After the pandemic and the unprecedented financial strain it brought to college athletic operations seemed to make Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium plans more theoretical than real, the project may be moving back to the front-burner.
"We've been in the process the last four months of re-envisioning how we launch that," athletic director Mike Bobinski said Sunday night, following Purdue's Music City Bowl press conference.
Bobinski briefed the university's Board of Trustees on Thursday, indicating he may circle back come spring with both a proposal for a near-term Phase 1 and a "vision" for the entire project.
"Probably not in one large chunk, but more manageable chunks we might be able to bite off," Bobinski said. "But we're committed to making improvements and making sure Ross-Ade is a competitive and first-class facility."
Prior to the pandemic, Purdue was planning to spend in the ballpark of $100 million to upgrade Ross-Ade Stadium. The first piece of the puzzle was completed in the form of the new videoboard in the south end zone, an item that may serve one day as the centerpiece of an enclosed end zone. That project would have advanced to touch the upper bowl and Pavilion, as well.
But once COVID-19 hit, the stadium project was basically suspended, the least of the department's concerns while in financial crisis.
Now, already, things will move forward.
Bobinski said the overall project's timeline will be determined entirely by Purdue's ability to raise funding.
"As we raise dollars, that will be the absolute determinant of how quickly we run through all the phases," he said. "Would I like for it to be a five- to seven-year horizon for the whole thing? That would be awesome. It could stretch longer than that, but I can't predict that today."
That's the whole project.
The first — or next — phase of that project might be much closer to being reality.
"One of my thoughts is for something that touches a variety of constituencies," Bobinski said of a potential first step. "We want our fans to see it and feel it, we want our team to see it and feel it some how, some way, and maybe even the broader student-athlete population. We'd like it to have some impact over several constituencies if we can pull it off within the dollars we believe will be available for Phase 1."
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