Parachuters, special guests, a new entrance video for the football team and a nationally-known musical performer will welcome students, alumni and fans to the first football game at the newly renovated Scott Stadium on Sept. 2 against Brigham Young University, according to Sports Marketing Director Andrew Rader.
The new stadium will have 16,500 new seats, bringing the total capacity to 61,500 seats. This places Scott Stadium third in the ACC for seating capacity, behind Clemson with 81,474 seats and Florida State with 80,000 seats.
The renovations include a new student seating section in the upper deck of the stadium, said Richard Laurance, director of the Carl Smith Center expansion at Scott Stadium.
Laurance said the student section has been expanded to included three new sections on the upper deck, above the old student sections.
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Mark Fletcher, associate director of athletics, said that students gave input about the appeal of the upper and lower seating areas for different types of fans.
"Students who want to have a presence close to the field, and want to get their face on ESPN, would sit in the lower section," Fletcher said. "There is a different kind of student in the upper level. Most people said the two levels was a great idea."
Cavalier linebacker and rising fifth-year student Byron Thweatt said that the concentrated student seating areas will help motivate the players on the field.
"It makes a lot of difference- the students give the most support and having the crowd noise is especially helpful for the defense," Thweatt said.
Cavalier quarterback and rising fourth-year student Dan Ellis agreed that the reconstructed student seating will benefit the players.
"It ties everyone together. The stadium is one of the loudest we play in, but having all the students together makes it all that much better," Ellis said. "You run out of the tunnel and see up to 62,000 people- the crowd being even louder is great for us and also for intimidating the opponent."
Fletcher said that the seating areas are better constructed to handle more traffic.
"It is much easier to move around [the seating areas], and there are much bigger walkways," Fletcher said. "The students are all on one side of the stadium, and so there will be a good social aspect."
Laurance said that the goal for the stadium was to expand seating as well as to "look Virginia" with the Jeffersonian columns on the north end, so that it can become a signature place for the University.
"I think it is one of the more unique stadiums in the country. It is the prettiest with the colonnades and brickwork," Ellis said.
Fletcher said that the goal "at the beginning was to create the finest college football stadium in the country and offer the best quality services to our fans and support to our athletes."
He said that renovations on Scott Stadium began in late fall 1998.
Fletcher also said that the stadium renovations would benefit the surrounding areas of the University.
"The money that was placed into creating that 'U.Va look' is also for all the people who visit the University, and the landscaping improved the whole area," Fletcher said. "The lights on the sidewalk from Hereford College are one of the benefits associated with the renovations around the area."
A considerable change to the stadium is the addition of 44 luxury suites, which are available for $50,000 a season and will bring additional funds into the stadium, Laurance said.
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Craig Littlepage, senior associate director of athletics, said that the new luxury suites built into the concourse level of the stadium also will be used for student interviews when there are no games.
"University Career Services will use the suites for students interviewing with corporations or for career fairs," Littlepage said.
Rader said that a committee, of which he is the chair, is making decisions right now about who will sing the national anthem and perform at the halftime show.
"Right now we are deciding between two choices. It will be a national act, a performer who will appeal to a wide range of individuals," Rader said.
Athletic Ticket Manager Richard Matthias said that reserved single-game tickets will cost the general public and students' guests between $26 for the Richmond, Maryland and North Carolina State games, and $30 for the Brigham Young, Clemson and North Carolina games.
Season tickets for all six games are $168 per seat, and the less expensive "Hooville Heights" season tickets, where the ticket-holders sit in the upper deck, are $126 per seat. There also are mini-packages available for three games each. The blue package is $82 and gives the fan tickets to the Brigham Young, Maryland and North Carolina State games, and the orange package costs $86 and gives the fan tickets to the Clemson, North Carolina and Richmond games, according to Matthias.
As always, University students can enter the football games for free with a student ID.
Matthias said that the ticket office also has a limited quantity of tickets for the most sought-after games, including the November 25 away game at Virginia Tech, available for $33.
The ticket office currently is located in University Hall, but will move to the stadium starting August 21, Mattias said.
Laurance said some other features of Scott Stadium will include new, expanded locker rooms and administrative facilities, a football museum, the Virginia Student Aid Foundation office, marketing offices, an alumni room, and a recruiting room.
The president's box and the press box also will be expanded.
Fletcher said that the size of the press box was increased from 3,500 square feet to 8,000 square feet to accommodate the increasing media presence at games every year.
The stadium also will have 361 new women's restrooms and 230 new men's restrooms.
Littlepage said that the Athletics Department worked with architects from Heery International, Inc. of Atlanta and VMDO Architects from Charlottesville, as well as Facilities Management and University Architect Samuel "Pete" Anderson to design renovations for the new stadium. The project received approval from the Board of Visitors in the spring of 1998.
Fletcher said Barton Mallow from Southfield, Mich., who constructed Camden Yards and many collegiate stadiums, is overseeing construction of the stadium.
The total cost of the stadium is $86 million, which was begun with a $25 million gift from alumnus Carl W. Smith and supplemented by a matching gift from the University and gifts from private donors.
"The stadium will be used more because of the additional offices and additional operational services," Fletcher said.
For example, University Career Services, which used to be in Garrett Hall, will now call the stadium home.
Littlepage said that once construction and fundraising efforts for the football stadium are finished, the Athletics Department is looking to build a new basketball arena close to the current location of University Hall.
"Rather than sinking tons of resources into U-Hall, our long-term goal is for a new basketball arena," Littlepage said.
Fletcher said the Athletics Department will concentrate on finding "a major donor to kick it off" like Smith did for Scott Stadium.
Fletcher added the scaffolding visible around University Hall right now is part of an effort to make structural adjustments to its roof, and it is currently being used for some of the youth sports camps the University sponsors over the summer.
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