CREJ

/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / SEPTEMBER 2017

TOP

A detail shot of the green and gold

Rams seats

BOTTOM

Locker room with lighted Rams logo

Courtesy Tim O’Hara

/ Colorado State Stadium: Rams Charge Back to Campus /

Stadium in 2012, Chase and this team started working on the stadiumdesign in

2013. He says the goal was “making this fit in with the rest of campus,” taking

cues from “vernacular and vocabulary” of the prevailing mid-century mod-

ern architecture and using similar building materials. “Colorado sandstone is

prominent on campus so we used a lot of it,” he says. “We really looked at the

campus buildings.”

He highlights another notable feature in a craft-beer bar, the New Belgium

Porch on the north end of the stadium. “The hope is to have it open on non-

game days,” says Chase. “The weather’s beautiful, they have mountain views,

there are great beers.”

Chase labels it as one of the smoothest projects of his career.

“There are always budget challenges, but with the collaborative process

working with CSU and ICON and Mortenson, and the back and forth, we were

able to get them what they wanted,” he says.

CSU's Parker agrees, and loves the finished product.

“We have, in many ways, built the best stadium in America, for this universi-

ty, for our fans, for our football program, and for everybody who will enter and

experience this facility on a year-round basis,” he says.

ICON Venue Group

Dan Loosbrock, senior director for ICON Ven-

ue Group in Greenwood Village, says Colorado

State Stadium was different than most of the

company’s venue projects. “First of all, it’s one of

the rare new college facilities,” says Loosbrock.

“Universities typically try to renovate or update

their facilities. It’s not very often that there’s a

new building.”

He highlights the outdoor coach’s terrace,

the New Belgium Porch and the Orthopaedic &

Spine Center of the Rockies Field Club. Of the

last of the three, Loosbrock says, “With roll-up garage doors, it’s an

indoor/outdoor space right on the 50-yard line, right at field level.”

The front of the Porch bar is just 7 yards from the back of the end

zone, he adds. “You’re pretty close,” he laughs.

“It takes a special relationship with local partners,” he says of suc-

cessful stadium projects. With Populous and Mortenson, the entire

team “plays in this sandbox quite often.”

Loosbrock spent nearly a decade with Mortenson before joining

ICON, so he says he has a unique understanding of their stadium

experience.

“When you get this type of group together, everybody has a very

high level of expectations,” says Loosbrock. “We have one of the best

clients I’ve ever worked with [in CSU]. They were very motivated to

make decisions and provide feedback.”

There were no major hiccups during construction. “Even with the

experience this team has, you still expect some bumps along the

way.” He says the smooth process was the only way the team finished

on time with the 20-month schedule.

Big upcoming projects for ICON include the stadium for the Las

Vegas Raiders and the update to Key Arena in Seattle.

“We’ve also been selected by CSU to work on their buildings at the

new National Western Center [in Denver],” says Loosbrock. “That’s a

great partnership with CSU we’ve been able to grow.”

Loosbrock says it’s difficult to watch a horde of rowdy fans come

into a “pristine and new” stadium for the first kickoff. “You take so

much care making sure things are ready for 41,000 people to show

up,” he says. “I have to get over that.”

Dan Loosbrock