ROLLA, Mo. — Memorial Stadium is officially getting an upgrade.
The UM System Board of Curators officially gave the go-ahead for a $250 million renovation to the north concourse of Missouri football's stadium, voting on and passing a resolution Thursday on the Missouri S&T campus during a regularly scheduled meeting.
The approval for the item listed as the "Memorial Stadium Project" was expected. It passed unanimously.
In an unveiling during a press conference shortly after the resolution was passed, the university provided details for the project. Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz, interim athletic director Marcy Girton, UM System President Mun Choi and Board of Curators Robin Wenneker and Bob Blitz each spoke after the resolution was passed.
The planned renovation includes up to 160,500 square feet of new construction, per a news release, and will connect the east and west stands overlooking Faurot Field, with an additional 2,000 premium seats tabbed. Proposed enclosed premium seating will take up approximately 98,000 square feet of the renovation.
There will be field-level seating added beneath the stadium's novel Rock M and grassy seating area, which will be able to hold 300 people, per the release. The area seemingly is akin to the type found in the stadium's south end zone, per renderings.
The remainder of the additional seating will be added above the hill.
The capacity of Memorial Stadium is expected to rise to about 65,000, up from the 62,261 that the stadium currently holds.
"This is not a run-of-the-mill north end zone," Choi said. "This is going to be a spectacular facility that our fans will appreciate. We're going to generate revenues and student-athletes, when they come in (and) see this type of facility, it'll make them want to attend the University of Missouri and also create the intimidation factor that's always a little helpful in tight games."
Per Girton, the university is currently "working on a financial plan," but feels "fully prepared" on the fundraising side.
"We're fully prepared on our fundraising side to raise a substantial amount," Girton said. ... "There's going to be some revenue generation coming from our leadership, gifts, and also some revenue from the seating as well. So, we feel very good from a financial standpoint. We feel really good about this project."
Choi mentioned the renovation project being part of capturing momentum from the last football season when the Tigers went 11-2 and beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl to finish the year among the nation's top 10 ranked teams. Choi lightheartedly mentioned the Tigers' transfer portal acquisitions as being an indicator of capturing that momentum but also cited enrollment figures.
"We actually eclipsed our (enrollment) high of 2015 back on February 1st of 2024," Choi said. "And so prior to that, the full year for 2015 applications was around 22,000. We eclipsed that on February 1st. Now, we're up to almost 24,500, but more importantly, we're actually getting students to pay deposits to come to the university. So, we are about 17% higher than we were last year. This year we're at about 6,194, so we're 17% higher than the year before (when we were) only at 4,900. So, excitement that the university is growing."
The plans for facilities upgrades on the Missouri campus were first floated publicly in October. The Board of Curators passed a resolution in November to begin working on plans to renovate the football stadium's north concourse, and in December the university settled on an architecture firm: DLR Group.
As plans for stadium renovations garnered momentum, Thursday's meeting in the middle of April was tabbed as the target date for the athletic department to present its plans.
The process has survived a switch at the head of the athletic department, as former MU athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois left Columbia to take the same role at Arizona. Mizzou is yet to find Reed-Francois' replacement.
Under Reed-Francois' leadership, Missouri secured at least $50 million toward the stadium renovations in a single haul. An anonymous donor gifted the university a record-breaking $62 million in early February, with 50 of which tabbed for stadium upgrades, per an MU news release.
On multiple occasions since the plan was announced, Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz has mentioned being heavily involved in attempting to get the project approved. The coach reiterated that Thursday, telling the Tribune that he was involved "top to bottom," including working with an architect who graduated from Missouri.
"I think anytime you're going to be driving on Stadium (Blvd), you're going to drive past this iconic field," Drinkwitz said. "You know, I think (the architects) did an excellent job. We had some ideas and some conversations and obviously, some tweaks, but to get it to the point that it is now, in my opinion, it's very, very impressive, and hopefully the fans are responding to that."
Earlier this year, Missouri athletics announced that Faurot Field would receive a new video board by the beginning of next season. Initial plans for stadium upgrades indicated that premium seating, concessions, open-air observation decks, retail outlets, restrooms and a recruiting room were priorities.
Also included in the project will be a renovation to the tunnel leading up to the stadium, per DLR Group representative Bob Carlson, and a "new, generous entry plaza" in front of the stands. The plaza will extend to Mick Deaver Memorial Drive on the east end of the stadium.
Oh, and Memorial Stadium's novel Rock M will be preserved.
The project is expected to be completed by October 2026, the 100-year anniversary of the first game played at Memorial Stadium.
That shouldn't affect games on Faurot Field in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
"We will be working on this construction schedule over the next few months so "we'll" know what that looks like," Girton said. "But we're anticipating that there won't be a disruption in terms of being able to use the stadium for the '24 and the '25 seasons."
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Resolution passes for renovations to Missouri football's Memorial Stadium
