Mizzou adjusts plans for stadium renovation

COLUMBIA, MO. • Missouri called an audible for the new football facility planned for Memorial Stadium. In recent weeks, Mizzou decided it will take down the current south bowl of the stadium rather than build around it, part of what MU hopes is a two-year construction process.

The project, originally estimated to cost around $75 million, will cost closer to $100 million, athletics director Jim Sterk said Friday.

“We’re going to start from scratch and build something very special,” said Sterk, who met with reporters Friday along with MU football coach Barry Odom. Missouri also released new artist renderings of the project. In February, Sterk will present the project to the University System Board of Curators to approve funding. Missouri wants to complete the project in time for the 2019 season, Sterk said.

“This project for us is a game-changer,” Odom said. “It will have everything our kids need.”

Soon-to-be hired architects will help decide if Mizzou will tear down the south bowl of the stadium before the 2017 season, Sterk said. The south bowl currently holds seats for up to 10,000 fans. The revised structure in the south end zone will include up to 5,000 general seats plus private suites and a field-level club area. MU is unsure how the new structure will impact the stadium’s capacity during the construction phases and once the project is complete. Official capacity is currently 71,168.

A major part of the project is a new football operations center that will include coaches’ offices, meeting rooms, equipment room, locker room, team lounge, weight room and other amenities. The football team’s offices and meeting rooms are currently housed across Providence Road at the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex.

Former football coach Gary Pinkel first expressed interest in building a south end zone facility several years ago, but former AD Mack Rhoades didn’t want to separate the football team from the rest of the student-athlete population and instead favored renovations to the MATC. When Sterk replaced Rhoades in August, he discussed facility plans with Pinkel and Odom and re-ignited the south end zone concept. The athletics department has since raised more than $40 million for the project, with a goal of $50 million. The difference will be funded by revenue bonds.

Missouri will move forward with the construction plans despite a massive plunge in home attendance figures this season. Mizzou’s average announced attendance for seven home games was 52,236, which ranked No. 38 in the country. That’s a decrease by 19.8 percent from 2015, down from 65,120, which ranked No. 23 nationally.

“It’s something we’re very attentive to,” Sterk said.

Missouri is in the process of signing an agreement with an outbound ticket sales team managed by IMG Learfield, which will employ 11 to 13 people to sell tickets.

Meanwhile, Missouri’s athletics department continues to work with the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference in light of allegations of academic misconduct by former tutor Yolanda Kumar. Last month, Kumar told the Post-Dispatch and other outlets that she was groomed by her superiors in the MU athletics department to participate in what she called “academic dishonesty.”

“Everyone’s involved, the SEC, the NCAA,” Sterk said Friday. “We’re communicating with them. We’re working with them. I don’t know how long it will be. That will be dictated by the NCAA. I do know they’ve been impressed with the work our staff has done. So I think we’re in as good a place as we can be. How long it will be? I don’t know.”

Sterk indicated the review is still in the early stages and likened it to the discovery phase of a lawsuit.

“I don’t know if you can call it an investigation,” he said. “We’re cooperating with the NCAA. That’s something that’s not done on a regular (basis), but something when an accusation has been made you go about working with the NCAA to see what you find.”

Sterk said the NCAA has not conducted any formal interviews and he’s unsure when those will take place. Mizzou has had some communication with Kumar, he said.

Asked Friday about her communication with the NCAA, Kumar confirmed she’s been in contact with “a member from the organization” but that scheduling conflicts have prevented her from having a formal interview.

Dave Matter

@dave_matter on Twitter

dmatter@post-dispatch.com

———

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.