Renovations delayed for Wally Wade
Duke waiting on permit from city of Durham
By: Caroline McGeough
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
Last update: 4/18/08 at 7:04 AM EST
Last update: 4/18/08 at 7:04 AM EST
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The project's first phase-approved in January by the Board of Trustees and scheduled to be already underway-will overhaul the restrooms and concession stands at the stadium, said Interim Director of Athletics Chris Kennedy.
"We had hoped to get it done before the football season, but that isn't going to happen," said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. "It's a temporary glitch-we'll get it fixed."
Trask said the project has not yet been approved by the city because it fails to meet the sidewalk conditions required for a permit from the Durham City-County Inspections Department.
"When we sent the plans in, the city required us-as part of the project-to put a sidewalk down Frank Bassett Drive, which meant that we would have to cut down all the trees on one side or the other," he said. "And I don't want to do that."
The University hopes to circumvent the requirement by submitting an overall pedestrian circulation plan to the Durham City-County Planning Department so that the department can no longer attach sidewalk requirements to individual projects, Trask said.
Anne Kramer, a representative of the Planning Department reviewing the project, said the sidewalk requirement is the only measure blocking the construction's first phase of progress.
But the stadium's next renovations are heavily dependent on Athletic Department fundraising, which will be difficult if the nationwide financial downturn continues and Duke Football sees no improvement, Kennedy said.
He added that later phases of construction, which will target the President's Box and the scoreboard, are expected to be completed within the next five to eight years.
The Wallace Wade renovations are a top priority for the Athletic Department this year and aim to bring the stadium's original facilities up to modern standards, Kennedy said.
"Concessions and restrooms, you don't think of those as an important part of football, but they're a central part of that game-day experience," he said. "A lot of things are right about [the stadium]. There are just some cosmetic and aesthetic things that need to be fixed."
Kennedy added that the revamped facilities promise to attract more fans to Duke Football games.
The renovations could also impress the team's new head coach David Cutcliffe, whom Kennedy said remarked on one of his first visits to the stadium that its food stations looked like roadside fruit stands.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Locomotive Breath
posted 4/18/08 @ 8:36 AM EST
"Anne Kramer, a representative of the Planning Department reviewing the project, said the sidewalk requirement is the only measure blocking the construction's first phase of progress. (Continued…)
poor management
posted 4/18/08 @ 12:26 PM EST
This is just poor management. The University Architect should have known these requirements and insured they were met in the initial presentation to Durham. (Continued…)
Jormungand
posted 4/18/08 @ 12:35 PM EST
In the meantime, how about we use some of that money we have to build something useful...like devise a more convenient parking setup than Blue Zone.
Duke CE Alum
posted 4/18/08 @ 10:06 PM EST
The "pedestrian plan" that is refered to is a joke, and the phrase "The University hopes to circumvent the requirement" is absolutely right, emphasis on circumvent. (Continued…)
KCR
posted 4/19/08 @ 9:44 PM EST
Duke CE Alum, you are mistaken. The law provides for execptions, and explicitly cites "significant trees" as a circumstance that would allow a developer to be exempted from having to put in a sidewalk. (Continued…)
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