Arkansas trustees to vote on stadium expansion

University of Arkansas trustees will vote Thursday on whether to take on an estimated $160 million project would add a proposed 4,800 seats to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, which currently seats 72,00.

Jaime Adame of Arkansasonline.com reports it will come down to a 10-person vote:

The 10-person UA System board is to consider the stadium resolution — the only action item on its agenda — on the second day of a two-day retreat at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton.

“This project is about the fans of Razorback football,” UA System President Don Bobbitt wrote in a letter to trustees recommending project approval. “The guiding force behind the project design and scope is the development of seating types and amenities that fans are asking for, as well as updating areas of the stadium that have not been touched since the last major stadium project more than 15 years ago.”

The trustees’ vote centers around a $120 million bond. UA’s athletics department has said it will cover $10 million in design and pre-construction work. The Razorback Foundation, described by Adame as “a public fundraising organization that supports UA athletics,” is also set to contribute $10 million.

The athletics department began heavily promoting the project at the conclusion of Arkansas’ spring football, launching a website in late April with renderings of the renovated and expanded stadium.

“This project is about the fans of Razorback football,” UA System President Don Bobbitt wrote in a letter recommending project approval. “The guiding force behind the project design and scope is the development of seating types and amenities that fans are asking for, as well as updating areas of the stadium that have not been touched since the last major stadium project more than 15 years ago.”

Former Sen. David Pryor, a UA trustee, was a vocal opponent when speaking to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

“I assume I am, right now, a minority of one, but I feel very strongly that now is not the time to go forward with the stadium project,” Pryor said.

The project would include suites and box seats as well as a designated area for standing room only admission: