CONWAY, SC (WBTW)- The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education has twice rejected Coastal Carolina University’s request to expand its football stadium.
CCU plans to move up to the Sun Belt Conference. Athletic Director Matt Hogue says they’re required to have a stadium that seats at least 15,000 people by the 2017 football season to meet NCAA standards.
Their original plan to grow the stadium cost about $38 million. Hogue says they lowered the cost to $30 million, but it was still turned down.
“There’s never been a project that I’m aware of where we’ve had any project go to the commission that’s been turned down much less go through the level of scrutiny that this one has,” said Hogue.
In a statement, the commission said the university failed to provide convincing cost and revenue projections. Even more concerning was the lack of private contributions.
“We feel like we’re at a pretty good number now, clearly that hasn’t been satisfactory,” stated Hogue.
So it’s back to the playbook.
“I don’t think you sit back and shed tears, you start working on new options,” he said.
According to Hogue, they’ve already had to take out several aesthetic features and the end zone boardwalk that was in the original plan.
The university has 15 months to finish the project. If they don’t beat the buzzer, they won’t be in compliance with NCAA regulations. However, Hogue says he’s not worried.
“We’re going to have enough seats in 2017, you can mark that down,” he stated.
A group called Coastal Fans created a change.org petition Wednesday supporting the stadium’s expansion. It already has over 1,500 signatures.
“I think you see how much they care and how much they want ot see this happen. it’s very encouraging to see it,” said Hogue.
News 13 reached out the the Commission on Higher Education for an interview, but they didn’t have time to talk. Construction on the new stadium is scheduled to start this Decmeber. Hogue says he doesn’t know when their next meeting with the commission will be.
