BLOOMINGTON – The Indiana Hoosiers are selling out games week after week under the leadership of Coach Curt Cignetti, bringing the team to 10-0.
Now the university is considering making improvements to Memorial Stadium.
The home turf for football fans was built in the early 1960s in Bloomington. Changes have been made over the years, but the university has even more coming.
The north and south end zones are some of the newer additions to the stadium in the last 15 years or so. Over this last year, IU has been surveying ticket holders as to what else they’d like to see.
“Phase one was getting the feedback. Phase two was committing to doing it,” said Sr. Associate Athletic Director Jeremy Gray. “We’re probably in phase three right now, which is, what exactly do we want to do, and how are we going to pay for it.”
Gray said they will begin working on renderings and then actually start on the work next. On campus, students shared their thoughts on what needs upgrading.
“They can definitely add more bathrooms,” said sophomore, Gavin Rivera. “Very long lines, and the state of the bathrooms, they’re clean, but seems very old and rustic.”
The university said that one of its top priorities is cutting the wait times, whether that’s for the restroom or concessions so people can get back in the stands quickly.
As well as making changes that impact the sport itself.
“Things like luxury suites, maybe reconfiguring the seating, upgrading lighting systems, all that kind of stuff. All of that is in play,” said Gray.
Another request from Hoosiers is a larger student section.
Along with what’s inside the stadium, students think they need to pay attention to what’s going on outside as well.
“We always see a bunch of trash, like when people are tailgating, and I think maybe just some more trash cans around this outside of the stadium, inside of the stadium, would be super helpful,” said freshman, Juli Lagois.
With more than 50,000 people in the bleachers, the university said there’s probably around another 20,000 outside in the tailgate fields.
With a winning team, the school thinks they need more of everything.
“More porta potties, more people directing traffic, more trash cans, just more, more, more, more, but these are great problems to have,” said Gray.
The school said they’re doing this to build on the momentum of their football program, by not only investing in their coaches but also investing in the place in which they play.
While changes are definitely coming in the foreseeable future, it’s uncertain when they will officially begin.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
