CORVALLIS, Ore. — Beaver Nation has a new stadium to look forward to.
An anonymous donor gave Oregon State University (OSU) $50 million to transform the west side of Reser Stadium. The renovation will also include a new year-round student welcome center, health care facilities and meeting space.
"There's no question that this project is going to help this program in recruiting, maintaining and gaining on the momentum we've been able to create," Oregon State's head football coach Jonathan Smith said in a press conference Thursday.
"This isn't simply a football issue. This is about recruitment of students all over the country and keeping our Oregonian students here," OSU President F. King Alexander added.
The stadium project will cost a total of $153 million. So far OSU has raised about $64 million of its $85 million philanthropic fundraising goal. University leaders say the rest of the project will be paid for with a bond. They plan to pay off the bond with revenue from hundreds of premium seats and other money brought in by the facilities.
OSU Athletic Director Scott Barnes admits the project comes at a time when the department has a $35 million dollar deficit because of COVID. Earlier this year, 23 full-time positions were cut.
"The revenues produced from this project will not only pay for the renovation - the addition of the west side - but it will also assist mightily in managing the COVID debt that we've accrued," Barnes said. "This project allows us to stabilize revenues and grow revenues in the future. This is an opportunity to rebuild. Also, the 23-plus FTE (full-time employees) that have gone away, this project - because of revenue streams - allows us to create stability in our finances and start to grow back our operations."
Construction starts right after the 2021 football season and will be finished by summer 2023. The team will play at Reser during all the work.