Despite previous delays, the demolition of Murdock Stadium began Dec. 24, with the majority of the structure pulled down in a little more than six weeks.

Athletes and students looking forward to games in the new stadium will have to be patient, as estimates place the stadium’s completion at least two years from now, Tom Brown, Director of Facilities and Planning, said.

“We think the demolition will take a few more months before we proceed with construction” Brown said, “Our next step is to move about 35,000 cubic yards of dirt off the berm walls.”
“We hope to have the stadium completed by December of 2015,” Brown added.

While two years might seem like an eternity to some students, both Brown and members of Sinanian Development, the contractors developing the project, were confident that the construction would continue without any major obstacles.

“I’ve been doing this kind of work for 30 years, and a project like this is no problem,” Elio Lastorta, senior superintendent for Sinanian Development, said.

The new stadium is the second of a two-phase project that has all ready seen the addition of a new regulation soccer field, sand volleyball courts, and areas for shot put, high jump, and javelin throwing events to the campus. All together, the project is being paid for with $40 Million of Measure E funds, Brown said.

One of the biggest benefits of the new project, Brown says, is the gathering of the various athletic fields and facilities to a centralized location. Since most of the school’s original athletic. facilities were constructed before the passing of Title IX, an federal educational amendment preventing discrimination against students, changing rooms and facilities for female athletes were a later addition, placed some distance away from many of the fields.

The proposed stadium, however, will feature changing rooms within the structure itself, along with a paved running track and a turf playing field large enough for a regulation soccer field, Brown said.

“I think it’s going to be a beautiful new venue, and while it’s a bit melancholy for me since I used to play in Murdock Stadium back in the late 60s, it had it’s share of problems,” John Featherstone, football coach, said. “We’ll always have fond memories of Murdock, but it’s exciting to have a new stadium and track” he added.

Fortunately for those feeling sentimental, Murdock stadium will still be around, in a fashion.

“About 90 percent of (the stadium) will be recycled,” Lastorta said. “The concrete from the bleachers is being remade into sand, gravel, and asphalt, while all the leaves, branches, and grass is being made into mulch to use in other projects.”

Other construction projects under development at EC include renovations of the old Math and Computer Sciences Building into a new Industry and Technology facility, a new STEM center in the basement of Natural Sciences, and the demolition of the old Tech Arts Building to make way for a new parking structure in Lot C.