University of South Florida leaders today presented the USF Board of Trustees (BOT) with the latest information in the ongoing process to build an on-campus stadium, including sharing the progress that’s been made since the board last met in March and outlining the next steps for the project.
Michael Kelly from USF Athletics and Jay Stroman from the USF Foundation, the co-chairs of the committee charged with leading stadium planning, detailed the due diligence that’s been conducted in recent months at the recommended site on the east side of the Tampa campus known as Sycamore Fields. Further study of the site has provided a deeper evaluation of traffic, parking and utility infrastructure needed to support a facility of this magnitude. Kelly told trustees that he’s even more comfortable and excited about the location after the analysis, as he highlighted the benefits it will offer for the game-day experience, community building opportunities and synergy with the existing Athletics district.
The co-chairs said the next step in the process is to post an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) in the next 30 days to the start the competitive procurement process of choosing a design-and-build team. The selected partner will help the university develop a more complete understanding of the scope and cost of the project, which will inform the financing plan. During today’s meeting, Stroman noted the current target is a seating capacity of approximately 35,000.
BOT Chair Will Weatherford said the ITN process is an exciting step forward and stressed the importance of making sure key factors are taken into consideration with the project, including environmental stewardship, supplier diversity and community engagement.
The presentation to the BOT was an information-only agenda item, with university leaders scheduled to provide their next update to the board when it meets again in September.
More information about the on-campus stadium project can be found here.