It’s no secret that Penn State, the largest university in talent-rich Pennsylvania, has the potential to be a force in the college lacrosse landscape. The hiring of Cornell’s successful head coach Jeff Tambroni a year ago showed that Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley wants to maximize that potential, and a new, sport-specific stadium may be the next step in the process.

Curley was quoted in a Bloomberg article regarding Michigan’s decision to drop $10 million into their lacrosse facilities, and he mentioned that Penn State is looking into raising funds to upgrade its own lacrosse facilities in the form of a lacrosse-only stadium.

From the article on Bloomberg.com:

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley has been taking steps to ramp up the Nittany Lions programs, and will soon begin talking to donors about raising $11 million for a lacrosse-only stadium.

“We have many alumni who come from the northeastern lacrosse hotbeds, so there is a lot of interest, and we think we can excel at it,” Curley said in a telephone interview. “If it continues to grow at the high school and club level like it has been and the sponsors continue to follow, I think you are going to see a big shift with more schools adding the sport.”

Perhaps the first question is where the new lacrosse stadium would be located. The recent construction of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and Beard Field have already taken away a substantial amount of football parking, and the addition of the Pegula Ice Arena will probably have the same effect. Perhaps the most feasible options would be the IM fields off Park Avenue, or the practice fields beside Jeffrey Field, just west of Beaver Stadium.