Scoreboard, Turf Mark Stevenson Stadium's Progress

What will ultimately become the playing surface at Stevenson University's new stadium has been leveled and the scoreboard is up, but there is still plenty of work to be done at the new sports complex on Owings Mills Boulevard.

The stadium should be mostly complete in three weeks, said Stevenson's Associate Athletic Director for Facilities Paul Cantabene. The field should be complete by Aug. 5 or Aug. 6. The Mustangs football team is set to begin its first training camp in three weeks.

"Obviously in a stadium like this, there's a lot of little odds and ends you gotta go with," Cantabene said. "It has a lot of the amenities we're looking for, that we've lacked with our other outdoor sports, that we now have."

Plans for the $7 million, 3,500-seat stadium started two years ago and construction began about one year ago, Cantabene said. The complex will also house locker rooms for lacrosse, soccer and field hockey teams, and a gym that will be open to all students, faculty and staff at the university.

Wednesday afternoon, wires still hung from ceilings and doors were absent from wall cutouts inside the complex. Some crews on the inside were installing lighting while others worked with paint brushes. Outside, another crew was beginning to place and roll out turf onto a raked and flattened gravel surface, where the field will be.

It will take about five days for the turf to be put into place and sewn together at the seams, said Jason Eichelberger, Stevenson sports information director.

Once the field is complete, seats will be added to the stadium, Cantabene said. Most seats will be bleacher style, but one section will include seats with backs and cup holders. Those seats will be reserved for faculty and staff this season, said Mike Gohlinghorst, assistant to the athletic director and head of ticketing at the stadium.

The trick, though, will be to fill those seats. Season ticket sales started last week, with a five-game slate selling for $35, or $7 a game.

One thousand seats will be free to students one week in advance of each game, Gohlinghorst said. After that, students will have to pay the going rate.

If the team does sell out games this season, the only problem may be parking.

"We have a little bit of a parking problem here," Cantabene said. "We're doing our best to alleviate that. We have about 2,000 spaces. I don't think in the end it will be 3,500 cars."