A Letter From John Currie: November 3, 2017
Good Afternoon, Big Orange Nation!
As I shared in my letter back on Sept. 12, we have been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to share more details about the next steps in the Neyland Stadium Master Plan. The historic home to the football Vols is approaching its Centennial—when the 2021 season kicks off, the venue that hosted its first UT football game as Shields-Watkins Field in 1921 will have served Tennessee fans for 100 full years.
Today, an important milestone in the planning process has been reached, as the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees earlier this afternoon approved our request to increase the scope and budget of the next phase of the Neyland Stadium renovations to $180 million. This will comprise the first and largest segment of what is projected to be a two-phase $340 million project targeted for substantial completion in 2021. Thanks to great cooperation and ingenuity by our project planning team members from the UT system, campus, state and our feasibility study advisors from Populous, what was conceived in 2016 as three individual projects has been consolidated into a single, two-phase project. This shift will provide a much more cost-effective and efficient result while ensuring a consistency in design and finish throughout.
Enhancing the Neyland Stadium game experience for our loyal fans stands at the forefront of five key project goals. The vast majority of the work set to take place during the two upcoming renovation phases will take place in the south and east ends of the stadium. Those areas will be outfitted with modern restrooms (many restrooms in these areas are basically the same as they were built in 1948!), improved concession stands to provide better service, food quality and choices—not to mention improved working conditions for the hundreds of volunteers from local non-profits who staff many of our locations. Our fans in the south and east ends of Neyland Stadium will see average concourse sizes increase nearly 500 percent, providing space for shelter from rain storms or hot sun, family eating areas and gathering spots.
Our second project goal is to address basic safety, security and access—including ingress and egress flow through wider main gates similar to the Gate 21 northwest entry, while the new scissor ramps will be ADA compliant, multiple elevators will be added and the infamous Gate 10 ramp will be retired to memory.
Project goal three is to elevate the presentation of Neyland Stadium to reflect the architectural standards of the university's master plan. Despite the incredible progress made over the last decade in campus beautification and modernization, the appearance of the south stadium area from Neyland Drive and the Tennessee River lags behind what the "first impression" of our historic stadium and campus could be. In conjunction with the upcoming reconstruction of Estabrook Hall and Pasqua Engineering Building, what currently looks like a service entrance will be transformed in a welcoming plaza linking the Tickle Engineering building and Neyland Stadium—a grand "riverfront" approach to campus.
Preparing Neyland for a second century of service to Tennessee fans is our fourth project goal. Tennessee fans who attend games at Neyland Stadium come from all walks of life and represent a wide swath of the economic spectrum, and we're making a deliberate commitment as we move through this process to ensure the Tennessee home football game experience remains as accessible and affordable as possible for future generations. Maintaining Neyland's status as one of only eight college stadiums to accommodate 100,000 helps ensure continued accessibility for the broad-based gameday electric atmosphere Tennessee is famous for nationally.
Last, but certainly not least, among our project goals is to move forward in the most fiscally responsible manner possible while providing value and benefit to the university, community and state. With that in mind, I'll address one of the most prudent questions surrounding these master plan renovations—how do we plan to pay for such an ambitious project? Funding of Phase I requires $180 million, which will come from five sources, including a nucleus fund of leadership philanthropy, grassroots fan participation, earned operating revenue, strategic partnerships and long-term bonds serviced by future stadium revenues. You'll recall that our annual operating budget includes a line-item for a Neyland Stadium reserve fund—this past fiscal year we were able to put away $5 million of earned revenue, and we have $3 million budgeted for this account in FY 2018. And, I am delighted and grateful to report that we have tremendous momentum in securing private philanthropic leadership commitments for the nucleus fund.
Naturally, I know that some may wonder about the fact that we are making this huge step forward in during a moment in our season during which our on-field results are admittingly disappointing. In reality, the necessity of this undertaking and its impact on future generations of Tennessee fans transcends one game or one season for that matter. To quote General Neyland's game maxim #3: "If at first the game or the breaks go against you, don't let up. Put on more steam!" In fact, the momentum of our fundraising over the last several months exceeds our expectations!
In the weeks and months to come, we'll have so much more to share regarding this project, and I'm committed to being transparent throughout the process and keeping you, the Big Orange faithful, up to date on our progress.
Go Big Orange, and Happy Homecoming
