Kidd Brewer Stadium is growing up

BOONE--This mountain town is still shaking off a foot or so of snow from earlier in the week, but work crews continue to roar ahead with the finishing touches to Appalachian State's 120,000-square foot Kidd Brewer Stadium Complex addition, which is being amassed above and behind the facility's west stands.

It looks so different now, from the outside apparently ready to open for business and Armanti Edwards' senior year. The outer shell is virtually done, all the bricks in place and the four walls of glass windows that now tower above those seats needing only fans to sit behind them.

But there remains considerable inside work to be done, although the builders tell Appalachian's administrators that the building will be ready to go by Aug. 14, ahead of the former Sept.1 deadline.

When done, the complex will fill so many needs beyond providing 18 luxury boxes and 500 club seats. There will be athletic trainers' facilities to serve all 20 on-campus sports, a locker room for the football team and a new weight room for all athletes. There will be administrative offices from athletic director Charlie Cobb on down, along with offices for the football coaches. There will be academic facilities, again for students participating in all sports.

Oh yeah, did I mention the new press box?

This was originally supposed to cost $35 million. Now the figure is $50 million, but not because of cost overruns. Once the project got rolling, the school continued to expand it, thinking of more things that would help the university's athletics.

So this morning, with the sun already starting to eat away at the grey piles of slush, work continued apace, with panel trucks, big yellow forklifts and a concrete mixer crowding up the driveway that leads to the new addition.

Looking at the new facade, football doesn't seem far away at all.--Stan Olson