Beaver Stadium to be renovated, not rebuilt. Is it the right decision?

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Athletic director Pat Kraft let the cat out of the bag two months ago with revealing comments, and Penn State made it official Friday: Beaver Stadium will be renovated, not rebuilt.

“After extensive research and consultation, renovation for Beaver Stadium is the direction we want to take as it is far more economical than a new build," Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said in a university release.

This is not a surprise. But is it the right way to go for Penn State?

The answer is probably yes, for two major reasons:

1. MONEY!!!!!!

2. Status quo/tradition/pride

The first part is easy. To build a new stadium with more than 100,000 seats would be craaaaazy expensive. My estimate has always been around $1.5 billion. But given the size of the enormous project and the ridiculous rise in building costs lately, that number could be way low. It ultimately could end up costing $2 billion or even more, and that's just an incredibly scary number for Penn State or just about any sports organization.

OK, so build an awesome new stadium that's less expensive.

This is where No. 2 up above comes into play.

To get the price tag anywhere near acceptable, the stadium would have to be smaller. There's pretty much no way to build a 100,000-seat stadium for less than $1.5-2 billion, and that 100,000 figure means SO MUCH to Penn State because of bragging rights that the school would have a tough time stomaching going below the number.

With a seating capacity of 106,572, Beaver Stadium is the second-largest stadium in the western hemisphere and the fourth-largest stadium in the world. Penn State loves being able to boast that, and the 107,000 figure is a huge part of the football program's brand.

The huge stadium not only helps define Penn State football, it also helps pay for the program -- and all other athletic programs at the university. Dropping below 100,000 seats could significantly impact the bottom line, and that's just a non-starter for the school.

Kraft discussed a lot of this back in December, two full months before Friday's confirmation about a renovation over rebuild.

"Look, I make no bones about it," Kraft said Dec. 19. "I love this building. I love coming in this building, Beaver Stadium. I love the history of this building. When I walk the parking lots and I talk to people about having generations of memories in this building, so I want to make this building better, and we have to do that."

He later added this, after I had asked him about a cost threshold with a new stadium"

"Look, I'll tell you, we are very proud of having 107,000 and over 100,000 fans. No one is building 100,000 seat stadium. That's important to us. I think that's an important piece to who we are. So, yeah, there is a financial threshold that building new just would be -- it could be infeasible, not feasible with the financial piece."

So, how will the renovation work? How much will it all cost? How long will it take?

Lots and lots of questions, and Penn State still has no answers yet. For any of it.

Bendapudi addressed the issue Friday with the Board of Trustees.

“I know there is a lot of interest in this project, and we are at the beginning of a multi-year journey, which still must include proposal review and approval by the Board of Trustees. Athletics also will need to put the project out for bid," Bendapudi said.

Alrighty then. So, it sounds like we're not going to be seeing much of this renovation for a good while.

How much will it cost? Considering that Beaver Stadium is really kind of a dump in a lot of ways when it comes to the underbelly of the structure and what all is needed, it's probably safe to say that a full renovation will cost at least half a billion dollars.

That could be on the low side, too, when all is said and done.

One possibility some have suggested, which seems to make a lot of sense, is to fully overhaul the entire stadium in sections over time. For instance, do one quarter of the stadium over a 1-2 year period, then another quarter, and so on. After about 6-8 years, at most, you would have essentially an entirely new stadium.

One problem with that is it would take a long, long time, and do people really want to put up with neverending construction for six years or more?

Another issue could be that, if you do end up renovating everything anyway, could the overall cost end up being $1 billion or more? That's an incredibly steep price tag to upgrade a used stadium.

“Penn State has some of the most dedicated and loyal fans in the world and they deserve a facility that has upgraded amenities and improved circulation around the facility to enhance the fan experience. It is my commitment that we will do what we must to preserve one of our most iconic spaces in the most economical way possible," Bendapudi said.

Finally, though, after years of speculation about all of this renovate or rebuild topic, we do at least have an answer.

Is it the right answer? We won't know that for a long, long time -- after the stadium renovation is all done and we end up seeing how much it cost.

UPGRADES APPROVED

As expected Penn State's Board of Trustees on Friday approved $7.5 million worth of practice facility upgrades for the football program.

Here's what that entails, from a university release:

The $7.5 million project will include the addition of a permanent scoreboard with enhanced audio and video capabilities in Holuba Hall, which will benefit the student-athletes for numerous sports by allowing coaches to maximize limited practice time.  

The project also will include installation of an additional goal post and netting, and a play clock on the artificial practice field at Lasch, as well as fixed cameras in Holuba to assist coaches with filming.

MAUTI ON THE MOVE

Former Penn State star Michael Mauti has a new job in the coaching ranks.

Trinity High School is in Camp Hill, and the head coach is former Penn State defensive lineman Jordan Hill. He led the team to the PIAA state semifinals this past season, his second as the head coach.

Mauti previously served as an assistant coach at his alma mater in New Orleans, Mandeville High School.

THON EVENT SATURDAY

Members of the Penn State football team will host the annual THON event, the Explorers Program, on Saturday at the Lasch Building. The football players will be hosting THON families.

HOCKEY TEAM CLOBBERED BY GOPHERS

Penn State opened a series against No. 2 Minnesota on Friday night and got routed by the Gophers, 7-2, at Pegula Ice Arena.

Penn State, ranked No. 7, dropped to 19-11-1 overall and 9-11-1 in the Big Ten.

The teams will play again Saturday night at 6:30 on BTN.

MORE GOPHER GAMES

The men's basketball team plays at Minnesota on Saturday at 9 p.m.

Penn State is coming off a dominant performance in a 93-81 win over Illinois, with Jalen Pickett scoring 41 points. The Nittany Lions are 6-9 in the Big Ten, while Minnesota is dead last at 1-12.

This is certainly a game Penn State should win, which would get the team to 7-9 in the league. The contest will air on BTN.