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SEPTEMBER 2017 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \

77

WORDS:

Eric Peterson

A

fter 48 years, Colorado State

University’s football team

is coming home. The Rams

played for the last time at

off-campus Hughes Stadium

in late 2016, after 262 games,

not to mention a few gigs by the Rolling

Stones, Bob Dylan and other rock legends.

It can be hard to turn the page, but the

shiny, new Colorado State Stadium is un-

deniably slick. The $220 million, 41,000-

seat venue came in on schedule easily in

time for the first kickoff Aug. 26.

Bringing the stadium back to campus

isn’t about football alone, says CSU Athlet-

ic Director Joe Parker.

“Playing football on campus provides

the largest engagement opportunity for

the university six times each year,” he says.

“Alumni who come to football games will

be back on campus, walking in the same

places they walked as students and show-

ing their families this beautiful campus.

Something that is very exciting is to see

people experience the stadium for the

first time in person, and to see that some-

thing very special has been built here.”

Like football, the project was ultimately

based on teamwork.

“We have had a really strong team in

place from the start with our design part-

ner Populous, our construction partner

Mortenson and our owner’s representa-

tion with ICON Venue Group, and then

all the internal resources on campus,” says

Parker. “We did a lot of planning and kept

a lot of strong communication through-

out the process of construction, so it has

been, in my estimation, a nearly flawless

execution of a very complex plan.”

Gene Hodge, vice president of project

development for Mortenson’s Denver Op-

erating Group, seconds that notion.

“I think everybody works pretty well

together,” Hodge says of the team, noting

that Populous and Mortenson have col-

Colorado State Stadium: Rams Charge Back to Campus

Lane Brugman