the renovation for the 2027 season.

"This is major, major project," Kraft said in December, his latest update regarding Beaver Stadium. "Literally 30 percent is like, where are the pipes going, where do you got circulation? So that one is
ongoing. We feel really good about where we are headed, but literally ... there is not a thing we are not evaluating in this process."

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.