Texas A&M notebook: Demolition an option for Kyle Field

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COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin walked off the practice fields Wednesday night consumed with one issue: improving his first Aggies team during spring drills.

The broader topic at hand Wednesday - that A&M has hired a noted design firm to come up with a plan for venerable (and old) Kyle Field - left Sumlin like anyone else at this point. He doesn't know what's next concerning the Aggies' football home of more than a century - and whether it will be renovated or perhaps torn down starting in less than two years.

"That's a higher issue than me," Sumlin said. "Those decisions are not made by the football coach. Whatever the decision is, we're going to abide by it, knowing ultimately that we're going to have one of the finest facilities in the country."

Anything's possible

A&M on Wednesday said the architectural firm Populous will be charged with devising the blueprints for renovating or completely rebuilding Kyle. And right now the plans for the nine-story concrete monstrosity resemble a Thanksgiving feast. Everything is on the table.

The Texas A&M Corps of Cadets line up on the field before an NCAA college football game between Texas A&M and Texas at Kyle Field Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011, in College Station. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle ) less The Texas A&M Corps of Cadets line up on the field before an NCAA college football game between Texas A&M and Texas at Kyle Field Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011, in College Station. ( Brett Coomer / Houston ... more Photo: Brett Coomer Photo: Brett Coomer Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Texas A&M notebook: Demolition an option for Kyle Field 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Only one thing seems (mostly) certain this early in the process: The construction will likely start following the 2013 season. The primary options include a section-by-section renovation of Kyle, building on another nearby site, or tearing down Kyle and starting from scratch on the same plot of earth where the Aggies have played football since 1905.

The last option would mean the Aggies might play the 2014 season or perhaps even two seasons at Reliant Stadium, with maybe a handful of games at the Alamodome or Cowboys Stadium mixed in.

One A&M insider present at Wednesday's get-acquainted meeting with Populous stressed that there were no specific plans addressed at that time, just simply Populous representatives asking what makes Kyle Field so special to Aggies. What the thing will cost depends on the eventual plan.

Financially, A&M intends to pay for the renovation or rebuild much as it did the The Zone on Kyle's north end in the late 1990s - through bonds eventually paid for by suites and upper-scale editions. A&M hopes to have a definitive plan in place from Populous sometime early in the fall, with construction set to start about a year later.

Fresh feeling

There's an awful lot of newness around A&M football right now, from Sumlin's upcoming first season to the Aggies' impending entrance into the Southeastern Conference on July 1. The Aggies are exiting the Big 12 after 16 years and will begin play in the powerful league that has won the last six national titles.

"Our move to the SEC has created a tremendous amount of excitement around Texas A&M, and we are seeing an unprecedented demand for football season tickets," A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said. "Our football weekends will provide us with a key vehicle for introducing people around the country to Texas A&M, and we are committed to ensuring that Kyle Field reflects the unique traditions and Aggie spirit embodied by this world-class institution."

Back in January, Loftin told a ballroom full of Bryan-College Station business leaders that "forgoing a season at Kyle Field has a huge impact economically on Texas A&M and you - we're in this together" concerning the Aggies possibly leaving town for a season.

Athletic director Bill Byrne also said at that time, "You don't want to take anything off the table. But the most likely scenario from my perspective is that we (renovate) in stages. A deck at a time."

Unique opportunity

Both men stressed that all options are open. Populous' projects have included Reliant Stadium, Yankee Stadium and the main stadium for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, among plenty of other high-profile sports venues.

"We feel the Kyle Field stadium redevelopment is wholly unique in that … we have the opportunity to help define a new path for Texas A&M's future in what could become one of the most significant redevelopment projects in all of American sport," said Earl Santee, a Populous senior principal. "… We will seek to define the meaningful moments of Aggie football: the traditions, the fans and the environment that create a one-of-a-kind experience."

That's what Sumlin is counting on - in about his third or fourth year of trying to improve A&M football.

brent.zwerneman@chron.com twitter.com/brentzwerneman

Baseball

The sixth-ranked Aggies (26-7, 7-2) hit the road for the first time in Big 12 play when they begin a three-game series at Kansas on Friday night. The Aggies have won five of their last six games, including four straight in league play. A&M trails Baylor (27-7, 12-0) in the Big 12 standings. The Southeastern Conference-bound Aggies and Bears will play their final scheduled series starting on April 20, with the first game in College Station and the next two in Waco.