Designing and Constructing A Football Stadium: What You Need To Know

Andy Miller, AIA, project architect in the Indianapolis office of Fanning Howey, shares advice for school administrators embarking on a football stadium project.

  • Priorities first. The district’s use of the facility is the highest priority, followed by community usage. “You do want to reach out the community,” says Miller, “but make sure that any or all school activities are accommodated first. You want to maximize the use of the facility, and that starts with school use.”
  • Money. While it’s nice to see money coming in from renting the facility, don’t expect that rentals will fund it. On the other hand, there are funding cycles and costs involved with running the facility, and sometimes sponsorships can help alleviate those costs.
  • Extended use. Today’s sports stadiums have to have multiple uses: football, track, soccer, lacrosse and more. “A lot of times even the parking lots are used by the community for fairs or flea markets, says Miller. “The point is to maximize the use of the facilities — do whatever you can to get people to, in and around the facility to add value.”
  • Scheduling. Someone has to schedule activities and keep an eye on how the facility is being used. Scheduling could become a burden if it’s a small school system, so plan for it.
  • Plan for the future. If you want to provide the maximum that you can afford now, yet expand as money becomes available, you can plan for that during the initial design.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • ed tech conference calendar

    Upcoming Awards, Events & Webinars

  • Kimball International Debuts Health & Education Experience Center

    Kimball International recently opened a new facility at its corporate headquarters in Jasper, Ind., that will act as a hands-on showroom for a variety of its furniture products and solutions, according to a news release. The 13,000-square-foot Health & Education Experience Center was originally designed by Gensler as the headquarters for Kimball International’s National brand.

  • California High School Starts Construction on New CTE Building

    Analy High School, part of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently broke ground on a new Career Technical Education (CTE) Building, according to a news release. The 15,000-square-foot facility will offer specialized facilities for students in engineering, welding, culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and design thinking.

  • Georgia High School Debuts 500-Seat Esports Arena

    Cass High School in Bartow County, Ga., recently announced the opening of a new, 7,000-square-foot Esports Arena, according to a news release. The Bartow County School System partnered with Extron AV Technology on the project.

Digital Edition