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The Penn State Board of Trustees this week approved a $700 million renovation to Beaver Stadium with a completion date targeted for the beginning of the 2027 season.
Barring a change, at least the Nittany Lions have an old Eastern rival (Syracuse) for the grand '27 stadium debut and not the usual non-conference treat -- a lesser division rent-a-win.
Is the price tag too high?
Well, that's way above my pay grade. I know this much: A new stadium came with a projected cost of $2 billion, and the board instead stamped its approval for a renovation by a 26-2 vote.
Even the dissenters, Barry Fenchak and Anthony Lubrano, and three abstainers (Jay Paterno among them), did not dispute renovations are needed but wanted more time to discuss it.
Of course, the financial clock, as always, is ticking.
Jay cited his reasoning for abstaining as the perception of conflict of interest as he is or was involved in a public-private partnership that could have produced $150-200 million, but PSU went in another direction.
Credit Jay for recognizing his conflict of interest, unlike when he voted against Lasch Building renovations in 2021, but we all know his entire existence on the board is a conflict of interest.
That said, JayPa wrote an advance column for his website on the downside of the massive renovation, fearing further loss of tradition. He made some good points.
This renovation will focus on the west side of the stadium (press box side), and will displace thousands of long-time season-ticket holders to plug in corporate suites and loge boxes at a much higher price.
Obviously, in addition to the seats, many parking spaces will be moved. Hopefully, we won't have to take a shuttle from Pine Grove Mills.
The images released by the university show a grandiose stadium that looks closer to NFL palaces in Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium) or the shrine of all shrines, SoFi Stadium in the shadows of Los Angeles.
Plans include a 21,000-square foot welcome center to help expand the stadium's use for more than seven dates per year -- eight if the Lions earn a first-round playoff game and nine if you count the Blue-White Game.
The Luke Combs concert at the stadium last month drew 73,000, and expect those opportunities to multiply. Board member and former PSU soccer great Ali Krieger raised the possibility of hosting a future World Cup here.
Very cool. And how about a Steelers-Eagles exhibition game?
Joe Paterno resisted stadium use for anything but football, didn't want the NHL's Winter Classic, let alone concerts or the Topgolf Tour, and bitterly fought the State College Spikes collaboration with the university.
That said, this renovation, and all the money needed privately, could strike the balance between the past and the future.
It could house the all-sports museum, which would be the perfect place to presumably locate and house Paterno's statue, where it would be protected and show the university is finally ready to admit that the guy did exist and, despite the terrible ending, did more to build the football program than anybody.
The $700 million price tag is hard to comprehend, but we're in an age of paying the athletes -- who care more about themselves than the team, or so the Peach Bowl proved -- while forking over $8.5 million for a head coach whose team is terrified when it sees scarlet and gray.
But as the arrival of the Pac-12 plums dawns a new day in the Big Ten and college sports, there is no better time to stamp Penn State's commitment.
And not just because the board and the consultants say so. These are the people that rerouted traffic onto Atherton Street a few years ago, for God's sake. Many would have been better off watching the game from Otto's.
Penn State started talking about this project seven years ago. At that time, as part of a facilities overhaul, it was introduced by Sandy Barbour and Phil Esten, the AD and her top deputy. Esten left in 2018, Sandy last year, cueing the arrival of Pat Kraft.
So if not now, when?
Raise your hand if you think going to Beaver Stadium is a comfortable experience -- after the tailgating, that is.
Trip to the bathroom? Please. The nearby cows have more privacy.
The tight concourse? You can get a concussion smacking your head on an exposed beam underneath the stadium.
Want to make a cell-phone call? Good luck.
And the press box? Saunas are often cooler.
Penn State has an older fan base, and older people (count me among them) resist change. But those same people have filled Beaver Stadium for Bowling Green as well as Ohio State.
Will the increased corporates and higher-rollers attend as faithfully or cherry-pick the three biggest games of the season?
Another thing to keep in mind is while Penn State would typically include the number of new season tickets sold in many press releases throughout the summer, the number it didn't include was how many season-ticket holders dropped off. That often totaled more than 3,000, and a new venture, while exciting, will create churn.
The expected reduced capacity, yet still more than 100,000 according to Kraft, will fuel increased demand as the calendar flips toward 2027.
And, oh, about the team. How it does between now and then will determine whether James Franklin is still on the sidelines.
Because for $700 million, Penn State fans will expect -- and deserve -- a team equal to its new facility.
(Neil Rudel has covered Penn State football since 1977.)