West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, is ready to break ground on a $38.8 million football stadium.
The Amarillo Pioneer reports that university officials have scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony Friday on the Canyon campus. The Texas A&M System Board of Regents approved construction plans last month.
The new venue will replace the existing Kimbrough Memorial Stadium, which will be transferred to the Canyon Independent School District.
The university says the new stadium will be constructed on a north-south axis. The west side will have a multistory building that houses concourse-level suites, elevated club seating areas and a modern press box.
From a grade-level entry to the stadium, the seating bowl will split into an upper level of pre-engineered metal grandstands and a lower level of cast-in-place concrete surrounding a below-grade artificial turf playing field.
The facility is being built with 8,500 stadium seats and will have a maximum capacity of 12,000. Natural grass berms on the north and south ends of the stadium will provide space for additional general admission seating.
The stadium will have the potential to be expanded to up to 14,000 permanent seats. A new video scoreboard is planned for the north end zone, and a ribbon board system will be displayed along the front of the east and west upper decks.
The majority of funding for the stadium will come from a student fee increase authorized in a 2016 vote by students.
Officials are hopeful that construction of the stadium will be completed in time for the 2019 football season.
