MORGANTOWN - The start of West Virginia University's fall semester is only days away, and the start of football season isn't far behind it. When the University of Missouri comes to town on Sept. 3, fans will get their first in-person look at upgrades to Milan Puskar Stadium, the home of WVU's Mountaineer Field.
WVU athletics officials unveiled the stadium Friday, showing how the upgrades to the stadium's east side will make it easier for fans to enter the stadium and feel more comfortable once inside.
"There's nothing you can't do with money and time," said April Messerly, the associate athletic director for facilities and operations. "Poor [Athletic Director] Shane Lyons, that's all I ever say here. 'What about this?' Just time and money."
For about $50 million, WVU officials have done a lot with the 36-year-old stadium, and they aren't finished yet. The east end of the stadium will be totally up and operational for the beginning of the season, and crews already have started preliminary work for the west side of the stadium that will be renovated this fall.
Michael Fragale, the spokesman for the athletic department, said the school wants fans to notice a sleek, new design that feels cohesive when they drive by on Willowdale Road or walk up to the stadium from the Blue Lot. The department wants fans to feel like they're at a stadium fit for the Big 12 Conference.
"We're excited," Messerly said. "We're here almost every day, so it's hard to continue to see the change. But to hear people say, 'Wow, this is a big difference,' that's really encouraging."
All of the old light-blue detailing that blanketed many parts of the stadium has been updated with a darker, royal blue that comes in line with the school's brand-marketing guidelines. And there are new graphics, too, that wrap around concrete pillars and celebrate legends of the school's football program.
The biggest improvement officials pointed out is the widened concourse area which, if all goes as planned, will improve the flow of traffic and make the entire stadium feel less cramped.
Before the renovations, concession lines would stretch out far into the walkway, lines for beer stretched far and wide and lines for the restrooms intermingled somewhere in between.
"Ask anyone in sports-facilities planning and they'll tell you the same thing - there's always a need for more women's restrooms," Messerly said.
The east end of the stadium will have 90 new toilets in the women's restrooms, in addition to the restrooms for both sexes being pushed back farther away from the entrance of the stadium. Messerly said she hopes this cuts down on the line that usually stretches far out of the restroom and blocks the walkway in the concourse.
Men, too, will see upgrades to their restrooms. Gone are the days of urinal troughs. Messerly said the new standalone urinals should be more efficient, since they have dividers to separate them, which she hopes will make men feel more comfortable as they stand next to each other.
"When the project is complete, all four corners of the stadium will be ADA accessible," Messerly said. "Thats a huge step for us, because, if you're familiar with what happens on the west side, you know how, on game day, that ADA shuttle drives up among all those people. We're really trying to create a safer environment for everyone."
The ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, was a law Congress passed in 1990. Similar to the Civil Rights Act, it extends protections to people with varying physical and mental disabilities.
Messerly said that making the stadium more accessible doesn't mean making it easier just for people who use wheelchairs. Fans sometimes use crutches, and sometimes they just have trouble walking up steps, she pointed out. Elevators will help those fans get up to the main level of the stadium. Once inside, WVU students who need ADA seating will be able to sit with their friends in the student section.
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939, Facebook.com/newsroomjake or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.