Populous has been named as the lead architect for a major renovation of the historic Beaver Stadium on the flagship campus of The Pennsylvania State University

Barton Malow, AECOM Hunt, and Alexander Building Construction will join the project as construction managers, expanding on over 20 years of collaboration with Populous. The scope of the renovation entails winterizing the entire stadium for year-round use as an entertainment venue or the potential host of a college football playoff game. The western side of the stadium will also be reconstructed to include new executive suites and loge seating areas. Other renovations will be enacted in order to keep up with code upgrades and accessibility concerns. The reported cost of the project is $700 million.

The school emphasized its funding would be provided for entirely by the Athletics department, circumventing the nee

d for tuition hikes. Construction is expected to begin in January of 2025 and conclude in time for the start of the 2027 football season. The stadium originally opened in 1959 and has been expanded eight times since then, including

a major 2001 effort led by HOK Sport (Populous’ predecessor). The current seating capacity is 106,572

Populous will leverage an earlier stadium renovation at Texas A&M University, which at the time was the largest such project in NCAA history. Another renovation of the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise’s aging facilities is also underway for the 2026 season.

In a press announcement from Penn State, Chris Nations of Nations Group (a consultant on the Beaver Stadium project) stated their goal of “setting a new standard for college football stadiums” through the renovation