Player and fan interaction, 360-degree concourse: Here’s latest on Boise State stadium
Boise State broke ground on the North End Zone Project last week, beginning the approximately 18-month construction timeline to add around 1,600 seats to Albertsons Stadium — as well as plenty of bells and whistles.
On Saturday morning, just days after Boise State football’s season ended in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, construction crews were at work. The old metal bleachers at the end of the stadium next to the Bleymaier Football Center had been torn down, and piles of mud and dirt were starting to accumulate.
“I think of this project and how impactful it’s going to be to us as we move forward,” Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said Saturday at a groundbreaking event in the Hall of Fame at Albertsons Stadium.
“We are bar raisers,” Dickey continued, “and it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets credit.”
Dickey just celebrated four years as the Boise State athletic director, and the idea to rebuild the north part of the stadium came to him about nine months into the job. The approximately $65 million project will add up to 1,600 seats and feature 12 field-level suites, 44 loge boxes, 148 ledge seats and 882 club seats.
The first tower crane is expected to be up by February at the stadium. Construction will continue throughout the spring and summer, including through events at Albertsons Stadium, and club-level construction is planned to begin in August.
For the first time on Saturday, Boise State revealed more details, unveiled new renderings of the project and discussed how the decisions were made. Construction on the new part of the stadium will last through the 2025 season and is expected to be completed by August 2026 for the start of that season.
Boise State school officials and design team members, such as those with general contractor Andersen Construction, visited college and professional end zones around the country to narrow down what they wanted in Boise State’s end zone.
‘Put in some Bronco stuff, and put it in a blender’
Boise State and construction officials highlighted six different stadiums with features they took for this Albertsons Stadium work.
“We took our guiding principles, the things we loved, sprinkled in a few of the items that make Idaho amazing, put in some Bronco stuff, and put it in a blender,” Jeff Slinger, an Andersen Construction mechanical engineer, said Saturday.
Here’s where some of the ideas were taken.:
University of Washington - Husky Stadium
Husky Stadium has end zone suites that are raised about 6 inches above field level. Fans will have indoor and outdoor seating options and an unencumbered field view in each suite.
Each suite also will have semi-opaque windows on the inside wall, providing privacy for those within the suite while allowing light to enter the lounge behind. Chris Roberts, a principal at Opsis Architects, said the design team prioritized allowing natural light to flow through the new building.
Arizona Cardinals - State Farm Stadium
Long before the football team was scheduled to play in State Farm Stadium for the Fiesta Bowl, the construction team was there studying the stadium’s concourse area. The team liked that space was provided for pop-up merchandise stalls rather than only brick-and-mortar places.
“What really stuck with us is that it is flexible,” Slinger said. “If things are working, you can do more of it; if they’re not working, you can change it.”
Arizona State - Mountain America Stadium
For years, Boise State players have exited their locker room in the Bleymaier Football Center and entered the field from underneath the metal stands. The new construction will see the players run through a fan lounge area, allowing them to enjoy some pregame refreshments before cheering on the Broncos as they dart past and on the field.
Dickey said the Dallas Cowboys do a similar thing, and it’s one of the new features he’s especially excited about.
“Giving and providing that experience that they actually get to high-five or be a part of that entrance is important to Bronco Nation,” Dickey said. “And so it was important to me and our team to make sure that we accounted for that.”
University of Arizona - Arizona Stadium
The design crew said it appreciated how the club space at Arizona looked and felt, while still showcasing the school’s colors and designs.
Renderings of the bar areas in the new building showed a spacious and smart layout design while still having blue walls behind the bar and pictures of iconic Boise State football moments on display.
University of Utah - Rice-Eccles Stadium
The crew’s most significant takeaway from this Salt Lake City venue was the understanding that not everyone can afford or fill a large suite. That led to the idea of building loge boxes, which are smaller seating areas that still offer a premium experience.
“We have lots of individuals and businesses that are smaller,” Slinger said. “Can we have some products that really appeal to them?”
University of Wisconsin - Camp Randall Stadium
Camp Randall Stadium in Madison has loge boxes similar to those of Rice-Eccles Stadium, but the design team was particularly impressed by the flexibility of the areas, the engineers said.
The new north end zone building will feature a dining and nutrition bar for all student-athletes. It will operate as a student area most of the year, but on game days it will be transformed into a lounge for fans, who can relax there while also grabbing food and drinks.
Construction timeline, naming rights and other details
It’s tough to mention Boise without thinking of the Simplot family, which has its fingerprints all across the Treasure Valley thanks to J.R. Simplot, the company’s namesake. Those fingerprints have made their way to Albertsons Stadium, with the school and family agreeing to a naming rights deal.
The deal will see numerous spots around the stadium bearing the Simplot name, such as the Simplot Club Entrance, Simplot Lower Club Room and Simplot Nutrition Lounge.
“There is a term to it, and obviously (it is) a significant donation,” Dickey told reporters on Saturday, but an exact monetary amount has not been disclosed.
Many exteriors around the new end zone will be metallic, beige or brown to match the existing brickwork on the Bleymaier center. Open-canvas areas will be left around the stadium for local artists to create Boise State-themed artwork. Jackson said that idea came from other art displays around town, such as the Freak Alley Gallery in downtown Boise.
The new end zone also will finally create a 360-degree concourse around the stadium. A new entrance will be built on the stadium’s northeast corner, with a staircase leading directly to the concourse.
This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
