Spring Break
Olsen Field renovation process moves on
12th Man Foundation raising money to improve baseball park opened in 1978
By: Brad Cox
Issue date: 1/30/09 Section: News
Renovations are iminent for the 31-year-old Olsen Field.
The 12th Man Foundation and the Texas A&M Athletic Department plan to begin construction on the first phase of the project by January 2010, an official with the 12th Man Foundation said Thursday.
The estimated $16 million first phase will include a student athlete center with new baseball offices, an exterior façade designed to match campus architecture, newer wider seats on the first deck and the extension of seats closer to the field.
Stu Starner, senior vice president for major gifts for the 12th Man Foundation, said the preliminary design calls for four rows of seats to be added at the bottom of the first deck and lowering the dugouts to give Olsen Field what Starner called a "Wrigley Field feel." Starner said the design would leave the bleacher seats in the upper deck because of the long-standing tradition of the seats.
The plan will also extend the concourse to twice its width and add new bathroom facilities and an elevator to make the stadium compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In future phases, the foundation plans to add a covered playground by the right field wall. Grass berms near the left and right field walls for overflow seating are also being considered.
Sketches of the master plan for the stadium will appear in the 2009 Aggie baseball media guide, said A&M baseball sports information director Matt Simon.
The process began when a donor gave $100,000 to jumpstart the plan, Starner said. The 12th Man Foundation, then, began to work with a design firm, Dana Larson and Roubal and Associates, the DLR Group, on preliminary sketches and plans. Another benefactor donated a seven-figure donation. By January, the foundation received $2 million in donations earmarked for the renovations.
The project, which has been in the planning stages for two years, will be funded by private donations. The DLR Group, which Starner called one of the top college baseball stadium designers in the nation, is leading the design process, but when the University approves the renovation the project will be open to contract bids.
The foundation plans to raise the $16 million necessary while the project is presented to University officials for approval, a process that could take nine to 12 months.
"Before anything is done from a facility standpoint, there is a certain protocol that has to be followed," A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne said in an e-mail Wednesday. "Right now, we are in a very preliminary stage of looking at options and knowing what those options will cost."
Starner said the Foundation has done a feasibility study with major donors about what were the most important projects to them. Olsen Field came in fourth behind an indoor football facility, which was finished before the 2007 season, new basketball locker rooms, which were completed with the Cox-McFerrin Center and endowments.
The DLR Group was behind the 2008 renovations of Texas' Disch-Falk Field, the 2001 construction of Nebraska's Haymarket Park and the 2006 construction of Penn State's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Minor league baseball teams use both Haymarket and Lubrano Park.
Olsen Field opened in 1978 and is named after former player C.E. "Pat" Olsen, who donated $2 million for the stadium. When the stadium was not finished before the 1978 season, the Aggies played baseball at Travis Field in Bryan. The team played its first game at Olsen Field on March 21, 1978.
Plans include:
Student athletic center
Extending seats closer to the field for a "Wrigley Field feel"
Updating Aggie Alley to please students
The 12th Man Foundation and the Texas A&M Athletic Department plan to begin construction on the first phase of the project by January 2010, an official with the 12th Man Foundation said Thursday.
The estimated $16 million first phase will include a student athlete center with new baseball offices, an exterior façade designed to match campus architecture, newer wider seats on the first deck and the extension of seats closer to the field.
Stu Starner, senior vice president for major gifts for the 12th Man Foundation, said the preliminary design calls for four rows of seats to be added at the bottom of the first deck and lowering the dugouts to give Olsen Field what Starner called a "Wrigley Field feel." Starner said the design would leave the bleacher seats in the upper deck because of the long-standing tradition of the seats.
The plan will also extend the concourse to twice its width and add new bathroom facilities and an elevator to make the stadium compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In future phases, the foundation plans to add a covered playground by the right field wall. Grass berms near the left and right field walls for overflow seating are also being considered.
Sketches of the master plan for the stadium will appear in the 2009 Aggie baseball media guide, said A&M baseball sports information director Matt Simon.
The process began when a donor gave $100,000 to jumpstart the plan, Starner said. The 12th Man Foundation, then, began to work with a design firm, Dana Larson and Roubal and Associates, the DLR Group, on preliminary sketches and plans. Another benefactor donated a seven-figure donation. By January, the foundation received $2 million in donations earmarked for the renovations.
The project, which has been in the planning stages for two years, will be funded by private donations. The DLR Group, which Starner called one of the top college baseball stadium designers in the nation, is leading the design process, but when the University approves the renovation the project will be open to contract bids.
The foundation plans to raise the $16 million necessary while the project is presented to University officials for approval, a process that could take nine to 12 months.
"Before anything is done from a facility standpoint, there is a certain protocol that has to be followed," A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne said in an e-mail Wednesday. "Right now, we are in a very preliminary stage of looking at options and knowing what those options will cost."
Starner said the Foundation has done a feasibility study with major donors about what were the most important projects to them. Olsen Field came in fourth behind an indoor football facility, which was finished before the 2007 season, new basketball locker rooms, which were completed with the Cox-McFerrin Center and endowments.
The DLR Group was behind the 2008 renovations of Texas' Disch-Falk Field, the 2001 construction of Nebraska's Haymarket Park and the 2006 construction of Penn State's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Minor league baseball teams use both Haymarket and Lubrano Park.
Olsen Field opened in 1978 and is named after former player C.E. "Pat" Olsen, who donated $2 million for the stadium. When the stadium was not finished before the 1978 season, the Aggies played baseball at Travis Field in Bryan. The team played its first game at Olsen Field on March 21, 1978.
Plans include:
Student athletic center
Extending seats closer to the field for a "Wrigley Field feel"
Updating Aggie Alley to please students
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