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117th Brawl of the Wild: Future Cat-Griz games may look different in Bozeman

Montana State Athletics planning to join the facilities arm's race

Fans of both the Montana State Bobcats and Montana Grizzlies are very familiar with the sites and sounds surrounding the annual Brawl of the Wild, every other year when it comes back to Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman.

And yet, when future Brawls return to Bozeman, fans may be looking at a completely different Bobcat Stadium, and a completely different setting.

Yes, in the era when college football programs are escalating a facilities-improvement race, Montana State is certainly planning on not standing idle.

Earlier in the fall, second-year MSU Athletic Director Leon Costello, and MSU athletics announced what is perceived as a 20-year plan to greatly enhance facilities in the Bobcat athletic department.

And, as expected, much of those plans revolve around MSU’s football program, which is hosting the 117th Brawl of the Wild Saturday afternoon.

"In conjunction with our Strategic Plan, the Facilities Master Plan gives us a road map for the next 20 years of facilities development," Costello said back in September. "This is an important part of fostering our student-athletes' continued success. The plan is all-encompassing, but the first thing we'd like to focus on is creating more academic space for all our student-athletes while creating a new home for our football program."

A new home for the football program is key, especially considering the Cats’ arch rival, the Montana Grizzlies, just opened the $14 million Washington-Grizzly Champions Center back in October (See Wednesday’s Havre Daily News for more on that). And even Bobcat head coach Jeff Choate was well aware that, at least from a football facility standpoint, the Grizzlies have now pulled ahead.

“There’s 14.7 million reasons on the other side of the mountains why we’re doing this,” Choate said, referring to facilities projects at the University of Montana. “Our student-athletes all deserve that first-class experience, as well.”

The 14-page “Athletic Master plan” document features no fewer than nine significant focal points, leading off with moving the football program out of Brick Breeden Fieldhouse into a state-of-the-art, $16 million self-contained complex behind the stadium’s north end zone. Costello and Choate both said the completion of Phase 1 would enhance football recruiting and open more room in the fieldhouse for an expanded and renovated Academic Excellence Center as well as offer more locker-room space for other sports. Montana had already opened its own Athlete Academic Center, a more than $2 million project roughly five years ago.

Once the football complex is completed, MSU would try to move on to its second priority — something even the Grizzlies haven’t built, and currently, aren’t in the planning stages to build — an indoor practice facility.

The plan calls for construction of a vast indoor facility in what is now Brick Breeden’s south parking lot, between the fieldhouse and across Kagy Boulevard from the stadium. Indoor track would move there, giving the department more flexibility to create a more intimate environment in a 1958 all-purpose building that gives fans a distant feel.

The expansive plan also calls for a complete transformation of the entire Bobcat sports area, including new outdoor practice fields, a promenade and renovations to Brick Breeden itself, as well as renovations to the MSU tennis complex and to add a year-round women’s golf facility.

But, a deep look at the plans certainly reveals the focus is heavy on the football program, which is not uncommon in today’s collegiate athletic facilities’ race. Football sells, and it’s no different at MSU.

And while the immediate priorities are the new football building and indoor practice facility, Bobcat Stadium itself is also a major part of the plan.

The stadium was expanded several years ago when the south endzone was bowled in. But now, future plans call for a much more expansive and modern expansion and renovation project of the stadium formerly known as Reno H. Sales Stadium.

The redevelopment of Bobcat Stadium comes in three phases. The Master Plan reads as follows:

Phase 1: The East Sideline of the Stadium needs to be renovated to a level comparable to that of the recently completed South End Zone. The goal of the project is to create a better viewing experience from the East and to increase revenue opportunities through seating options and improved amenities. Approximately 6,400 seats are envisioned, including general seating and accessible seating with an additional premium seating options. The concourses will contain improved restroom facilities, new concession opportunities, retail spaces and access to a premium lounge. It is critical that the design of the East Sideline be consistent and well-integrated with the design of the South End Zone, the North End Zone and the West Sidelines to create a cohesive single bowl stadium. Additionally, the design will take into consideration the natural beauty and views of the surrounding mountains that create such a unique game day experience at Montana State University. 

Phase 2: The North End Zone will be designed to integrate with and enhance the Bobcat Athletic Complex. It will serve to complete the bowl by connecting the East and West Sidelines. It is envisioned to provide 2,000 additional seats (general seating and accessible seating) while also providing space below for other program elements: concourse, restrooms and concessions. A new scoreboard, videoboard and stadium sound system would be included as part of this project, or as a stand-alone project, coordinating with the North End Zone seating and the Bobcat Athletic Complex. In the future, a phased project to the Bobcat Athletic Complex will enable the creation of a super-suite amenity in the North End Zone. Similar to the East Sideline, the stadium design must be thoughtfully designed into a cohesive stadium concept.

Phase 3: The existing west sideline and tower is proposed to be completely renovated to improve fan amenities and the spectator experience. Minor renovations to the seating bowl are envisioned including improved access to the renovated tower. The renovations to the tower will include upgrading the concourse, concessions, restrooms, retail points and stadium entry points; improving the second-level corporate hospitality area, the third level Stadium Club and Sky Suites, the fourth-floor Sky Suites and completely renovating the fifth-level press box, media, and coaches’ spaces. The entire west tower façade itself will be redesigned to create the centerpiece for the new completed stadium bowl.

No doubt, those are ambitious plans for Bobcat Stadium, and as a whole, it’s an ambitious plan all together for MSU athletics. But, Montana State University, under President Waded Cruzado, has never been shy about being ambitious, or shy about moving forward and upward into the future. And neither is Costello, who, before taking the job at MSU, was instrumental in helping South Dakota State achieve something few college football programs of that size do these days — build a brand new stadium from the ground up.  

So, don’t be surprised if, not too many years from now, a Brawl of the Wild looks and feels a lot different when it’s in Bozeman. Certainly that’s the plan, and while it’s going to take a lot of money, time and even more money, Montana State is going forward with the plan, and it could just be a plan that one day puts the Bobcat football program into a brand new dimension.

“The excitement is there. We’ve had some great success and want to be able to continue that,” Costello said. “This is how we continue that. This is how we continue to recruit the best student-athletes and can train them to be the best. This is how we get things done.”

 

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