Wren Baker outlines facility upgrade plans focused on premium seating
West Virginia Director of Athletics Wren Baker discussed his plans to upgrade athletic facilities on campus with increased premium seating, specifically at Milan Puskar Stadium and the WVU Coliseum, in a press conference on Friday.
Baker said the University completed an evaluation of its athletic facilities with the help of SLAM Architects.
“We have had a fairly thorough assessment of all of our facilities, and SLAM Architects helped us with that,” Baker said. “It’s a great firm. I worked with them before I was here, but they’ve worked with the university on several projects over the years, and they’ve done a very thorough assessment of everything from parking to egress and ingress. They’ve set and interviewed every head coach we have to see what those facility needs are.”
The first targeted upgrade is the WVU Coliseum. Baker said the Athletic Department is exploring options to add premium seating without a significant financial charge.
“Our focus right now is in the Coliseum,” he said. “Is there a way to create some premium that’s not super costly, and we’re looking at that, exploring that.”
Baker looks to improve Milan Puskar Stadium, specifically adding a wider variety of upgraded seating options.
“When it comes to the [Milan Puskar], that’s a more costly endeavor than I’ve talked about previously,” Baker said. “We have to create more premium, club, lodge, ledge, every kind of seating opportunity there is.”
WVU holds the lowest percentage of premium seating in the Big 12 Conference. Baker said the Athletic Department is considering ways to improve seating.
“We have, by percentage of our capacity, the lowest percentage of premium in the Big 12, and one of the lowest in the country,” he said. “Where that becomes a problem is those seats sell for higher, they require a higher donation, and so really it starts to become a self-fulfilling prophecy where you’re always a have-not because you don’t have those levers to leverage people to give more money and donate more money.”
Baker explained that discussions surrounding the stadium upgrades have progressed, with the goal of having a plan by the end of the year.
“We’ve got several meetings coming up over the next couple of months,” Baker said. “Hopefully, maybe by the end of the year or shortly after the new year, we’ll unveil a plan for the stadium.”
A final proposal has not been made public. Baker emphasized the importance of upgraded facilities leading to better performance.
“I think we need a fairly significant investment in the infrastructure of our stadium if we want to continue to thrive and compete,” he said.
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