There is a lot of activity going on over at Milan Puskar Stadium, and not just with what’s happening inside the stadium.

 

Site work has already started on the stadium's east side as part of a $45 million concourse renovation project that will dramatically improve the fan experience at the 35-year-old facility.

 

The stadium concourse renovation project is part of a $100-million-plus, department-wide facility renovation initiative announced in 2014. Funding will come from three primary sources: bonding, private fundraising and monies from West Virginia University’s multimedia rights contract with IMG.

 

April Messerly, WVU assistant athletic director in charge of facilities and operations, met with members of the media on Thursday afternoon to provide an update on the multi-year football stadium construction project now underway.

 

Messerly said initial site preparation work began in May and will continue throughout the season. When the project is completed, concourses on both sides will be substantially widened, along with a significant increase in the number of restrooms, concession stands and kiosks for fans to use.

 

She pointed to a number of national studies that have been conducted recently indicating the No. 1 desire for fans is to have clean, accessible restrooms.

 

“It’s interesting because the thought is people would want better Wi-Fi connectivity or cellphone capability, but clean bathrooms (and enough of them) was the top wish of the fans,” she said. “They wanted more concession options and enough so that they didn’t have to stand in line forever waiting to be served.

 

“It was nice to see those surveys because it reaffirms the improvements we are making are what fans across the country want to see.”

 

In addition to those improvements, ADA seating will be available in the WVU student section, and field boxes on both sides will eventually be adorned with televisions, heaters and padded seats.

 

One sample field box with all of the new amenities will be completed this year for Mountaineer fans to see what the new boxes will look like.

 

The plan is to have the east and north side concourses completed in time for the 2016 season with work on the west and southwest sides culminating before the start of the 2017 season.

 

Messerly emphasized the importance of patience as Milan Puskar Stadium undergoes these much-needed improvements.

 

“We are not alone with the construction project going on at the stadium,” she pointed out. “This is happening at a number of stadiums across the country and we stress fans need to be patient as we make these necessary improvements.”

 

The area behind the east side of the stadium will be an active construction zone throughout the week until Fridays, when the contractor will make the area available for usage. It will then revert back to an active construction zone on Sundays.

 

“There is a much tighter footprint on the east side,” noted Messerly, adding this process will transfer to the stadium’s west side once work is completed on the east side. “We encourage fans to continue to arrive early, especially the students.”

 

Once work on the stadium is completed, there will be elevators in all four quadrants of the stadium along with additional entry points.

 

“Literally every one of our gates will be accessible now and that will be a great thing for us to say,” said Messerly. “We have major accessibility issues and we’re working to resolve all of those. The concourse area has been relatively untouched since the stadium was constructed in 1980. Improving the fan experience was one of the major goals that we wanted to achieve with this project. We believe these improvements will accomplish that.”

 

More on the ongoing stadium construction project:

 

* Messerly indicated Thursday that the stadium capacity will not be affected by changes being made to the concourses.

 

* In addition to the concourse, Messerly noted the grass practice field behind the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility will be replaced with an artificial surface to increase its usage, particularly during the cold-weather months of November and December during the season and February and March during spring football practice.

 

“If we get a great day in February when it’s 50 degrees then the players can go out there,” she said. “With real grass in this climate, that’s a lot harder to do.”

 

* The popular Mountaineer Mantrip, initiated by Coach Dana Holgorsen in 2012, will continue this season, although the route to the stadium will be altered somewhat with ongoing construction at the stadium. Messerly said players will be dropped off at the light blue lot this season.

 

“Eventually, a final home and route for the Mantrip will have to be determined,” she said.

 

* Messerly said several other stadiums throughout the country were toured to use as examples of how to improve Milan Puskar Stadium’s concourses.

 

“There were a lot of things we liked at different places, but ultimately, the end product is a culmination of all of our needs,” she said. “We did a program study, which is what you do with any major capital improvement project, and this is a result of what we need.”

 

* Messerly said the athletic department is working with a graphics firm to come up with a master plan for the stadium. There will also be more phone charging stations in the concourse and more televisions in the concession areas.

 

* Messerly mentioned that gates will continue to open 1 ½ hours prior to kickoff, but that will be monitored throughout the season as construction continues.

 

“We can pull scans off of the tickets to see when fans are coming in and no matter what we do, and no matter how hard we try to get folks to come in earlier, our fans love the tailgating experience,” she said. “It’s that half hour right before kickoff when everyone arrives. We hope our fans adjust and accept what we need to do on the east side because it’s going to be more crowded over there this year.”

 

She noted that anywhere from 30-45 percent of the fans enter the stadium through the east gate while only 5-7 percent of the fans enter the stadium through the southwest gate.

 

“Will that change even when we add these new entry points? With where people park and where people are able to walk up from with the south end of the stadium, probably not,” she pointed out. “We know that our north gate will continue to get hit with most of the fans, as will our northwest and northeast gates. So we’re trying to plan for that.

 

“People are creatures of habit and we’re anxious to see how that all shakes out.”