Aug. 15, 2007
The following story appears in the August edition of KnightVision. Produced 10 times per year, KnightVision is the official publication of the UCF Athletics Asssociation. Each issue includes stories about UCF teams, student-athletes and coaches. To order 10 exciting issues from August through June, call 1-888-877-4373 (ext. 121) or 336-768-3400 (ext. 121). Other stories from the August issue appear on www.ucfathletics.com in the Knight Stories section.
Let the Games Begin
The countdown is quickly closing in on zero days for a much anticipated grand opening at UCF. Even though it is tucked away in the northeast corner of campus, there is no hiding the gigantic metal structure or tempering any of the excitement for the debut of the 45,000-seat venue the Knights will soon call their football home.
The long wait will be over as the gates to Bright House Networks Stadium will officially open on Sept. 15 when the Texas Longhorns pay a visit to the Sunshine State to face UCF on ESPN2.
However, the build-up for the on-campus stadium, both in terms of dreams and vision and the actual construction have been years in the making. The stadium is the central piece in what has been a building out of what is casually referenced to as the new Athletics Village located on the northeast quadrant of campus.
Associate Athletic Director Art Zeleznik is the veteran on the UCFAA staff having served the athletics association for 24 years. There are not many people on the UCF campus who have waited longer or will take more satisfaction from when that first football leaves the tee shortly after 3:30 p.m. on the third Saturday in September.
Zeleznik and former UCF Athletic Director Bill Peterson designed mock-ups of an on-campus stadium back in the early 1980s. The duo took their dreams as far as to lay out what they envisioned the northeast campus to look like one day on cork board with Styrofoam buildings. And, for the long time Knight staffer, to see it all come together is extremely rewarding.
The stadium was approved by the UCF Board of Directors in December of 2005, less than a year after UCF President John Hitt announced that the school would explore the possible building of an on-campus stadium.
And less than two years after the approval and only 16 months after construction began, the stadium will be completed.
"It's been a great process," Zeleznik said. "As I call it, a great journey for me to be to be a part of it from basically the basement of the program and the facilities to right now approaching what I like to think of as the penthouse. It has all been a steady process through the years and the ways we had to conduct our construction and funding processes."
Not only will the Knights finally have a place to call their football home, but the stadium, whose naming rights have belonged to Bright House Networks since August of 2006, will serve as a magnetizing force to draw thousands of people to campus. The naming rights agreement, which is $15 million over 15 seasons, will help the university offset the cost of the stadium construction.
"There is no question that the whole dynamics of the campus are going to change," Head Coach George O'Leary said. "I think right now Bright House Networks Stadium is the last piece of the puzzle."
The stadium, which with the infrastructure of new roads and practice fields for football, baseball and soccer will cost close to $60 million upon completion, and the New UCF Arena are the two newest additions to an area that many are comparing to an Olympic-type village.
"The student-athletes can work out there, eat there, study there and it is just a short walk down to Memory Mall to all of their classes," Zeleznik said. "It is very gratifying to see our vision materialize just exactly like we have planned."
Senior Associate Athletic Director Dave Hansen, who has been one of the lead administrators on both the stadium and the arena projects, said people are going to be amazed at how much influence the stadium will have on this campus.
"The biggest thing is playing on campus and the stadium will affect every part of this campus, much greater than just athletics," Hansen said. "Obviously for athletics, we will have a home in our backyard everyday, but it will impact campus beyond what we realize at this point.
"The neat thing is bringing your alumni back - just having that opportunity is vital. I talk to alumni all of the time and some are even in my family, that have not been back to campus in 15 years. They said that they have not had a reason to come back, but now we are giving them a reason too. Not just the football stadium, but the arena as well will be an invitation for all the 100,000-plus alumni to come back."
The magnetizing force of the stadium is not lost on the players either. Senior linebacker Steven Baker is excited that the venue will offer opportunities to his fellow student body members that had not been available before.
"They won't have to drive across Orlando anymore to watch us play,' Baker said. "They can walk from their dorm rooms or nearby apartments and come see UCF football. I know the students and alumni are going to embrace the new stadium and it is going to be an awesome atmosphere in there."
O'Leary, who was in on the design of the refurbished Bobby Dodd Stadium during his tenure at Georgia Tech, has witnessed before how much pride students and alumni can take in something they call home.
"From a fan and student standpoint, I think it is going to be outstanding," the fourth-year leader of the Knights said. "It is going to be a great venue, not just for athletics, but for the whole campus - from admissions, to alumni, to the different schools that will partake in the Saturdays. It will bring a lot of alumni back on campus who have not been back since they left."
It should come as no shock the profound impact that Bright House Networks Stadium is expected to have on the UCF campus. The coaches, players and administrators all agree it is going to be a special place that will alter the future of the Knights' football program and the entire university as a whole.
As for the Styrofoam mock-up constructed more than 20 years ago by a pair of ambitious men, it pails in comparison to the actual structure that will soon house UCF fans of new and old, but it was likely the beginning of what is soon to become a reality - a game day atmosphere on campus that all in the Knight family will enjoy.