The Oklahoma Board of Regents approved the expenditure of $105 million for renovations to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at the recommendation of OU President David Boren Wednesday.
The entire project is budgeted at $160 million, which will include bowling out the south end zone as well as new suites and club seating.
Renovations to the stadium were to cost around $360 million when first announced last July. The original plan included renovations to the west-side deck and press box as well as improvements to stadium infrastructure. Oklahoma also planned to add a continuous concourse that wrapped around the entire stadium.
However, because of falling oil prices, OU scaled back plans in April to just 44 percent of the original cost.
“In one week, half of the net worth of our major donors was wiped out by the falling oil prices,” Boren said in April. “You’re sitting there, somebody’s worth however-many millions dollars … three days later, they’re worth half that. That’s exactly what happened.”
The renovations will now take place in phases. Boren announced during the June Regents’ meeting Wednesday there will “probably” be three phases.
Boren stressed the funding for the project will not come from student tuition or fees, which were raised for 2016 in the same meeting. Instead, all funding for the stadium will be raised from private donations, athletic department funds and bond funds, he said.
“Fundraising is more than on schedule,” Boren said Wednesday.
The stadium capacity, currently at 82,112 seats, will increase to more than 84,000 seats after phase one. The new south end zone structure will feature 22 suites, 60 open-air loge boxes and 1,976 club seats.
The new south end zone facility will feature a new locker room, weight room with conditioning field, training room, nutrition center and meeting rooms, as well.
The second and third phases will replace the press box and west side deck. However, because of the volatile nature of Oklahoma’s economy, Boren said in April he did not know when it will be green-lit.
Construction crews are already in the process of moving onto the practice fields to the southwest of the stadium. Furthermore, players, coaches and memorabilia were moved out of the Switzer Center earlier this month in preparation for the renovations.
The players will use temporary locker rooms until construction is completed around the beginning of the 2016 season. Coaches’ offices are now located in the Bud Wilkinson Hall.
