University of Virginia Library

Committee Questions
Scott Stadium Future

By JEFF DICKERSON

NEW HOME?—

The Future Of Scott Stadium Is Subject Of University Planning Committee Report

The University's
Planning Department, in an
unreleased draft report, has
considered a study which may
determine the future of
forty-year old Scott Stadium.

In light of this study, the
Athletic Department
considered the UVA-VPI game
a test to see if Scott Stadium
can be retained as the
Cavaliers' football home.

No definite conclusions
were reached in weighing the
relative merits of constructing
a new 40,000 seat football
stadium complex in one of
three locations against those of
enlarging Scott Stadium.

Based on the Planning
Department's preliminary
findings, Athletic Department
officials at present favor
overhauling Scott Stadium.
Cost of access roads alone to
the proposed building sites are
expensive.

The University has asked
architectural and engineering
experts to prepare schematic
drawings to detail possible
alterations for Scott Stadium
which would expand its major
short comings.

State Police took aerial
photographs during the
UVA-VPI game to determine if
the University could provide
enough parking spaces for
35,000 people, and to test
access roads to major highways
in the area.

According to the report,
three sites have been
designated for the proposed
stadium. These sites include: 1)
the Duke tract adjacent to
route 29-250 bypass,2) the
"Birdwood" property which
has been proposed to be the
location for some seven
residential colleges, and 3) the
State division of Forestry and
Commission for the visually
handicapped near the
intersection of routes 29 and
64.

"Serious problems may arise
if the University decides to
build on any of these
locations," the report said.

Problems such as those of
traffic and parking congestion,
construction costs, and
environmental impact have
interfered with plans to build a
new stadium.

However, the report states
that the University, with rises
in enrollment, will need a
stadium with a capacity of
35-40,000 if it is to finance its
athletic programs.

Athletic Director Eugene F.
Corrigan believes that the
University does not have any
choice but to improve and
expand its present facilities.
"At the moment we are not in
a good position for any
concrete decisions," Mr.
Corrigan said.

There is no question in the
minds of Athletic Department
officials that a new or
renovated stadium is essential.
With an anticipated rise in
visiting team guarantees, and
projected rises in student
enrollment of 16-18,000 by
1980, it will need more and
improved seats.

The potential for revenue
that has been generated and
the continued advance of the
football program has reached
its maximum for the size of
Scott Stadium as it stands
today, the report said.