Temple selects architects for proposed football stadium

Temple has taken another step forward on a new football stadium in North Philadelphia with the hiring of two architecture firms to design the 35,000-seat facility.

The winning firms are AECOM and Moody Nolan, according to the Sports Business Journal. Two AECOM architects, Steve Terrill and Brian Pounds, recently designed Florida Atlantic University's eponymous stadium, which opened in 2011.

Craig Angelos, Temple's deputy athletic director, oversaw FAU Stadium's construction before departing the university in 2012. In fact, Temple played at FAU Stadium this year for the Boca Raton Bowl, and university officials toured the venue.

Moody Nolan is also designing Temple's new indoor practice facility next to the stadium site.

Temple's board authorized $1 million in funding in February for a design and environmental impact study of the stadium, which would go up between Broad and 16th streets, and Montgomery Avenue and Norris Street.

Beyond the stadium, the design envisions a retail perimeter, which Temple President Neil Theobald said would put the North Philly community in line with the neighborhood surrounding the home of the Boston Red Sox.

The stadium will cost $126 million to build, but Theobald projected it would save the university $21 million in expenses after the first seven years.

Nevertheless there are still many steps before shovels move ground on a new stadium.

Temple still needs the support of Mayor Jim Kenney — who has come out against the stadium— and Council President Darrell Clarke, whose district includes the school. Much of the North Philadelphia community has protested the stadium's construction at various stages in the planning process.

Kenney has said he prefers Temple continues to use Lincoln Financial Field, but school officials previously explained a new lease agreement between the school and the team would cost $2 million in rent annually, plus a $12 million upfront payment. The university currently pays $1 million per year to lease the Linc, and it receives barely any parking/merchandise revenues.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal