About a year or two ago I suggested a new cantilevered deck over the north stands (student section side). Because of the field house it will probably only be built between the 20's. The first floor/level of the structure would have 1,800 premium seats (to mirror the press box side), a row of loge box seating, and an indoor club area serving booze (again about the same size/scale as the press box). The second level of the structure would be a single row of about a dozen or so private suites. The third level would be deck seating that is slightly cantilevered over the suites (think of the whole structure as "stacked"). The deck would have about 6,000-7,000 "cheap" seats (bench seating).
My idea would be incredibly expensive, probably in the $40-$60 million range, but I think there are a lot of positives.
- I believe the "real" money comes from Seattle/Tri-Cities/Spokane/Etc.. fans (well... maybe not spokane). That means most of the money is going to take hours and hours to get to Pullman. Does this money want to sit in endzone seats exposed to the elements without a beer to buy after driving 4+ hours? I know I don't want to drive for hours only to have a crappy view of the game. Give the money a great view of the game with great amenities!
- You are still building "cheap" seats with the third level deck. Adding the deck gives you a little more flexibility in regards to the students. You now have more room to move the student section around based on revenue needs. Now everyone will have good seats.
- Having the structure stacked will give a more intimate game day experience, while also providing a more visually intimidating home field advantage. The vertical the venue is, the imposing it will appear. I hate the huskies, but husky stadium is a very imposing place to play.
- Having the structure stacked will also enclose sound better, helping with home field advantage, etc...
The structure would almost certainly take up place on the track, which will have to be moved.
Long story short, my idea is to basically rebuild the press box above the north side stands, with the exception being that instead of having a 3rd floor filled with media rooms/press rooms/coaches rooms/etc.., there is a 7,000 seat deck.
One can dream...