The finishing touches to Doak Campbell Stadium will be complete in time for Monday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Boston College and the ticket operations office is prepared to help ticket holders acclimate themselves during this transition year.
With construction ongoing on the West side of Doak, Florida State has completed the installation of temporary bleachers along the West sideline that includes 7,400 chair-back seats alon with portable bathroom trailers and concessions. East side ticket holders will be introduced to completed improvements, including wider seats with cushioned bottoms, wider aisles with handrails and more ADA seating.
The path from parking lot to seat will be business as usual with all gates open on the East side and for the Dunlap Champions Club. The only closure on the West side will be Gate D on the Southwest corner, which will remain closed in 2024 for construction equipment.
If your ticket assignment is in the temporary seats on the West side, you can leave your construction boots in your truck.
“People will walk on concrete the whole time,” Director of Ticket Operations Jack Chatham said. “There will be no gravel or dirt. It will be concrete the whole way from entry to their seats, concessions and restrooms.”
West side ticket holders will access their seats from behind the temporary seating section, where there will be stairwells rather than ramps. Ticket holders should look for the stairwell with their section number, then climb the stairs to their row. If a ticket holder is unable to navigate stairs, there will be lifts on either side of the temporary structure as well as ramps to the ADA seating sections.
Rather than port-o-lets, FSU has brought in portable restroom trailers, which will be located on the corners of the temporary seating sections near Gates A, B and E and under the precast concrete seating deck inside Gate C.
Portable concession stands will also be available to service the 7,500 ticket holders.
The athletics department believes they have prepared for every eventuality but know this will be a new process for ticket holders as well as for the ticket, parking and stadium staff.
Chatham wants to remind ticket holders to check their parking pass as their parking lot and the path to their parking lot is likely to be different than they are accustomed.
“People have been parking in the same parking lot for 25 or 30 years and their cars are on automatic pilot to their parking space,” Chatham said. “Out of habit they will turn left to go to last year’s lot when they will have a different lot this year. We just ask them to be more careful to go the right way with this year’s pass.”
While there will be changes to navigate, there could be benefits to the ticket holder as well as there will be more than 20,000 fewer people attending the game, with capacity reduced from 27,000 to 7,500 on the West side and with wider seats and aisles and more ADA seating reducing capacity on the East side.
“There will be fewer people coming in to park, which will alleviate some congestion and you will have fewer people coming in to the stadium as well,” Chatham said. “(The reduced capacity) will take some pressure off the gates, concessions and restrooms. We also expect (and encourage) more people to arrive early to look around and familiarize themselves with the facility.”
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