Liberty Stadium Expansion Plans

[JMU DJ]

Looks pretty good

Before a packed house inside the Vines Center, Falwell unveiled plans to increase Williams Stadium seating to 19,200 by the opening of the 2010 season, plus plans to add 3,000 seats inside the Vines Center.


....


The first of a three-phase plan calls for the addition of 6,600 seats added to the west side of the stadium, plus a 34,000-square foot press box. The brick and glass encased, Jeffersonian-style four-story tower will house club-level seating for qualified Flames Club donors, 16 permanent luxury suites, a banquet room which can hold up to 500 people, a 1000-seat classroom and a state-of-the-art press area.

.....

Phase One of the plan is part of a multiphase effort to boost the stadium’s seating from its current capacity of 12,000 to 30,000 over the next five years. Phases Two and Three will add a new 4,000-seat middeck for the east side of the stadium and 6,400 seats in a horseshoe-shape area surrounding the end zone in the south end of the stadium.

When all three phases are complete, the stadium will have undergone an estimated $22 million in improvements. The renovated facility will also ready the stadium for the future construction of upper desks on the west and east sides of the stadium that will bring the capacity to 60,000.

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... ewsID=4224

Soooo, when do the Flamers make the jump?

[JMU DJ]

Slide show of the renderings of what the current stadium looks like and the expansions that are planned.
http://www.libertyflames.com/media/1912 ... flames.com

[ASUG8]

I posted on "another site" about this - 60K at Liberty? 3x KBS, 2.5x Wa-Griz for a team that hasn't yet made the playoffs? No offense to the Flame fans, but that's assuming a lot of FCS success and a groundswell in fan support to pull this off.

[JMUpurplehazed]

20,000 - I buy that --- 30,000 60,000 excuse me, I did not hear that correctly...

This makes me wonder what kind of standing room only crowd will be at the JMU game this year in Lynchburg.

Do 60,000 people live in Lynchburg? Does Liberty have a lot of local alum...?

Good luck Flames...wow

[JMU DJ]

Do 60,000 people live in Lynchburg? Does Liberty have a lot of local alum...?

Lynchburg is about 70K, but 3/4 of the town couldn't give a crap about Liberty.

A lot of college football stadiums outnumber the population of the town they are in. Thomas Roads Baptist church claims 24K affiliation... so who knows, 60K is a definite stretch though.

[SuperJon]

60,000 is a loooooooooooooooooooong way away. It was just to show that it was possible to be expanded to that if it were to be needed. The 30,000 mark is where it'll stay for a while.

[CAA Flagship]

There's nothing like being in a suite and not drinking.

[clenz]

Pardon my French, but, why in the flying fucking hell is this needed?

[JMU DJ]

Pardon my French, but, why in the flying fucking hell is this needed?

If I'm not mistaken, Liberty's average attendance exceeds the current capacity of their stadium, so an upgrade is needed. Sounds like they are definitely going to 30k, I don't know if they will be able to fill it, but it will give them the space. As it was mentioned, they way they are upgrading leaves the possibility of 60K, not a definite though.

[dbackjon]

Jerry always wanted to be the baptist notre dame

[SuperJon]

There are likely two games where we could reach 18-19,000 this year. With the stadium only seating 12,000 that puts a lot of people in temporary bleachers and on the hill. Next year, those people will be able to have actual seats.

[dbackjon]

There are likely two games where we could reach 18-19,000 this year. With the stadium only seating 12,000 that puts a lot of people in temporary bleachers and on the hill. Next year, those people will be able to have actual seats.

Congrats on new stadium expansion

[SuperJon]

Also, I posted this on our board (FlameFans) but it's an idea of where the attendance is coming from:

The trend the last few years is for a college student to take on average five years to graduate. Those fifth year seniors came to Liberty with an, "We suck at football" attitude and were cultured in losing in, well, everything. The record of the football team since this class arrived is 26-19.

This year's senior class came into Liberty with an, "Eh, there's a new coach, maybe they won't suck" attitude. The record of the football team since this class arrived is 25-9.

This year's junior class came into Liberty with a, "Wow, they weren't terrible last year. I wonder how they'll be this year" attitude. The record of the football team since this class arrived is 19-4.

This year's sophomore class came into Liberty with a, "Dude, they won the conference last year" attitude. The record of the football team since this class arrived is 10-2.

This year's freshmen class came into Liberty with a, "They should've made the playoffs last year and were a really good team" attitude.

I made a video two years ago on move-in day asking people what they knew about Liberty athletics. Both returning students and freshmen got the questions wrong on a regular basis.

A week and a half ago I made the same exact video and our freshmen knew what color we wore to games, who our rival was, and even our first down chant.

With winning comes a winning culture. You come into your freshman year knowing that the team is good and looking forward to spending your Saturdays going to football games. We are no longer that school where people will go to the game because they have nothing better to do. Our football games are a must-do event on campus now. We have students showing up in the stadium the second the gates open 90 minutes before kickoff.

As this culture spreads, you'll see more and more people going to games whether we have a larger student population or not because a larger percentage of students will be going. Kids are starting to come to Liberty who were Liberty fans growing up. Granted, a lot are still fans of other teams, but we're starting to see the first wave of home grown Liberty fans make their way to the school.

Our Flames Club and marketing revenue was around $275,000 three years ago and is around $775,000 now.

Our Flames Club membership has increased by 400%.

Our season ticket numbers are higher this year than at any other point in our history.

Liberty is in its 38th year as a school. Our school didn't even exist until 1971. We're still a relatively young school in the grand scheme of things. Compare our age to the other FCS schools in Virginia: Hampton (1868), Richmond (1830), William & Mary (1693), JMU (1908), ODU (1930), Norfolk State (1935), and VMI (1839). We're just starting to hit our second generation of kids going to our school.

[BlackFalkin]

WOW 8 FCS TEAMS IN VIRGINIA!? TIGHT!

anyway, congrats to liberty on the expansion.. in 2008 Liberty's attendance was @ 13k so i dont see a reason why they shouldnt expand.

[BlackFalkin]

20,000 - I buy that --- 30,000 60,000 excuse me, I did not hear that correctly...

This makes me wonder what kind of standing room only crowd will be at the JMU game this year in Lynchburg.

Do 60,000 people live in Lynchburg? Does Liberty have a lot of local alum...?

Good luck Flames...wow

And what are you gettin bent outta shape for? JMU has a healthy expansion in the works too, you inglorious bastard ..

[JMUpurplehazed]

BlackFalcon

I'm not bent out of shape. I like SuperJon's explanation of how Liberty students see Liberty athletics...freshmen getting into sports is great and the carryforward affect is big. Liberty is no powerhouse in sports but Liberty usaully has decent teams.

As previusly mentioned, the FCS scene in VA is becoming tight.

[JMU DJ]

And what are you gettin bent outta shape for? JMU has a healthy expansion in the works too, you inglorious bastard ..

Big difference though, our expansion only goes to 25K with the potential to reach 40K. Yeah, Liberty has won the last two Big South Titles... but when was the last time they were in the playoffs? Is two conference titles enough to warrant a stadium expansion of this caliber? I'm not knocking Liberty, I think it's a great move, but this is the logic I see behind those (including me) who are shocked by the extent of the potential upgrade.

Good explanation by SuperJon, I lived through the same thing at JMU from 2002-2006. Got there and the culture was we stunk... that changed.

[SuperJon]

Athletics is obviously pushing the expansion, but there are other things that it allows us to do:

a) We host some of the VA state high school championships. They routinely draw 18-20,000 people. With the expansion we can become more attractive for things like that.

b) Our graduation has already outgrown our stadium, drawing something like 24,000 last year.

c) In the press tower, there will be a 3000 square foot banquet room. This will be the largest banquet room in the city of Lynchburg and will be able to seat 500 at least. The exterior will be glass and will overlook the Blue Ridge Mountains. This will allow the community to come in and use this room for meetings, receptions, dinners, etc.

d) Also in the tower, with that banquet room, it will be set up to where it could be a classroom that could hold up to 1000 students.

e) There will be a deck off the back of the banquet room area that not only opens up to the view of the Blue Ridge, but also sits at the top of our new soccer stadium, offering a higher up view of the soccer games.

[ladyflame]

All 19,200 seats almost in place for Sept 4!!!! The stadium is really coming around!

[TigerStripe]

I like it.

[LUnpretty11]

I like how JMU DJ started this thread.... could that possibly mean that SOME JMU fans actually have a remote respect for LU athletics??????

[ODUsmitty]

I wish LU every success with their expansion plans.

I respect the school and their fans, and have appreciated witnessing our basketball teams square off in norfolk and lynchburg. Their fans travelled well to a bracketbuster game in 2008 to Norfolk, and respresented the school well.

Cannot wait until we start a football series - would definitely be a great atmosphere.

I'd drop Towson today for Liberty. The geographic rivalries are better, the fan support is better, the athletics are better, travel expenses would be less, and it would really piss Andy off.

My 5-year old still talks about the flamethrowers at Vines Center after a made 3-pt shot. Must have a cozy relationship with the local fire marshall, as those flames are pretty intense.....

[Keenan]

I wish LU every success with their expansion plans.

I respect the school and their fans, and have appreciated witnessing our basketball teams square off in norfolk and lynchburg. Their fans travelled well to a bracketbuster game in 2008 to Norfolk, and respresented the school well.

Cannot wait until we start a football series - would definitely be a great atmosphere.

I'd drop Towson today for Liberty. The geographic rivalries are better, the fan support is better, the athletics are better, travel expenses would be less, and it would really piss Andy off.

My 5-year old still talks about the flamethrowers at Vines Center after a made 3-pt shot. Must have a cozy relationship with the local fire marshall, as those flames are pretty intense.....

Would also love to see a series develop with ODU! I think the foundation for success in both schools has already been laid. If the JMU vs. Liberty game last year was any indication, I think the more games we can play in state every year could only make both programs better.

[93henfan]

When are they putting up the Touchdown Jerry mural?

[Keenan]

When are they putting up the Touchdown Jerry mural?

Jerry is remembered at the start of every home game by a large '73 flag that is raised before the team comes out of the tunnel. '73 signifies the year he co-founded the school.