Stadium to receive visitor's bleachers

The athletic department will begin construction soon on brand new bleachers to expand seating at Texas A&M University – Commerce's Memorial Stadium.

As part of their overhaul this semester, the athletic department will be starting the construction of a new set of bleachers in Memorial Football Stadium that will increase the seating of the stadium by about 3,000 seats. This addition will expand the seating to a total of somewhere around 8,000 available seats.

While he hopes the new bleachers will make the stadium more attractive, Athletic Director Carlton Cooper has more than just aesthetic aspirations in mind.

"We, as a university, stand to gain the stadium look that every other university in the country has," Cooper said. "I won't limit us to just football games, but neutral site events, whether it is a band competition or a track meet or any other outdoor events. The number one thing people will be looking at would be more football games here in our stadium."

Although Cooper has big plans for the coming bleachers, the university and students will not be taking advantage of the increased seating anytime this semester, according to Vice President for Business and Administration Bob Brown.

"We're hoping that the new bleachers will be done by football season next fall," Brown said. "It'll probably be sometime around September that they'll be complete."

Also, according to the figures provided by Brown, the construction of the new bleachers will be no cheap endeavor. He estimates the total cost of the added seating will be roughly $700,000.

The money for this undertaking will be coming from the wallets and pocketbooks of every student on this campus.

"The proceeds for the bleachers will be taken from the athletic fee," Brown said. "The amount of $50,000 will be taken from the athletic referendum each year to pay principal and interest on the total cost."

Not everybody on the A&M-Commerce campus is as optimistic as Cooper about the new seating. Freshmen business management major JenAnne Shumway is one student who fails to see the need for the addition.

"I don't really think we need [new bleachers]," Shumway said."I have worked concessions and I have never seen the stadium packed. I would much rather see them tear down what is there already and rebuild the home side and then build up a visitor side."

There are, however, some students who see the value of balancing out the Memorial Stadium with some additional bleachers.

"Sometimes when people see the stadium, they seem just a little disappointed," criminal justice major Marcus Hawkins said. "I think these new bleachers will pay off in the long run because they will make our university look better."

The bleachers will be among the final renovations requisitioned by the athletic department. They will most likely be completed and ready for occupation by the fall semester of 2010.