MANHATTAN, Kansas - Wildcat fans can attend a special ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Shamrock Zone project prior to the Southern Illinois football game on Saturday.
When stadium gates open at 4 p.m., fans are welcome to attend the ceremony inside Gate D of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The short ceremony will include President Richard Myers, Athletics Director Gene Taylor, head basketball coaches Bruce Weber and Jeff Mittie, representatives from HOK Architects and JE Dunn Construction and donors to the Shamrock Zone project.
“Saturday will be a special day as we not only welcome back a full crowd to Bill Snyder Family Stadium but also cut the ribbon on what has already become a significant addition to our facility infrastructure,” Taylor said. “The Shamrock Zone provides our fans new amenities for gameday while also providing a first-class space to utilize for football, basketball and volleyball games and recruiting. So many people made this project a reality and we appreciate their support, most notably the Ryan family and Shamrock Corporation.”
As part of the Building Champions capital initiative, the Shamrock Zone has transformed the south concourse and includes permanent concessions and restrooms for the first time in the history of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Two new video boards have been added to the SW and SE corners of the stadium to mirror the two video boards on the north end of the stadium, along with a new ribbon board underneath the Shamrock Zone Club level.
Most notably, the Shamrock Zone includes a 13,500 square-foot club space that offers a unique gameday experience of 318 club seats, 10 loge boxes, and 10 suites that span the south end of Bill Snyder Family Stadium while providing an enhanced lounge area to be utilized for volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball games.
Other improvements as a part of this project include extending Bramlage Coliseum entrances at the NW and NE points of entry, which adds 4,500 square feet of new concourse to Bramlage, as well as faster access. A new dining terrace has been constructed on the north end of the Bramlage Coliseum arena that will be utilized for upcoming men’s and women’s basketball seasons.
The Shamrock Zone was a $50 million project that began in February of 2019. Funding for this project was raised through generous philanthropic gifts by donors and friends of K-State Athletics. No University or state funds were used in the construction of this facility. The project began prior to the COVID pandemic and stayed on budget and on schedule through the pandemic.