The Penn State athletic department has had recent discussions about possible renovations to Beaver Stadium, and many people have strong feelings about what should or shouldn’t be done to improve the legendary stadium. However, it’s not hard to see Beaver Stadium is in need of some major renovations. So, before anything is finalized, we wanted to give our input on how to make our iconic stadium even better.

Padded Seats

Thousands of alumni make their way back to State College throughout the season to support their alma mater. After the long trips, padded seats would be a great addition to the stadium. Each seat could be waterproof and greatly improve the comfort of the alumni, families, and young children in attendance.

Updated Plumbing

There’s a serious problem with the plumbing and the bathrooms at Beaver Stadium, and anybody who has had the displeasure of using one of its restrooms knows this. Speaking from a college-aged male’s perspective, I’ve never really liked the idea of sharing a giant urinal with 20 other guys, and that’s exactly how the men’s bathrooms are set up. Sure, it’s probably the most efficient design for getting the most people to urinate at the same time and keeping the lines down, but it doesn’t make up for the awkwardness of it all. The plumbing is still the main concern here, as people have talked about toilets backing up and causing a giant mess in the bathrooms. The last thing anybody wants is toilet water on their shoes during a 20 degree day.

Locker Area

With the constantly unpredictable weather we experience here, an extra pair of layers is never a bad idea. A locker area for rent would be incredibly helpful to both students and visiting families. There could be individual sized lockers along with a larger family option.

Updated Concourse

If you go to any major football stadium, there is sure to be an area where the home team proudly displays its championships, star players, and accomplishments. If we go to the west side of the state, Heinz Field has the FedEx Great Hall, showcasing the franchise’s six Lombardi Trophies, numerous Hall of Fame players, and the best moments in its history. If we go to State College, Beaver Stadium has nothing to remember Penn State’s two National Championships, famous players, the coach with the most wins in the history of Division I college football, or anything. An updated concourse with some murals, past team tributes, and a food court could add a lot of great memories to Beaver Stadium. I added the food court idea because, let’s be honest, chicken tenders are great, but who wouldn’t want a Wings Over or Primanti Bros. inside Beaver Stadium?

Nittany Lion Photo 

When the Nittany Lion isn’t busy on the field cheering along our team, it could be a great opportunity for him to take pictures with any interested. Not only would a photo spot opportunity be a great picture memory, but if the athletic department wanted, it would also generate a lot of money.

More Seating

Beaver Stadium is home to the best student section in the country, so why not make it even better? Michigan Stadium holds a capacity of 109,901 fans, and Beaver Stadium holds a crowd of 107,282. Sandy Barbour loves to preach about “One Team,” so why not make that team as big as possible and add those 2,619 seats to beat the Big House, and obviously, they should all be student seats just to add on to the best student section in the country.

Student Music Polls

Although @PSUPJ accepts suggestions, and “Sweet Caroline” will never get old, it would be fun to change up the game playlist. If official polls throughout the week were available, students could vote in for their song requests for weekend game days. Along with a voting poll, we feel the speakers in general should be louder to blast out the student’s picks.

Kid Zone For Young Nittany Lions

If you look around the country, many hockey arenas have fun zones for kids to shoot pucks into a net guarded by a picture of the team’s goalie, take photos with the mascot, make signs, and do other fun stuff, and many football stadiums have the same sort of set up for young fans. There’s no doubt Penn State families love taking their children to Penn State games to make them Nittany Lions from a young age, so Penn State should cater to those young fans. Those kids don’t know much about Christian Hackenberg, Joey Julius, Coach Franklin, or probably even football, but they can still have a fun time at the game with a kid zone.

App For Ordering Food

There’s nothing more annoying than getting the halftime craving for some chicken tenders or french fries, leaving your seat, and realizing you had to move ten rows back because people started filling in your spot. This creates the need for an app used to order food from your seat and have it delivered to your seat, or at least ready to go as soon as you reach the concourse. It would make satisfying your hunger so much easier, and you would never have to risk losing your seat.

Convenience Store & Restaurant

If chicken baskets just aren’t cutting it, a convenience store and restaurant would be a perfect fit to a renovated stadium. The convenience store could provide fans with not only snacks, but also gloves, scarves, medicine, or any other forgotten items one may need throughout the game.

A sit down restaurant would also do very well for the stadium. For any hungry game goers who don’t feel like waiting in the post game traffic, a restaurant on site would be the answer. This might be the most wishful thinking of all, but the restaurant could try to obtain a liquor license and provide all lucky 21+ attendees with game beverages.

What would you like to see in potential Beaver Stadium renovations? Let us know in the comments below.