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Bulldogs stadium gets serious makeover
By Kristen Poland
Staff Writer
The familiar castle-like façade that distinguishes The Citadel facilities from other area buildings is eclipsed now by the towering construction that has engulfed several blocks on Hagood Street.
The Citadel’s Johnson Hagood Stadium is receiving a $40 million makeover that will provide the school with a revenue-generating asset. And those revenues will provide athletic scholarships.
In addition, the new facility will serve as a headquarters for the S.C. National Guard and become an emergency operations center for the Charleston area during natural disasters and other crises.
The finished facility will include new grandstands with premier seating sections, an enhanced press tower with skyboxes featuring two levels of executive suites, luxury club-level seating that will replace existing seating and a club lounge with catering capabilities and two large outdoor club-level terraces with views of the football field, the Ashley River and the city of Charleston.
The outdoor terraces will be available during games to club-level ticket holders, but more important, the spacious terraces are expected to be a new venue available for rental for receptions, cocktail parties and other events.
“This facility will introduce a whole new level of sophistication for The Citadel,” said John P. McAleer, director of development for the stadium campaign.
An interesting dynamic of the design is that all the new suites will include outdoor seating.
Original plans had the suites entirely indoors, but according to McAleer, 100% of potential investors nixed the indoor seating, saying they wanted to experience the action and excitement of the football game that comes with sitting outside. Instead, the 22 new suites will each feature 12 outdoor seats and four inside seats.
While the project won’t be completed until the kickoff of the Bulldogs’ 2008 season, a massive new scoreboard has already been installed in the stadium and is the largest scoreboard in South Carolina. The scoreboard is the width of the field’s playing surface and features a huge video board that can display replays, live action and other video technology.
The scoreboard also features a state-of-the-art sound system.
In addition to its capacity as a sports arena, the new stadium facility will house the S.C. National Guard Readiness Facility, which will serve as home to the 218th Infantry Brigade and also as a staging area for disaster relief and recovery efforts in the case of an emergency or disaster. The Citadel and the S.C. National Guard will share classrooms and conference rooms within the facility.
This new facility marks a return to downtown Charleston for the state’s National Guard. The Armory used to be where The Citadel’s Holliday Alumni Center now sits, across Hagood Street from the stadium. This project was completed in September 2000.
“Since (2000), the National Guard hasn’t had a presence on the (Charleston) peninsula,” McAleer said. “This has been a very successful partnership thus far. The National Guard has been very good to work with.”
Because of the facility’s dual purpose as a disaster staging area, the structural design is extremely solid and sturdy, built to withstand most natural disasters.
“In the event of an earthquake or hurricane, this facility will be one of the best places in Charleston to be,” McAleer said.
Of the $40 million total project cost, $8 million was donated by private sources. The Citadel received $11 million in federal funds and $2.5 million in state funds for the National Guard Readiness Center.
In addition, another $2.5 million is pending from other government sources. After the remaining $16 million is paid off, suite sales and rentals are expected to generate about $1 million annually, which will be used to sustain The Citadel’s athletic program and fund athletic scholarships.
In light of these new scholarship funds, the school will be able to redirect funds that had previously been used for athletic scholarships to other needs.
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