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              esno Bee
15$
Construction Next Month
FINAL
EDITION
Go-Ahead For FSU Stadium
By bob McCarthy
Bee Sports Writer
After years of planning and
months of redesigning, Fresno State
University's 30,000-seat campus football-soccer stadium is about to become reality.
Leon Peters, co-chairman of the
'Stadium Steering Committee, made
that announcement Thursday amid a
chorus of cheers during a press conference at the Smuggler's Inn.
The committee voted to accept the
low bid, submitted by Robert G.
Fisher Co. of Fresno, for construction
of the stadium on a 60-acre site south
of Barstow Avenue, between Cedar
and Millbrook Avenues, and adjacent
to Beiden Field, FSU's campus baseball park.
FSU President Dr. Norman Baxter, calling it "a great day" for Fresno and the university, said construction should start next month and the
contractor has 540 days, or 18
months, for completion by late 1980.
Baxter said he is "hopeful" the
stadium will be completed in time for
the Pacific Coast Athletic Association-Mid-American Conference bowl
game, which received NCAA sanction
last week and is tentatively scheduled for the second Saturday in December, 1980.
The Fisher bid, one of six submitted by contractors, totaled $6,234,000.
That figure included the base bid,
$5,482,000 for a 20,000-seat stadium;
alternate bid No. 1, $512,000 for an
additional 10,000 seats to raise capacity to 30,000, and alternate bid No. 2,
$240,000 for end zone restrooms and
concession stands.
No locker room facility was included in the bid.
The $6.2 million bid contrasted
sharply with one made by the same
company last September, when the
Fisher figure was $10.3 million for a
30,000-seat stadium, complete with an
adjacent lockerroom. The first bid
exceeded the estimate of the project
architect, Robert Stevens Associates,
by $3 million.
After that stunning setback, the
Stadium Steering Committee directed
Stevens to redesign the stadium in an
effort to reduce costs. The results, as
revealed Thursday, were gratifying.,
Peters said the total cost will be
$7,197,843, which includes an additional $873,843 in project costs and an
estimated $90,000 for sewer connection fees. Included in those project
See Stadium, Page C1
:. jx. j^i m' !j).;aw.'j..: jii ; mm ■ ■ ■'' 'Wft^-^i W'A'WL S;.yffji'-v'-'i-g' ih»h;mjm» •■•'^*y* >n."
Stadium Site From Above
The dotted lines indicate the location of the $7,2
million, 30,000-seat Fresno State University football-
soccer stadium, which will be built on 40 acres just
Bee Aerial Photo by Richard J. Darby
to the west of Beiden Field. The facility will be
bounded by Barstow Avenue on the north and San
Jose Avenue on the south, and will be surrounded by
turfed parking areas. Construction is expected to
begin next month with completion due in 18 months.
for
"Of
cS"we toSHo build a complete
facility if funds become available.
FSU Athletic Director Gene Bourdet said he has juggled the Bulldogs
F Peters reported his committ      "The ^timf^^fofth7bdld
through a fund drive which inclu that we can get he she 1 of the buiia
major donations and a seat-opt ing, which would include just tne
plan plus the proceeds from the J  basic showers.^nd Jo^s,
of Ratcliffe Stadium to the St  around $490,000,    he ^oteo.
Center Community College Disti
has accumulated $7,030,000 tow
the project.
"We're very, very close to the
bid we received," he said. "So c
that the committee met this al
noon and elected to award the
tract with the confidence that
small amount still needed will
raised by June 1."
Peters, who served as committee
chairman along with Lewis Eaton
and Russell Giffen, praised the efforts of those who spearheaded the
fund-raising drive and had a special
accolade for Stevens.
"I want to commend Bob Stevens," said Peters. "The (stadium)
quality was not reduced; in many
$6 367 000 for the base plan and the
two alternatives. Others bids were
received from Nielsen and Nichols of
Sacramento, $6 760,000; ^obbeten    /,
Construction of Sacramento, $^st>9,-   f3
790' Harris Construction Co. of Fres-   /
no,'$6,970,000 and; Donald M. Drake jo
of Portland, Ore., $7,650,000. } ;
The bids will be taken under ad-4,fl
visement by the California Stat/ o
det said he nasjuggiw uic ^ -a^ isement Dy tne \a"10™* fT?
1980 home schedule to Pg™* the University and Colleges Board i  *
school to play in the new facility as Tn|gteeSf which has 60 days to a  4
soon as it becomes available. However, Baxter said he expects^ /
"We've rearranged our schedule contract to be awarded in 30 day^ £
*
3 _
nccuw oflli^nTfin. lor tne earth
berm portions of the stadium. That
cost had been estimated at $1 million
in the original plans.
"We also eliminated two light
towers and adjusted the locations of
the others, which also saved a lot of
money," he noted. "The lights will be
.Aiv't/M
•we stf* $
pair in the $750 category a^«
in the $500 sections." Sa*^
seats would bring an ad<%^j
000 to the fund drive.
The seat-option sec
stadium's west side, in
tion between the 18-ya;
See St
's&»m