79 Bull

MODS - Delete this post if it's considered paid content from TBT. Here's the article... The construction team chosen to build USF football’s on-campus stadium touted its budget control, local ties and experience, including the ongoing renovation of Florida State’s Doak Campbell Stadium. Those selling points are among the details in the 55-page proposal submitted to USF by Manhattan Construction Co., H.J. Russell & Co., and DuCon LLC. Last week, the Bulls announced they were moving forward with that trio to build the $340 million, 35,000-seat stadium just north of the current football practice facilities on the Tampa campus. “This is a powerful combination of local relationships and national buying power with specialty vendors associated with sports projects,” the companies wrote. “ … We are thrilled to support your vision to transform USF Athletics into a modern, elite, and innovative athletic department in delivering a state-of-the-art stadium and sports performance facility for the development of the football and women’s lacrosse programs, creating a sense of community and shared experience among students, staff, alumni, supporters, and faculty. The proposal, obtained Tuesday through an open-records request, offers some financial estimates and construction details. The Manhattan group had the lowest fee for overhead/profit among the bidders: 2.25%. It projected $488,000 in preconstruction fees and $16.1 million in general conditions or indirect costs. The total construction budget ($324 million) was the same in the proposals from Manhattan and two competitors (Austin Commercial L.P. and the M.A. Mortenson Co.). USF previously authorized up to $22 million for design. The winning bidders wrote they “have confidence that the project timeline is attainable.” They’ve also already spoken with a consulting group about an approach that would speed up the arrival of steel by at least two months. The proposal broke the project into three groups. The first is the operations center — the day-to-day home for football and women’s lacrosse. Its project manager, Rachel Bauer, has that same role with the football center being built at Texas Tech. The bid vows to have USF’s facility ready in May 2026, a year before the stadium opens. “We understand the importance of ensuring the early delivery of the (operations center) to support USF’s strategic goal for recruiting and retaining athletics staff, attracting athletes, player performance development, and developing the women’s lacrosse program,” the bid reads. The second is the stadium itself. Management includes David Steger, who helped build Houston’s 40,000-seat stadium, and Ed Martin, who worked on recent renovations to Raymond James Stadium and 20-plus projects at USF. They’ll build the stadium counterclockwise with two concurrent crews — one starting on the southwest corner, the other on the northeast. “This effort will prioritize the south tower providing ample time for suites, concessions, and press box construction,” the bid reads. The third group involves utilities and the site while being “accountable for the safety of students, faculty, and guests of USF.” Manhattan’s bid listed 53 staffers, including 24 project managers and 15 superintendents. It also has at least two engineering interns from USF. Manhattan and DuCon both have Tampa offices. The firms highlighted their stadium experience. Manhattan built North Texas’ 30,850-seat DATCU Stadium in 2011; that venue helped the Mean Green join the Bulls in the American Athletic Conference a decade later. The partners’ portfolio advertised $1.2 billion worth of work with Populous, the architecture firm designing USF’s stadium. Populous and the builders reached final budgets on two projects in the past year. The portfolio also counts the recent installation of more than 864,741 athletic seats and more than 18 million square feet of athletic space. Their ongoing projects include the Bradenton Area Convention Center, a utility maintenance facility in Plant City and the nine-figure overhaul to the west and south sides of Doak. More than $65 million in work remains at FSU, but the companies wrote that it’s still on track to be ready in July 2025. They said they saved $4 million and two months of work by pivoting to a different foundation system for Tallahassee’s sandy clay soil. The firms’ top priority is staying on budget. That means creating detailed estimates, having “honest, professional, and tough conversations when needed” and pausing if necessary to run the numbers. “This is how we guarantee to you that we can achieve the early deliverable for the Sports Performance Center on May 29th, 2026 and ready for game day on March 31st, 2027,” the companies wrote. “We never miss a game!!” Groundbreaking is scheduled for October.

This article seems to say the stadium will be "ready for gameday" on March 31, 2027. Am I reading this wrong? That would be awesome for the spring game. Closer look at proposal to build USF’s stadium ENEWSPAPER.TAMPABAY.COM Closer look at proposal to build USF’s stadium

Well then, for the spring game 2027 maybe one might be able to make a donation for a hard hat tour or sneak preview inside??

This indecision's killing me. Long live Mick Jones.

This is huge for many STM's regarding seat selection.

Too late.

We are winning in the middle of the 7th today.

We're 1-1 in 2024.

I think the only thing Populous delivered Friday are the 2 daytime shots in this brief article. Nothing new in these as I can see. Not real renderings that we're looking for. USF shares new on-campus stadium renderings - Tampa Bay Business & Wealth TBBWMAG.COM The University of South Florida will hold its groundbreaking ceremony for its new on-campus stadium during the university’s annual Homecoming Week celebration...

Is there any possibility that the spring game 2027 is in the OCS? I think that would be very cool for everyone's first look at the new stadium.

Left in the middle of the second quarter. There was no announcer at all during the game which certainly didn't engage the fans very much. It would have been nice to hear "X hands off to Y and gains about 5 yards". I know CAG doesn't like announcers when we're on offense but today we got pretty loud rap music during every play which was kind of annoying. The crowd was just not into it. Seemed like we were watching a practice with zero play by play or commentary. I guess I could have been listening to the stream to get that. Anyhow, can't wait for August 31st.

I've got 2 extra. DM me your email and name by 1:00. I'll transfer them to the first one who DM's. GO BULLS!

I really hope the Claw redevelopment is for a "USF Main Street" with shops, bars, movies and food joints for the students. Easy walk over Fletcher on a new pedestrian bridge (hopefully not the FIU contractor) to a safe and lively area that students would want to hang at. I've said before, other than Greenery and that area at one time, USF has really had no college town environment for students.

Where is JPP?? My very reliable sources tell me he recently bought a landscaping nursery in West Palm.

Groundbreaking ceremonies during Homecoming October 14-19. It's happening! (Sorry, had to). USF announces stadium groundbreaking date WWW.USFORACLE.COM Time to break out the shovels. A groundbreaking ceremony for the on-campus stadium will be held during Homecoming Week, scheduled for Oct. 14-19, 2024, USF...

I refuse to believe the above is for UCF. It's just way too clear, logical and easy to understand. We'll do it better, I'm sure!

As with most other campuses, I don't think parking is going to be an issue. You should be able to park in any non-residence lots plus MOSI plus whatever University Mall will be called then with shuttles running from all of them to the stadium.

If the ACC is looking to add only AAU schools moving forward, then I would think Kansas is the only one in play from the Big 12 as the four corners schools probably wouldn't move so fast.

Okay, back to the important stuff. NOLA, Boca and Charlotte all booked, locked and loaded. I will see our beloved Bulls for 8 consecutive games, home and away! Can't wait! Anyone else (besides Suzanne Ward of course) attending this entire stretch or maybe even more than 8 consecutive games?? GO BULLS!

Too many greats.

Get off my lawn! I don't mind taking a piss in one, I think they just look like crap (no pun intended), especially lined up outside a brand new $350 million palatial gathering spot.

And CFN's way too early bowl projections. Have us staying home against Florida. collegefootballnews.com COLLEGEFOOTBALLNEWS.COM

Just thought of something. Not sure if in the plans, but it would be nice to have a smallish building with permanent restrooms outside of the stadium on the route from the largest tailgating areas. I hope we don't end up with a row of port-a-lets (plastic outhouses) littering the beautiful new landscape. THIS... NOT THIS...

Sounds like a lot of it is forest preserve that probably can't be developed. I like the "main street" idea for student entertainment to walk to from campus. That was the one area that has always been lacking at USF that most major campuses have across the street and is walkable.