Florida AD Scott Stricklin talks The Swamp renovation project, explains why capacity will be reduced

Florida is looking at taking on a massive stadium renovation project, and that means The Swamp will see a reduction in capacity.

UF athletic director Scott Stricklin recently appeared on the Gator Nation Football Podcast and one of the lead topics was the status of The Swamp.

The Florida AD explained that once renovation starts, they will be dealing with new Americans with Disabilities Act codes that will force a reduction in capacity to make accommodations. Stricklin warned the stadium would eventually “fall into disrepair” if left untouched to keep The Swamp at its current seating capacity of 88,548.

We have like 6 or 7 goals for the renovation of The Swamp, which is 95 years old this year, the original part of that,” Stricklin said. “So people ask, ‘Why do we need to do anything?’ There’s about $500 million in deferred maintenance alone in this stadium. So if you want to have that go to a safe environment that makes us all proud, we need to invest in it. And that’s all we’re doing; we’re re-investing in something that I think every Gator fan really holds dear. One of our stated goals is to minimize the impact of seat count loss.

“And the minute we start addressing deferred maintenance, we’re going to trigger federal code related to the Americans with Disabilities Act and that right there reduces the seat capacity by thousands. Adding ADA seats, widening aisles—and so that’s if we add no chair backs anywhere in the stadium. That’s just a reality that we’re dealing with. That’s not something I dreamed up. We can sit there and just not touch it and let it fall into disrepair or we can finally address it and try to do something in a thoughtful manner that makes The Swamp stay The Swamp and try to minimize that impact as much as possible.

Fans have long been upset at the suggestion of reduced capacity in The Swamp post-renovation. In his podcast interview, Stricklin said the renovations won’t take away from The Swamp experience.

I can tell you that from a fan standpoint you’re going to have the same experience in the bowl, the stadium is going to be louder, the concourses are going to be wider, they’ll have more and better concessions, more and better restrooms, the outside’s going to look a lot more unified, the video boards will be bigger, they’ll be wider, you’ll have more square footage, you’ll have more ribbon boards, you’ll have better audio and sound,” Stricklin said. “Everything that touches a fan they’ll be able to enjoy. There will be a new structure built to accommodate some of the seat loss that the ADA code will impact.

“But it’s going to be the most ambitious project in the history of college athletics. And I think it’s going to be a model — once we accomplish it — that all these schools that have 100-year-old stadiums are going to come look at and try to figure out how we did it, because I think it’s going to be really impactful and it’s something Gators are going to feel really good about for a long time.

For now, Gator fans are focused on the upcoming football season. The home slate features LIU (Aug. 30), USF (Sept. 6), Texas (Oct. 4), Mississippi State (Oct. 18), Tennessee (Nov. 22) and Florida State (Nov. 29).

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.