Fresno State will postpone plans for a $60 million renovation of Bulldog Stadium, proposed by former athletic director Jim Bartko, in favor of undergoing gradual improvements to the site and directing funds to facility upgrades at the Robert E. Duncan Athletic Building.
The original renovation plan was divided into four phases and included the construction of a new tower on the west side with suites, a stadium club and a press box, tunnels leading to the seating bowls, cross-aisle access and new restrooms and concessions.
The renovation was scheduled to be complete in 2019, but progress on the project has been set back by a series of issues, including flood damage to the playing surface in the south end zone and cracked pavement in the stadium’s walkways and seating areas.
Interim athletic director Steve Robertello told The Fresno Bee, “We are currently evaluating what we’re doing with the stadium moving forward.”
Fresno State has conducted multiple soil tests to evaluate the integrity of the foundation and explore possible causes of the cracking.
In an interview, university vice president for administration Debbie Astone told the Bee, “We don’t know obviously what we may uncover once we demo out those middle stairs, but we’ll be able to visually see if we’ve got moisture or what is going on back there as well as being able to have our structural engineers do any additional assessment.”
If assessments find that a complete teardown of the east side berm and seating areas is necessary, that repair alone could cost up to $20 million. In the short term, turf repairs at Bulldog Stadium are expected to be complete within the year.
