Penn State’s Beaver Stadium press box demolished as part of $700M renovation. See it come down
The press box at Beaver Stadium fell into the snow with a boom on Saturday morning as hundreds looked on to see a major step of Penn State’s $700 million renovation project.
Athletic director Pat Kraft was among those in the crowd to watch the demolition of press box, which kicks off the large-scale demolition of the upper West side of the stadium. Project director Scott Mull explained the process before the crowd counted down from ten to see the press box collapse into the fresh snow.
“There is a highly technical exercise happening here, a series of ... three black boxes going up the column all the way across the press box,” Mull said. “There’s charges in those and those will be detonated ... basically kicking the legs out from under this.”
A public viewing area was set up in the Stadium West parking lot, next to the marquee of the Bryce Jordan Center. The early morning event hosted by the athletic department also gave fans the opportunity to sign a bleacher from the upper West stands and enter a drawing to win signed construction hats by Penn State coaches.
While fans got the exterior view, the athletic department posted a video of what the demolition looked like from inside the stadium.
The demolition is part of a $700 million renovation project that’s already seen some significant changes to Beaver Stadium, such as the addition of new escalators at Gates A and E. But the most intensive work wasn’t expected to begin until 2024’s home slate was finished, and work resumed days after the Nittany Lions upended SMU in a home College Football Playoff game.
Temporary seating will be in place for each of the next two seasons, to maintain the stadium’s capacity, and construction is scheduled to be finished before the 2027 season. Upgrades will be made to the restrooms, concessions and select seating, in addition to improvements such as concourse expansion, fencing and “fan experience zones,” and more.
A number of items — including West stadium signage and bleachers — have been salvaged and will be available for purchase at a later date, according to the athletic department.
Here are more photos from Saturday morning’s demolition:
Reporter Josh Moyer contributed to this report.
