U of L announces $55 million PJCS expansion

The University of Louisville formally announced Friday that it will begin a $55 million expansion of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium at the north end zone, adding 10,000 chairback seats to create a capacity of 65,000.

Athletic director Tom Jurich announced that project will begin as soon as possible, and fundraising is already under way. Once ground is broken, it would take about 18 months to complete. He said in a "perfect world, we'd like to open in two years," though he added there is no set deadline for completion.

U of L will play a high-profile home opener against Notre Dame in 2019, but Jurich said he hopes to have the stadium finished well before that season. The football team will continue playing in the stadium during construction just as it did during its last expansion in 2010.

The project also includes a major renovation and expansion of the adjacent Howard Schnellenberger team complex. Towers will extend up on both ends of that building and flank the multideck seating structure, which will be shaped at the top with a sharp triangular look. New video scoreboards will be attached to the tops of both towers.The expansion will include 1,000 club seats, 65 premium loge-level boxes and 10 field-level suites - perhaps the most posh addition of the whole project. The club seats will have access to a VIP gathering area that will provide viewing access to the field. The middle of the field level will feature a special entrance for U of L's team that will be surrounded by fans.

Jurich and his son Mark, U of L's senior associate AD for development who has overseen much of the planning, said Louisville's designs borrow some ideas from Dallas' AT&T Stadium and Seattle's CenturyLink Field. The triangular shape of the seating structure also is meant to look similar to the one at U of L's Lynn soccer stadium that's across the street from PJCS.

Mark Jurich said he thinks the design complements the existing look of the football stadium while providing a "wow factor" for fans and players.

"When you walk into the stadium, we want you to be blown away," he said.

Tom Jurich said stadium capacity of 66,000-67,000 "is the perfect size for us." According to the U of L media guide, the Cardinals' average attendance was 52,972 for six home games last year. The season-opening win over Miami - the Cards' inaugural game in the ACC - drew a stadium-record crowd of 55,428, and a home loss later in the season to Florida State placed second all time with 55,414 fans.

U of L's victory over Kentucky drew a sellout crowd of 55,118 - No. 8 all-time. Last year's season low was 50,179 for a win over Murray State. U of L home attendance has exceeded 55,000 nine times.

Once completed, U of L's stadium will have about 4,000 more seats than UK's Commonwealth Stadium, which has reduced its capacity to about 61,000 in its own ongoing, nearly completed renovation. Jurich said none of the plans for Louisville's expansion were based on an arms race of any sort with other programs and the design was meant to position PJCS to need no more expansions anytime in the distant future.

The expansion and renovation of the Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex figures to have a major impact on the future day-to-day operations of the team, and coach Bobby Petrino said he expects the facility upgrade to aid the Cardinals in recruiting. The team's weight and conditioning room will double in size to a total of 20,000 square feet. Other improvements will include the construction of a spacious player's lounge and the expansive, theater-style meeting areas, as well as updates to the coaches' offices and the team locker room.

Money to pay for the project will be raised through sponsorships, private donations, ticket sales and other possible sources. Jurich said it's too soon to know if U of L will seek any financing through government bonding.

Jurich said U of L's iconic Johnny Unitas statue, which currently sits right in the center of the proposed construction zone, will be moved to a high-profile position where it can be viewed by more fans. Architects are brainstorming to think up the "very best place."

Tom Jurich said the stadium project will not include a renovation of U of L's existing chairback seats, which have faded from red to a pinkish hue over the years.

Mark Jurich said there are no immediate plans to add any more parking in the area surrounding the stadium.