|
In 1978, Sam Jankovich knew something had to be done about
the football stadium.
With just 27,600 seats, Martin Stadium was much smaller than its
counterparts in the Pacific-10 Conference. Because of a Pac-10 rule
requiring guarantees of $25,000 to visiting teams, the Cougars had
to truck up to Spokane to play certain opponents, namely USC, UCLA,
and Washington, at the larger Joe Albi Stadium.
"If you could not bring in USC, UCLA, and Washington to Pullman,
you could not bring the biggest attractions to where you get the
biggest crowds," said WSU's former athletic director this spring
when he stopped by Bohler Athletic Complex for a visit and the
opportunity to mull over the latest stadium renovation.
Back in the late '70s, Jankovich reasoned that with their games
in Pullman, the Cougars could be much more competitive.
The solution in his eyes was simple-expand the stadium to a
capacity larger than Joe Albi's. It would address the issues of
competitiveness and revenue and potentially avoid the problem of
WSU losing a place in the Pac-10 if it didn't keep up with rest of
the group.
"If you're not competitive, then you are not going to raise
money, and you are not going to sell tickets," said Jankovich.
"That, in turn, would affect the conference affiliation."
So he decided to push to expand the stadium. "I felt we had no
other choice," he said.
Three decades later, Jim Sterk, WSU's current director of
athletics, knows the feeling. That's why he pushed for the first
part of a renovation, which includes new bathrooms and improved
concession area that game-goers will see this season. And it's why
he's seeking $42 million more for adding more seats and premium
seating in Phase III, which he hopes will be underway in 2009.
For Sterk, it's a matter of ensuring that WSU's Pac-10 standing
stays secure.
The Pac-10 Conference was born out of the Pacific Coast
Conference, an entity formed by four west coast schools in 1916 and
joined by Washington State the following year. In 1959, the
organization was replaced by the Athletic Association of Western
Universities, later named Pacific-8. That became the Pac-10 in 1978
when the University of Arizona and Arizona State joined the
group.
It's a group of schools for whom football is an all-important
tool for recruiting new students, connecting with alumni and
donors, and putting their campuses on televisions in the homes of
millions around the country.
The competitiveness Jankovich was seeking in this elite
conference became evident with eight trips to bowl games by the
program since the stadium expansion.
 Artist's rendering. Courtesy MMEC Architects/HOK Architect
But while the Cougars were competitive with their Pac-10
counterparts, the venue they played in was not. When Sterk arrived
at WSU in 2000, around the same time as President V. Lane Rawlins,
he and the president noted that, in comparison the rest of the
conference competitors, Martin Stadium was not up to Pac-10
standards. Portions of it were contained by chain link fence, and
through the fence you could see portable toilets, which were
necessary to bring the number of restrooms up to a sufficient
level.
Page
1
2
Continued
|
.jpg)
