Patrick Brennan

pbrennan@enquirer.com

Futbol Club Cincinnati will pay more than $2 million to reconfigure the lower bowl of the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, and the enhancements could be a big help to the club's push for inclusion in Major League Soccer expansion.

The work will result in a relative transformation of Nippert's lower bowl as UC fans have come to know it, particularly in the south end zone, but UC Athletic Director Mike Bohn said the new-look Nippert will enhance player safety and provide some new seating options for UC home football games.

West Chester-based Sunesis Construction Co. was awarded the construction contract in October and will undertake Nippert's lower-bowl reconfiguration, according to documents obtained by The Enquirer through an Oct. 3 public records request. Bohn confirmed FC Cincinnati will pay for the reconfiguration at an approximate price tag of $2,008,944.

Staging and work could begin at Nippert as early as next week and is scheduled to be completed around late March or early April, Bohn said. FC Cincinnati will begin its 2017 season around that time.

The upcoming renovation calls for expanding the field to 115 yards long and 75 yards wide. Nippert's soccer field currently is 110 yards long and 70 yards wide. A bigger field would bring Nippert Stadium up to MLS playing regulations and allow UC to potentially host popular U.S. national team qualifying matches and exhibition games for some of the world's top soccer clubs.

Bohn also said the soccer club would be responsible for putting Nippert's lower bowl back to its original configuration should it leave the facility for any reason. FC Cincinnati is still in the initial, three-year term of a deal that could see it play home matches at Nippert for up to 15 years.

The expanded space in the south end zone will provide safer playing conditions for athletes, Bohn said. As far as fans are concerned, risers, on-field suites and other options are being considered for the increase in space.

"We had a challenge associated with space of the football footprint. It's in both corners on the south end, so we wanted to expand some room there for the safety of our players, and the ability for games to be conducted for football," Bohn told The Enquirer Wednesday. "Obviously, that allows us to expand the footprint for soccer at the same time. We'll carve out a niche there and we'll work with numerous partners to try to figure out, maybe, some special game experience opportunities there for our fans.

"We're early in the process of trying to communicate with out impacted season ticket holders and help them understand the options and the selection process that we'll go through. Some of those seats are obviously eliminated. And that will be critical to us, so we obviously want our fans to know that we're concerned about them."

Bohn said about 1,200 seats would be subtracted from Nippert's current capacity, although he noted some of those are in the first row of the lower bowl and had limited visibility during football games.

Updated renderings of Nippert's reconfigured south end zone corners weren't immediately provided to The Enquirer.

"The new seats are really going to be outstanding, right on the edge of that wall and above," Bohn said. "That's our intent – to ensure that we create a great fan experience."

From FC Cincinnati's perspective, work on the stadium reconfiguration appears to be arriving at an opportune moment.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber will make his highly-anticipated Cincinnati visit Tuesday. He'll tour Nippert and the city's urban core, as well as meet with local influencers including FC Cincinnati majority owner Carl Lindner III and other members of the club's ownership group.

Later Tuesday, Garber will engage with FC Cincinnati and MLS supporters at Woodward Theater in Over-the-Rhine (1104 Main St.) for a 4 p.m., town hall-style meeting emceed by ESPN soccer commentator and former U.S. national team player Taylor Twellman.

FC Cincinnati has planned numerous other promotional events for Garber's visit.

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