Hoar Announces Groundbreaking of Bowers Stadium Press Box at Sam Houston State University

Announcement comes as firm also completes construction on a five-level parking garage at the school’s College of Osteopathic Medicine

Hoar Construction announced today the groundbreaking of a five-story press box for Bowers Stadium at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville, Texas. Hoar is serving as the general contractor on the project, which will also include general stadium improvements and is expected to be completed for the 2026 football season.

The project will replace the existing press box with a 47,060-square-foot, five-story building and a 13,300-square-foot covered exterior section, for a total of 60,360 square feet of construction. The press box will include updated concessions and restrooms, premium seating, luxury and presidential suites, a club area with access to outdoor balcony seating and a media center to enhance game-day coverage for television, radio and print.

“We are pleased to strengthen our relationship with SHSU in bringing this modernized, thoughtfully designed press box to Bowers Stadium, which will improve the quality of the gameday experience for students, athletes and athletic staff,” said Lance Smith, project executive at Hoar. “Hoar’s deep well of experience in planning and executing high-quality projects on school campuses around the state will enable us to ensure the project is completed on time with minimal disruptions to school operations. Along with the parking garage in Conroe, we look forward to expanding our footprint of quality projects on SHSU’s campus in the years to come.”

Hoar will begin the project by demoing the existing press box before starting construction. Its team will also update all media equipment and lighting throughout the stadium from halogen to LED bulbs for increased visibility and energy savings during night games. Throughout construction, Hoar will work with SHSU athletics to coordinate press box tours for future athletes, coaches and students to aid in recruitment for the university. Additionally, Hoar has implemented an extensive safety and logistics plan to ensure that construction does not impede pedestrian and vehicular traffic or interrupt the day-to-day operations of the university.

Hoar also recently completed construction on a five-level parking garage for SHSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, which broke ground in May 2023. The 328,000-square-foot garage features 983 parking spaces, several EV charging stations and a guided parking system for guest convenience. The garage will provide parking for students and faculty ahead of the opening of the new Health Professions Building, which broke ground earlier this year as part of the school’s College of Health Sciences expansion in Conroe. Hoar has also completed several other projects on SHSU’s campus in recent years as part of an ongoing partnership between the school and company.

Additionally, Hoar actively recruits recent graduates from SHSU to join the project teams for on-campus work, providing them with valuable hands-on experience straight out of college and giving them the opportunity to continue working with Hoar in their careers. The majority of Hoar’s team for the parking garage project consisted of SHSU graduates, and several of the members working on the Bowers Stadium project are also alumni.

Project partners for the Bowers Stadium press box include Page/ as the architect and DLR group as the advisory design partner. Project partners for the parking garage included Kirksey Architecture as the designer and branding lead, Walter P Moore as the parking consultant, Dally + Associates as the structural and civil engineer, Teliosity as the MEP engineer and technology consultant and Asakura Robinson as landscape architect.

ABOUT HOAR CONSTRUCTION
Hoar Construction was founded 85 years ago, and throughout our history, we’ve been committed to learning from every project to improve our processes and deliver the best building experience possible for our clients and partners. With ten offices in six states and more than 4,000 projects across nine market sectors, building is our business, but we’re more than builders. We’re partners to our clients and leaders through the entire development process to ensure we deliver the results our clients want and expect. Always building. Always improving. Always in process.

For more information about Hoar Construction, please visit www.hoar.com or visit us on FacebookLinkedInYouTube, and Instagram.