Cougars add fee to football tickets
PULLMAN – Director of athletics Jim Sterk said the $5 facility fee being added to all Washington State football tickets this year will help finance the design phase for the expansion of Martin Stadium.
The fee is being charged on both home and away tickets purchased through WSU for the 2005 season, and means a $25 fee for season tickets. As a result, all fans purchasing a ticket from WSU will be credited with a donation to the school.
“It allows us to continue to move along with the stadium throughout the design phase and up to construction,” Sterk said.
WSU still has not begun official fund raising for the project, which is split into three phases. If the necessary $55 million is in place in time, the first two would be done simultaneously in about 18 months. Phase I of the stadium expansion and renovation involves the east end zone seats and is expected to cost $20 million, while Phase II will redo the south side of the stadium including a new press box with additional luxury suites for approximately $35 million.
“We’d like to do both at the same time,” Sterk said, “but we may, depending on what the support is, do one at a time.”
There are still a number of uncertainties left surrounding the project, and WSU is in the process of hiring CSL International to help with a market survey. Sterk said that survey should help the school get a better idea of exactly what amenities and facilities its fans value most in upgrading Martin Stadium, which has the smallest capacity of any Pac-10 football venue. CSL International assisted the University of Oregon in its recent expansion of Autzen Stadium and Oregon State in its ongoing expansion of Reser Stadium.
WSU has also hired bond counsel to help with the financing of the construction, and Sterk said if the project is to go as planned, the funding framework will have to be completed within a year.
“Whether we start after the ‘06 season or ‘07, we’ll just see how it progresses,” Sterk said.
On the mend
Spring practices begin two weeks from today at WSU, and the Cougars are starting to get a better idea as to who will and who won’t be able to participate in the drills.
Cody Boyd, who could be used significantly this fall if WSU goes with a two-tight end set, is recovering from arthroscopic surgery in February and will probably be non-contact at least at the beginning of the four-week spring session.
“I think the first week he’ll be limited, and then he’ll progress from there,” team trainer Bill Drake said. “We’re just going to go a little slower on him.”
Boyd had the procedure done on his right ankle to clean up an injury suffered at Arizona State in November that had not been healing sufficiently on its own.
Two players who are recovering from ACL injuries, rising sophomore defensive end Matt Mullenix and freshman Bryan Baird, will be kept from contact all spring. The same will be the case for rising junior linebacker Brian Hall, who has been slow to recover from a bruised nerve in his neck and right shoulder.