Baylor Releases Drawings For Proposed New Football Stadium
WACO (CBSDFW.COM) - The Baylor Bears may be moving their football team back to their campus for the first time since the Great Depression.
The Waco-based university released an artist's rendering of a proposed on-campus football stadium Saturday as part of the school's homecoming festivities.
The drawing shows the stadium on land adjacent to Interstate 35 along the banks of the Brazos River that was recently acquired by the university.
In a statement, Baylor Athletic Director Ian McCaw called the plans an 'extraordinary branding opportunity' to have the stadium located across the river from the school and along the highway.
Head Football Coach Art Briles has repeatedly stated his desire for a newer facility on campus. "When you're the only university in the state of Texas that does not have an on-campus stadium, that's a need," he was quoted in a statement on the school's athletics page.
Locally, SMU has played in the on-campus Gerald J. Ford Stadium since 2000. TCU's Amon Carter Stadium is in the middle of a multi-million dollar renovation, and the UNT Mean Green opened Apogee Stadium in September.
The rendering comes from the sports architecture firm Populous, who built Houston's Minute Maid Park and Reliant Stadium.
The Baylor Board of Regents has not officially approved building the new stadium yet, so no construction cost numbers are available.
Baylor has played their home football games at Floyd Casey Stadium, roughly 3 miles from campus, since 1950, and haven't played at an on-campus stadium since 1935.
