Grand Valley State Begins Renovations At Stadium

ALLENDALE — Grand Valley State athletic director Tim Selgo is acutely aware of the demand for seating for football games at Lubbers Stadium.

In recent years, he had one student tell him that she had to watch a game on the video board because she couldn’t find a seat close enough to see the field.

Fortunately, fans soon will have access to more seating thanks to a two-year, $5 million stadium expansion and renovation that started this spring.

“No question, Laker football is prime entertainment on a Saturday night in West Michigan,” Selgo said. “I’m certain there are folks out there who have been reluctant to come out because they know what we’ve averaged in attendance and what we seat. Now, we’ll have more seating for them.”

Selgo said GVSU has averaged nearly 11,000 fans for home games over the past five years when Lubbers Stadium only had 8,500 seats. It also has averaged close to 5,000 students per game in that time, with only 3,000 seats available.

When the project wraps up before the 2012 season, the stadium will have an additional 2,000 seats, a new playing field and more concession stands and restrooms.

It’s all about accommodating the crowds that have grown considerably over the past decade.

“The demand has been there for quite a while,” Selgo said. “We get great student support at games and we’ve never had enough seating for them.”

The 2011 season will see a new student seating section that will add 400 seats and wrap around the corners of the south end zone to create a horseshoe. There also will be permanent concession stands and restrooms constructed to serve that section.

In addition, the wood seats that comprise the west side of the stadium will be covered in plastic, cutting down on maintenance — and slivers.

In 2012, the existing outdoor track will be removed and the football field will be lowered by 7 feet. Four rows of seats will be installed and wrap around the field to accentuate the horseshoe and add about 2,000 seats.

“We’re excited about the changes that are going to occur the next two years,” football coach Matt Mitchell said. “The enhancements will be beneficial to our team, fans and potential recruits.”

A grass slope also will be installed on the north side of the field underneath the video board, which will move the band to the southeast corner of the stadium.

“We wanted to have that for a couple reasons,” Selgo said. “No. 1, sitting on grass slopes is a part of the history and tradition of Lubbers Stadium dating back to the first time a game was played here. And No. 2, we needed to have overflow seating.”

The finished project, which includes the installation of an artificial turf playing surface, will bring the capacity to about 10,700.

The construction was made possible by a pair of large, private gifts.

If Selgo had his way, the expansion wouldn’t end there.

The university would like to add locker rooms behind the east visitor seats for opponents and officials — they currently change in the fieldhouse and have to be shuttled to the stadium — and remove the existing press box structure and build a new one above and behind it to add more seating and sky boxes.

Selgo estimates that project will cost $10-$12 million and will require a more public fund raising campaign.

“We’re grateful for what we’re able to get done,” Selgo said. “When you’re an athletic director, facilities improvements never end. Just when you think you’ve got something done, more needs come around and that will be the case with this.

“We’ll just have to be persistent and stick with it. I’m confident we’ll get it done.”

Lubbers Stadium’s current expansion is being done concurrently with the addition of a large artificial turf field on the south side of campus that will host club and intramural teams. An new outdoor track also will be built, with the infield used by the women’s lacrosse team.

That project cost is $8.3 million.

The entire process will keep Selgo busy throughout this summer — and next — but that’s just fine with him.

“We have an outstanding planning facilities office, and they’re the experts that help guide us through this,” Selgo said. “They’re outstanding to work with. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun work.”