Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

One Year Later, MSF Plans Remain Stalled

Construction on the Multi-Sport Facility, which began more than a year and a half ago, has been stalled for over a year, and university officials said that there is still no timetable for the long-awaited improvements to the stadium.

Karen Frank, vice president for facilities and student housing, said that the current status of the stadium reflects only the first phase of the overall construction plan. University officials are reviewing previously developed plans for the second stage of construction on the MSF, which include completing the stands, a press box and entryways.

Frank said the hiring of Bernard Muir as the university’s athletic director in June 2005 prompted this review.

“We must either validate or modify the plans and requirements developed prior to the design and construction of phase one so that we know how to move forward for phase two,” she said.

Frank said there is no timetable for construction plans and that any future timetable will be dependent on the facility’s design, fundraising efforts and securing building permits. The university’s plans for the MSF were endorsed by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in October 2005 and approved by the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment the following month, but it still must win approval from the Old Georgetown Board and the Commission of Fine Arts, among other groups.

Frank said that, because construction will render the field unusable, officials must either schedule the work to not disrupt the football or lacrosse seasons, or find alternate sites where the teams could play.

The cost of future construction is still unknown because university officials have yet to finalize construction plans, Frank said. Jeff Donahoe, senior director of advancement communications, said that the project has cost $6 million up to this point, and has been funded mostly from alumni donations.

Naming rights may be given to a donor who provides a certain percentage of the overall cost, but the exact percentage has not been determined, Donahoe said.

Plans also call for a more technologically-advanced scoreboard. The black fence interlaced with brick columns that is currently only along the south side of the field will be expanded to enclose the entire facility.

Frank said that the stands will be expanded, but the stadium’s projected capacity has not been decided.

Football Head Coach Kevin Kelly said that the new stadium will benefit Georgetown’s football program by providing a better playing environment and helping recruitment, noting that a team’s stadium is one of the main factors athletes consider when choosing which school to attend.

“We want to make it like a true college stadium,” he said. “It can be a terrific game-day atmosphere.”

“We arguably could have one of the best game-day atmospheres in the Patriot League,” Muir said.

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