TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS
CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBER SERVICES | SIGN IN SIGN OUT | MY PROFILE PAGE | MY ACCOUNT

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Sports Extra!
Follow us on ...
OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL




SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
    Sports Editor
Mike Strain
Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler
The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA



Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark

Welcome to OSU's big house

The west end zone of Boone Pickens Stadium is still under construction, but the stadium now holds 60,000. Completion of the west-end football complex is expected in August 2009. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

 
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 9/6/2008  2:05 AM
Last Modified: 9/6/2008  3:09 AM

Renovation timeline

Cowboys and Cougars are set to collide at newly expanded Boone Pickens Stadium



Every minute of every day since every current Oklahoma State football players enrolled as freshmen, Boone Pickens Stadium has been a construction zone.

"It's part of the routine — dust and mud and gravel," Cowboy senior cornerback Jacob Lacey said. "But it looks great now. Our old stadium (Lewis Field) looked like my high school stadium."

On Saturday in Stillwater, the Cowboys face Houston at 6:05 p.m.

It is more than just a game. It qualifies as an occasion — the first game played since the Boone Pickens Stadium seating capacity was increased from 44,700 to 60,000.

"It's our first game in the big house," Lacey said. "I hope it's packed up to the top."

OSU's expansion project first included the addition of a $47 million southside structure in 2004. The $56 million northside structure was completed two years ago, and now the west end is enclosed and ready for orange-clad occupants.

Last week, the Cowboys and Cougars opened with victories. OSU prevailed 39-13 over Washington State in Seattle, while Houston was a 55-3 winner over Division I-AA Southern University.

In 2006, OSU lost 34-25 at Houston's Robertson Stadium. During Saturday's rematch, the OSU marching band and a few thousand students, among others, will watch from the west end.

"It was already really loud when the end zone was open," senior safety Ricky Price said. "I can't even start to imagine what the noise will be like now."

Most of OSU's donors contributed to the south- and northside projects, so it was Pickens' 2006 gift of $165 million that empowered OSU to proceed with a more complete renovation.

After Pickens announced his grand-slam donation, OSU athletic director Mike Holder said, "This gives us an opportunity to get in the ballgame with everybody else. If we hadn't had this gift, I feel like we would have been dead in the water for the next 20 years."

In 2001, it was estimated that OSU could execute a stadium makeover — including the addition of west-end seats — for about $85 million.

The west-end structure, which will include a locker room, coaches' office, a strength-and-conditioning facility and 56 luxury suites, has a price tag estimated at $180 million. The elaborate building — which, at 460,000 square feet is larger than Oklahoma's state Capitol — pushes the overall renovation cost to an estimated $283 million.

The west-end structure is scheduled for completion before the start of the 2009 season. At that point, OSU's six-year stadium project will have finished.

"Anyone who hasn't seen the stadium recently, they'll be impressed when they walk up," Holder said. "OSU graduates will have a different feeling about football here when they see the exterior of the football stadium."

Tulsa architect Gary Sparks, a 1966 OSU graduate, was responsible for the design of the Boone Pickens Stadium and Gallagher-Iba Arena renovations.

"Even if you don't care about football, you should come and see what has happened with Boone Pickens Stadium," Sparks said. "It's worth the price of the ticket just to see the stadium. This stadium has every amenity you could possibly imagine.

"Just go back to 1998 — only 10 years ago. We had the old Gallagher-Iba and the old Lewis Field. What OSU has done with facilities is incredible. Regardless of what had happened at Gallagher-Iba and on the south and north sides of the stadium, it just wouldn't have looked finished if we hadn't enclosed the west end. Now, it looks like a big-time stadium."

From his office on the west side of Gallagher-Iba Arena, Cowboy coach Mike Gundy gets a daily look at the evolution of the stadium.

"When we got the money to renovate the south side, most people felt like we would get the north side done," Gundy said. "But I don't think anyone was convinced that the end-zone project would ever happen. You're talking about a lot of money and a lot of work.

"I know there were drawings and vision and all that, but sometimes when people figure out what something is going to cost, the drawings and vision don't matter. I never really thought it would be like this."



Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com



RENOVATION COST



A cost breakdown on the Boone Pickens Stadium makeover:

Southside structure: $47 million.

Northside structure: $56 million.

West-end structure: $180 million (estimated).

Total: $283 million (estimated).

HOUSTON AT OKLAHOMA STATE



6:05 p.m. Saturday

Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater

TV: None

Radio: KFAQ am1170, KRVT am1270

Weather: Temperature at kickoJ is expected to be about 80 degrees. The big question is whether it will rain. There is a 40 percent of scattered thunderstorms.

Records: Houston 1-0, OSU 1-0

Last meeting: 2006, Houston, 34-25

Series: Houston leads 9-8-1
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark


COMMENTS 
      Add your comment Show: Most Recent Comment First

4 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
Report Comment Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you.  -- Web Editor Jason Collington
 

 
Report Comment
T Bone, (9/6/2008 10:01:46 AM)

The athletic facility miracle is only a little over half complete. The academic miracle has just started with new buildings and major cash gifts. Great to be a cowboy. What a great campus.
Report Comment
driftwood, tulsa (9/6/2008 11:43:41 AM)
nicest endzone seating in the big xii.
Report Comment
Allen Russell, Tulsa (9/6/2008 12:17:18 PM)
They are still the Aggies and it is NOSE Pickens Stadium. The school that produced such upstanding people as that thief, Tatum Bell!!!!! Yeah, Aggies, you really have a lot to be proud of. Jese!!!!!!!!!!
Report Comment
anm1135, (9/7/2008 2:08:07 PM)
Allen, it wasn't that long ago UO players were stealing gas and coats, while stile at the university.

I'll take our stadium over Gaywad Memorial Stadium.
 

 
Add Your Comment 
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.

 
Post Your Comment
 



Home | About Tulsa World | Advertise With Us | Privacy | Usage Agreement | FAQ and Help | Contact Us | Today's Headlines
Copyright © 2010, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.