UC Approve Nippert Expansion

The University of Cincinnati approved the the $86M expansion of Nippert Stadium today. The time frame for the expansion is scheduled

to start in mid December of this year and last until the summer of 2015. A much needed expansion and facelift will be welcomed by the student body and alumni.

Nippert is the fifth oldest stadium in college football, the last major renovation happened when the Campus Rec Center opened at the north end zone, the video board was also added at that time. A major exapansion and renovation is much needed. The entire expansion will be paid for through donors, the general fund will not be touched.

The major changes and additions to Nippert include increasing the stadium capacity to 40,000 people. 18 “Founders” Suites will be added which will hold 22-26 guest and will be priced at $100,000 a year. The “Founders” club will accommodate 50 guest on the 4th and 5th floor. The club is priced at $6,500 a year per seat. Both Founders suites and club are currently sold out.

Nippert will also be getting Loge Boxes (Patio Suites) those will be on the third floor and seat 4-8 people. There will also be club seats on the third floor as well, a three year commitment at $2,500 is required. The press box will be expanded as well.

One big complaint of Nippert is lack of concessions and restrooms. You won’t have to worry about that anymore, new concessions and restrooms will be added on O’Varsity Way. Herschede-Shank Pavilion will now have walkways to connect to O’Varsity Way making it a new part of the stadium.

All of this looks incredible, the pictures and mock ups look great. There are a couple of hang ups.

First the 2014 season will likely be played at Paul Brown Stadium. Which is a little depressing knowing how hard it is to get students downtown but the Bearcats always draw well. The atmosphere is just never as good.

The seating capacity could be larger, I know some were hoping for more but 40,000 is respectable. The fact that Nippert is completely locked in by other buildings makes it hard to expand.

The other thing I noticed looking over the plans is there is a plan to install a fence around Sheakley Lawn as well as between TUC and the stadium walls. That is a nuisance for fans if that is where the gates will be, the set up now works perfectly.

Other than that every thing looks great, the future is bright and thankfully my last fall at UC will be spent in Nippert.

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