University Of Utah Approves Expansion Of Rice Eccles Stadium
Nov 13, 2018, 2:48 PM
People start to file into Rice Eccles Stadium before the start of an college football game against the Utah Utes and Stanford Cardinal on October 7, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
(Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of Utah board of trustees voted unanimously to approve an $80 million non-state revenue bond to expand and upgrade Rice Eccles Stadium.
The stadium currently holds approximately 45,800. It is one of the smaller stadiums in the Pac-12 conference. The expansion would raise the capacity to 51,000 and will include premium seating, according to Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan.
University officials will hold a press conference on Wednesday at 10 a.m. to address further information.
We understand that the Board of Trustees approved the request to pursue funding to expand the south end zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium during its meeting today. This is the first step in a process that could allow the university to bond for the project. (1/2)
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) November 13, 2018
Harlan said there are two concerns with the project: that it not hurt the university financially and that the football program continue its sellout streak.
Rice Eccles Stadium broke ground in June 1997 and opened on September 12, 1998. The venue hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Immediately south of the stadium is the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park, which contains a museum, the Olympic cauldron, and other memorabilia from the games. Only the cauldron remains at the stadium today.
