Before the pandemic struck in full force in March 2020, the wheels were in motion for a renovation of Ross-Ade Stadium. Now, those ambitious plans are on hold.
"Like lots of things on campus that weren't already a shovel-in-the-ground-type project, that one was put on hold from a planning and education perspective,” Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski told GoldandBlack.com.
In August 2019, the Purdue Board of Trustees rubber-stamped a renovation plan for 57,236-seat Ross-Ade Stadium, which opened in 1924, that Bobinski had estimated would cost over $100 million.
But the pandemic has created financial issues for athletic departments across the nation. The biggest hit: Not being able to have fans at football games in 2020, which is a large source of revenue.
Bobinski says that his department faces a $17 million deficit because of the pandemic, but he’s optimistic that Purdue can pull out of the deficit quickly to make it just a one-year issue. In fact, Bobinski thinks a sense of financial normalcy for his department should return for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year.
Schools have coped with reduced revenues in a number of ways: cutting sports, furloughing employees, not filling open positions and slashing salaries. Purdue used many of those tactics this past 2020-21 academic year, in addition to aggressively raising money though its More Than A Game campaign.
Still, even with Purdue’s financial picture on track to clear up, the landscape of college sports is riddled with unknowns. A big wild card: How will Name, Image and Likeness proposals impact athletic departments?
It all gives Bobinski pause on moving forward with a full-scale renovation of Ross-Ade Stadium at this time.
“What we're waiting on once and for all is to get (financial issues) behind us and then to really understand what’s happening in and around college athletics a little bit,” said Bobinski. “Just kind of get our arms around the lawsuit decision (athletes vs. NCAA in a Supreme Court battle over compensation). When they come down with their decision, what is everything going to look like?”
“It just doesn't seem to make sense to charge ahead with the full scope of that project until we kind of understand where all the chips fall here in the next nine months or so.”
Bobinski concedes that there are elements of the Ross-Ade renovation that will happen, like enhancing WiFi connectivity and updating the pavilion.
“There are some things that absolutely we need to have happen one way or the other here as long as things move ahead,” said Bobinski.
The three big elements of the proposed Ross-Ade makeover:
1. South end zone structure. Purdue wants to construct some type of structure in the south end zone to house a number of different elements, from game-day team facilities, to new fan opportunities, to seating, to club opportunities and to other types of patios that the athletic department thinks will be important. Bobinski also wants to connect the concourse all the way around Ross-Ade so fans could make an uninterrupted loop around the stadium
2. Upper bowl. Everything above the vomitories is on steel decking. And that has maintenance issues, according to Bobinski. Purdue would like to consider the idea of constructing a cantilevered mezzanine second deck, which would then open up the concourse and allow for an open view from the concourse to the playing field which is how most modern facilities are being developed. The deck could go around the entire stadium—at least that’s the hope.
3. Updating the Ross-Ade Pavilion. Bobinski said the Shively and the Buchanan Clubs need updating and modernizing to attain a modern standard.
For now, those grand plans are on hold for Ross-Ade, which last underwent a renovation from 2001-03 that was a $70 million project.
“There are still any number of donors that are excited about that and are waiting for us to sort of relaunch here,” said Bobinski. “But it's probably a good nine months, at least, before we understand what our environment is gonna look like. But it's not gone forever in my mind, it’s just on hold right now.”
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