ELEVATED STATUS: The new press box tower at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, shown here in a rendering, will contain a mix of premium seating that’s currently non-existent at the 38-year-old venue. (Courtesy DLR Group) 

Suites with outdoor patio space

Sam Houston State is playing catchup with the big boys in college football and doing it as quickly as possible, according to Greg Garlock, DLR Group’s design leader for the school’s $60 million stadium renovation.

Last year, the Bearkats, a successful program in the Football Championship Subdivision, moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, college football’s highest level, and joined Conference USA. As part of that process, the Huntsville, Texas school is upgrading Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, a 14,000-seat building that opened in 1986 with no premium seating and a lack of fan amenities in general.

The centerpiece of the project, whose hard costs are $45 million, is construction of a new press box tower, spanning five levels on the stadium’s west side. It will contain a dozen suites, a club level tied to 225 club seats and a half-dozen loge boxes. Outdoor patios will bookend the club lounge.

DLR Group, teamed with Page, a Texas firm and the project’s architect of record, interviewed at the end of March for the job and was hired in early April. As it stands now, construction documents are 50% complete and are due right before Thanksgiving, Garlock said. Construction starts after the 2024 season, to be completed in time for the 2026 season. Orr Construction, an Oklahoma company, is the general contractor.

Bobby Williams, Sam Houston State’s athletic director for the past 25 years, has been pushing to modernize the stadium for a long time, and now that the stars have aligned with the football program from a competition standpoint, school officials want to make it happen in expedient fashion. It started with the removal of the old track circling the Bowers Stadium field to prepare for knocking down the old press box tower and building the new one.

“Once they decided to do it, they wanted to see how fast they could do it and to see if the design and construction team could make that happen,” Garlock said. “They’ve been quick to make decisions and we’ve been on schedule to move as quickly as we can.”

The new tower, measuring 60,000 square feet, replaces the original structure that became woefully inadequate with outdated restrooms and concessions serving all fans. Now, those design elements will be code compliant, Garlock said.

The suites stand out for having patio space designed between the 12 outdoor seats and interior hospitality space. School officials approved the concept after seeing a similar design DLR Group executed at the University of Louisiana Lafayette’s Cajun Field and Riverfront Stadium, a minor league ballpark in Wichita, Kansas.

The patios will have shade created by roof cover from the press level roof extending over the suites.

DLR Group describes the patio space as a mixing zone for premium seat patrons that want to be outside, but not necessarily engaged with the game. They’re a nice blend between sitting in a stadium chair, focused on the game, and having to go back indoors, Garlock said.

The club level will have lots of glass windows, providing views to the game as well as facing campus from the back wall of the press tower. It’s something not doesn’t currently exist with the windowless back wall.

Apart from game days, the club lounge will be used to feed student athletes. Garlock said the goal is to make it a flexible room that can be used to book special events such as corporate meetings and wedding receptions.

For general admission fans, the main concourse will be covered, unlike the current layout, which will help ticket holders withstand early season games in September, where the weather can be steamy in Texas near the Gulf of Mexico.

“The project will put a stamp on Bobby Williams’ legacy there,” Garlock said. “For the dollar amount, it might not move the needle (nationally), but for a school like Sam Houston, it’s monumental for them. Every dollar counts for the client, regardless of their budget.”