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Click on the links to keep track of how FIU's new football stadium is growing.
The turf is coming off! Workers have begun to tear up the old playing surface. Also, with the south and east sides of the stands nearly complete, construction has begun on the west end zone stands. The luxury suites are also looking good as doors that lead to the south stands are now in place.
As the foundations for the west end zone and fieldhouse are set, the underbelly and luxury suites are beginning to take shape. The 6,500-square foot Panther Club underneath the south stands has been framed, as have the rest rooms and elevator shafts. All of the 19 luxury suites are in the midst of having plumbing and electric installed and will soon be ready for interior construction. The upper concourse should be of particular interest, as it will offer an unterrupted view of the game when fans get up to buy concessions. The wide dimensions of the concourse are conducive to steady pedestrian flow and allow for views of Tamiami Park, the University Park Campus, Dadeland and Miami.
The entire east end zone is almost completed and the turn has already been made north. With the field house destroyed only a few weeks ago, and rubble nearly completely cleared, it's a lot easier to get a full view of the stadium from where the west end zone will be.
Doomsday for the fieldhouse.
The old fieldhouse is gutted and ready for demolition.
The stands are up! Brackets are fastened, awaiting 1,400 club seats to be attached. Blue skirting adorns rows that will soon be filled with bench seating, complete with backrests for comfort. But perhaps the most-impressive point of progress in FIU's new stadium construction is that the luxury suite level is taking shape. The columns have been put in and the initial flooring for the concourse and luxury suite level has been laid, awaiting concrete pouring.
FIUSports.com took its first trip to the top of the stands today, courtesy of Odebrecht Contstruction, Inc. Executive Project Manager Rudy Armenta, who explained the intricacies and progress of the new stadium. Things are moving along as planned and the stadium should be taking a turn for the better near the end of November, when the south stands, suites included, should be completed and the east stands will go up. The concrete was still setting on the final footers of the east foundation on Monday's tour.
The view from the top of the stands is one of the best you'll find in college football. The front row is literally 10 yards from the field of play, compared to about 20 yards on the north side of the stadium, where the original stands will remain throughout the first phase of the project. Mind you, the FIELD OF PLAY (as in where the action is), not just the sideline where the coaches stand. The future luxury suites offer a great view of the field and allows you to step to the edge of the backside of the stadium, roughly 40 feet off the ground, for a nice look at Tamiami Park.
But what is going on below the stands might be just as impressive. There are already markings where the future Panther Club will be contstructed and you can see the vomitories (that's a technical term for the entrance to the grandstand). Fans can expect a wide open area upon entering the future home of the Golden Panthers, flanked by the lower concession concourse to the left and the Panther Club to the right.
Fans should note that the blue skirting is for general seating, while the silver areas are where the club seats will be located.
Worried that not much was happening with FIU's new stadium? Have no fear, plenty has been happening. It just wasn't very photogenic. The drainage system is in place, and the footers for the foundation were constructed, as you'll see in the pictures. And over this past weekend, the structure of the south side stands were erected, creating a frame that somewhat resembles the old stands --from a distance. Upon closer inspection, which you can only get here at FIUsports.com, you'll see that the frame is much thicker and robust. The stands extend beyond the length of the field. Most importantly, they are much closer than the old stands. Without getting into exact measurements, FIU fans can imagine how close the stands are, using the old track as a reference point. Before: The stands were a couple feet off the outside line. Now: The first row of stands is inside lane 1. The footers are also in place at the east and west ends, waiting for the next frame to be placed, starting the enclosure of the field.
Only a solitary light pole remains from the original six that illuminated FIU Stadium, sans light fixtures. Where the south stands once stood is now level, a blank canvas that will soon be marked and etched with the beginnings of FIU's new home. Black silt fencing lines the interior of what was FIU's home track, catching debris from construction before it has a chance to make its way onto the field. Ditches are now being dug into tough rock for the drainage pipe that sits in the northeast corner of the stadium. Once the drainage ditches have been finished, Odebrecht Contstruction, Inc. will begin digging for the sanitary drainage.
There is no anticipation of a draught of construction photos as long as 19 days in the near future. Nevertheless, we digress....While the hiring of new baseball coach Turtle Thomas took the spotlight the last few weeks, construction, rather deconstruction, continued at the old FIU Stadium. The South Stands were ripped from their foundations. The pressbox was torn down and the concrete pillars holding the stands in place were removed. At the moment, piles of dirt and debris remain but will be removed on a daily basis. When this is completed, it will be time to take the lights and the poles they are attached to down.
Rain didn't halt the process of tearing down the south stands, but did slow it up a bit. Workers continued to breakdown the structure until the rains created unsafe working conditions on the metal. But that didn't stop them from literally breaking ground only a week after the ceremonial groundbreaking (scroll down to see pictures). Concrete was broken up surrounding the palm trees that stand near the south stands. The palm trees will be moved until the new construction is completed, when they will return to their present spots.
Large strips of aluminum clanged together to produce warbling echoes while electric drills whizzed and generators chugged away. Some would classify the above as noise. But to an FIU football fan, it’s the sweet sound of progress, and it’s what one would hear if they were at the site of the Golden Panthers’ new stadium on Wednesday. The dismantling of FIU Stadium began at approximately 8 a.m. as a team from Southern Bleacher whittled away at the stands on the south side of the facility. By 5 p.m. the structure was a near skeleton of its former self. Fences were snipped and seats were unbolted as the first physical steps were taken in creating a new home for the Golden Panthers.
Florida
What you'll find in here is the "Before" pictures of what will be the new home for FIU Football. Temporary fencing has been put up to protect the playing surface and around the west parking lot of the stadium. Odebrecht Construction, Inc. has set up shop on site, in the fieldhouse and conducts site tours on a daily basis. Click on the the above link to have an all-around view of the stadium BEFORE construction begins.
