By Rick Waters

The TCU Magazine

Football season is approaching – less than six weeks to the home opening game – and the $105 million renovation to Amon G. Carter Stadium’s west and north sides is speeding along.

Right on schedule, says TCU Athletics.

“[General contractor] Austin Commercial and HKS Architects tell us in our weekly construction meetings that we are right on time,” said T. Ross Bailey, associate athletics director for facilities. “It’s still a very tight timeline. But we’re encouraged that we’ll be right where we need to be come game day.”

TCU Athletics and construction crews are quick to point out that while the stadium will be functional come Sept. 17 for the first home game and have a capacity of about 32,000, work on the project will go on in between games throughout the fall.

“The TCU football team is not playing in a stadium in the 2011 season; they’re playing in a construction zone,” said Jeff Horn, senior project manager for Austin Commercial.

Yet progress is apparent. The vacant space west of Stadium Drive from the Dec. 5 demolition of the 80-year-old facility is now filled with a new grandstand. Crews are completing the steel superstructure for the 200 and 300 levels in the northwest corner and installing the concrete pre-cast rakers. Meanwhile, restrooms and concession areas are being assembled on the north end.

In late July, the project hit a noteworthy milestone. Two 3,500-pound bas relief stone plaques that were salvaged from the original 1930 stadium design were installed into the exterior wall behind the north end zone video board.

“It is a wonderful blending of the old with the new,” Bailey said.  

In the mean time, Athletics is warning fans and preparing for a season with some growing pains. The 300 and 400 level seats in the upper deck will not be accessible for the 2011 season. Restrooms and concessions will be ready on the north end, but the west side will have a setup that changes week to week with 80 portable restrooms, temporary concessions and air-conditioned comfort stations.

Because of the lack of hand-washing stations and refrigeration, they will offer more prepackaged foods. "We can't do everything with a portable concession stand that the public has necessarily been used to because of some Health Department issues," Bailey said.

The new club area will not be available in the fall. Athletics is using part of it as a makeshift press box.

The east side will not change this fall.

The west side entrance will be extended out to Bellaire Drive and fans funneled through a designated corridor away from construction.

Fans will enjoy new video board that will be ready for the opener. The new screen will be about 60 feet by about 30 feet, over twice the size of the original scoreboard. Installation of it is scheduled for early September.

Fans sitting in the north end zone will also be able to watch replays thanks to a new video board on the south side.

After the season is over, the east side will be renovated. Completion is set for September 2012. Bailey expects capacity to be about 45,000.