Stadium project delayed

Chancellor John Wiley says the university will delay its Camp Randall Stadium renovation, but the project will be completed and continues to be a top campus priority.

“In a time of significant budget cutbacks at all levels of government, we feel it is prudent to take extra time to ensure that we have sufficient revenues to finance the construction costs associated with any renovation,” Wiley says in a letter to UW System President Katharine Lyall and Board of Regents President Jay Smith.

University officials will not request approval of the new construction phases at the March Board of Regents meeting, as originally planned.

The $99.7 million project is to be 90 percent funded by athletic department revenues and private donations. However, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the athletic department has incurred a variety of unanticipated expenses including a substantial increase in security costs for athletic events. Additionally, the department has to offset a $700,000 cut in state funding in the 2001-03 budget. The university also is short of the fundraising goal it set for itself when the project was announced in November 2000, an effort that was significantly affected by the downturn in the economy.

“Despite these short-term challenges, we are strongly committed to completing this critical renovation and expansion project,” Wiley says.

A utility upgrade in the area surrounding the stadium, which was begun last week, will continue as planned. The $11.2 million upgrade is scheduled for completion in August. The university will also continue to work with the state to select a construction manager who can assist in revising the project scheduled and phasing plans.

Wiley has asked Director of Athletics Pat Richter to continue to give the project top priority, including oversight of all fundraising efforts.

“We are committed to completing this project,” Wiley says. “But as we move forward, all options — including the possibility of reducing the number of suites and increasing club-seat capacity — will be studied.”

Wiley cites safety concerns, failing infrastructure, need for improved customer service and accessibility issues as the major reasons to remodel the stadium. Built in 1917, Camp Randall is the fourth oldest college-owned football complex in the nation. No major stadium structural renovation has been undertaken in 34 years since an upper deck was added in 1966.