Kansas State Follows Up Highly Successful Football Season With Stadium Expansion Project

The Kansas State football team, coming off a stellar 10-3 season and a second-place finish in the Big 12, has shown that it can play and compete with the big boys in college football. School officials now have decided that it's time to bring the stadium that carries the head coach's name more in line with other major college programs, including those in the same conference.

Kansas State officials have revealed a major renovation project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, which is expected to get under way prior to the start of the football season this fall. The $75 million project calls for a 250,000-square-foot addition on the west side of the stadium complex that will include adding new luxury suites and expanding the press box facility. The current press box is a five-level structure originally built in 1993, and is one of the smallest in the Big 12 Conference.

The exterior of the west-side addition will be constructed in traditional Kansas State limestone. The renovation work inside the stadium will include new concession and restroom areas, a new ticket office and a new Kansas State retail store location. When all the work is done, which school officials hope will be in time for the beginning of the 2013 football season, K-State fans will get the benefit of 40 private suites, 36 club boxes and 800 club-level seats. In addition, a Hall of Honor will be constructed inside the stadium to recognize the great Kansas State teams and players from the past.

"As we continue to move forward as a member of the Big 12 Conference, it is imperative that we build upon the tradition and success of our program and the passion of our fan base," Kansas State athletic director John Currie said. "There will be something in this facility for every fan and student athlete, and it will show that we are fully committed to maintaining, as well as furthering, our position as a leader at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics."

Currie said the university has raised about one-third of the money needed to fund the project. Once half of the necessary funding is secured, construction will begin, which Currie estimated will be sometime in the early fall.

Construction crews will work around the current facility so as not to cause any disruption of regularly scheduled activities at the stadium.

The architectural firm that Kansas State is working with on the project is Kansas City-based AE Com (formerly Ellerbe Beckett), widely respected architects in the design and construction of sports facilities.