West Texas A&M University students will soon get the chance to decide whether or not they want to fund a proposed $19 million on-campus stadium.

If students vote yes in a referendum March 29 and 30, student athletic fees will increase from $22 per semester credit hour at a maximum of 12 hours per semester to $32 per hour at a maximum of 13 hours per semester.

The change would translate to a net increase of $152 per semester for new full-time students who enroll at the university starting in the fall 2016 semester.

Current students will see no increase, and the fee is set to remain in place until the stadium is paid off in about 25 to 30 years.

The stadium, which is planned to be built on the current site of the track and soccer facility, would be set to open in 2018 and would serve as a replacement for Kimbrough Memorial Stadium where WT currently plays home football games.

The current design calls for a horseshoe seating configuration with 12,000 seats and allows for a future expansion to 22,000 seats if needed.

Construction of the new stadium would require the relocation of the current soccer and track facility at a cost of $2.7 million, according to a WT webpage that outlines the referendum. The total project cost moves to an estimated $26 million when factoring in design, management and other construction fees. Future plans also call for a new parking lot to be built north of the school's Agriculture Science complex that could provide 400 parking spaces on game days.

University President J. Patrick O'Brien said the student-led initative to fund the stadium resulted from talks he had had with the student government.

In October, the Student Senate passed a bill calling for the student body vote. The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents later approved the fees increase contingent on the vote.

Student Body President Edward Akinyemi cited accessibility as a major factor in the push for a new stadium.

Kimbrough, built in 1959, has a steep hill that patrons must climb to get to their seats. Visitors with disabilities have required the assistance of a golf cart to traverse the incline.

"We have a percentage of students that don't go to the game because of the hill," Akinyemi said. "We're trying to make sure that football games are accessible to all students."

Estimates for bringing Kimbrough into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act range from $16 million to $50 million, according to the WT website.

"Kimbrough is an aging stadium and those concrete bleachers that go up the hillside, underneath that is sand, and over the years that sand is washing out," O'Brien said. "If you were talking about keeping Kimbrough for another 40 to 50 years, you would have to go in and do a lot."

The university had previously been in talks with Canyon Independent School District, which also uses the stadium, about possibly splitting the costs of renovations.

O'Brien said he was not interested in the proposal, largely because Canyon ISD uses the facilites more often.

"We are not a 50 percent tenant," said WT Athletic Director Michael McBroom, adding the university only plays about four or five football games and hosts a few practices at the stadium each year.

"When you look at dollars to dollars, it makes much better sense for us to do something on-campus."

Allowing more opportunities for students to attend games, creating a vibrant game-day environment and promoting a connection between students and alumni were among other justifications for the new facility.

"If we fill Kimbrough - 23,000 fans - it is not to be assumed that those 23,000 people will visit campus because Kimbrough is two miles away," O'Brien said. "So you really don't get the reconnection of alumni and friends to the campus."

Both O'Brien and McBroom said it is unclear what will happen to Kimbrough if voters sign off on the project, but both said they intend to keep the door open to allowing Canyon ISD to share the new facility.

A convoluted arrangement came about after WT briefly got rid of its football program in the early 1990s; The university currently owns Kimbrough and leases it to Canyon ISD. The school district is in charge of stadium upkeep and in turn subleases Kimbrough to the university to use for events.

"Our hope is to continue the great relationship we've had with Canyon ISD," McBroom said.

If approved, planning and designing will begin immediately with construction scheduled to begin in spring 2017 and will take about a year.

The WT football team could play their first game in the stadium in the fall of 2018.