Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Receives A Facelift
September 09, 2010 | Football
Sept. 9, 2010
Originally printed Sept. 5, 2010 in the First and Goal football game program
By Charles Welch,
Assistant Director of Media Relations
In a recent poll, players from each football squad in Conference USA listed Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium as the most intimidating venue in the league. It should be noted that the survey was taken before expansion enclosed the east end zone and raised the stadium's capacity to 50,000.
In a collegiate athletics world where many institutions are trying to "keep up with the Jones'," East Carolina University Director of Athletics Terry Holland knew the time would arrive when an upgrade would be needed to the football program's facilities. That vision was realized starting the day after the Pirates beat visiting No. 24 Houston in the 2009 Conference USA Football Championship Game.
"We want to spend money to make East Carolina better and make this a program that can exist long after [we're gone]," Holland said in an interview following the 2006 season.
Fast forward to 2010 and Holland has certainly delivered. The arrival of ECU alumnus and former letterwinner Ruffin McNeill, along with Dowdy Ficklen's facelift, has spurred a record-breaking season ticket selling campaign. As the Pirates are set to enjoy their third-straight season in which campaign passes will sell out, it is because of that fervent interest that expansion is possible at all.
No public or student money was used to fund the project as the Pirate Club, ticket sales and private gifts ended up footing the bill - certainly justified.
Seemingly sparing no expense, the administration ensured that the expansion would be first-class in nature. Among the amenities included just in the endzone project are grand entrance gates, new concessions, a souvenir stand and bathrooms as well as a special section for the Marching Pirates.
The end zone will also house strictly students who have already chosen a name for their new home - The Boneyard. The section should fill up quite nicely on Saturdays as Student Pirate Club enrollment has sailed well over 8,000.
Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations Jimmy Bass indicated another benefit for moving students to their new location.
"The expansion will open about 3,000 seats for us on the north side that we could sell to Pirate Club donors and open up new revenue streams."
New seating is not the only addition fans can look forward to utilizing. A new 84-foot wide and 28-foot tall high-definition-rated scoreboard/videoboard, which ranks among the 25 largest in college football, features state-of-the-art video capabilities for fan enjoyment. In addition, a new auxiliary scoreboard will decorate the face of the Murphy Center on the west side to give spectators easy visibility access to game information from all viewing locations.
Preseason prognosticators are somewhat cautious about the Pirates' chances on the gridiron in 2010. However, the expansion progress has helped much of the ECU fanbase survive through the spring and doldrums of summer as many of the ECU faithful have walked or driven past the construction to get a closer look.
"The following on the Internet with the stadium cams that we've got going, the media coverage and the chatter on the Internet have been terrific," Bass added. That has led to increased ticket sales as evidenced by us setting a new record."
More than 10,000 chairback seats were added to the north and south sides of the stadium. Almost everything about ECU football is new this year from the coaching staff to almost a third of the roster. However, Bass believes that the recent success enjoyed by the program will only take off from here.
"The feedback has been terrific so far. We are working really hard to improve the game-day experience for all of our fans--our Pirate Club members, our faculty, our staff and certainly our students. We are very, very excited about making that game day experience more enjoyable for all Pirate Football fans."
