JONESBORO -- Terry Mohajir announced the largest individual gift Arkansas State's athletic department has ever received and eased some anxiety for Red Wolves fans all in one announcement Tuesday afternoon.
ASU's athletic director announced that alumnus Johnny Allison's donation of $5 million toward a west-side expansion of Centennial Bank Stadium will go toward a press box and suites area that the school hopes to have finished by the end of next summer.
Allison's donation will speed up the building process of a project that Mohajir hopes will be completed as early as July and at least in time for ASU to host to Missouri on Sept. 12, 2015, in Jonesboro.
There had been talk about moving ASU's game against Missouri to Busch Stadium in St. Louis, but Mohajir told the crowd made up of university personnel, administrators and fans on hand Tuesday that the game would be played "here, in Jonesboro, Arkansas."
Missouri will become the first SEC team to visit ASU since Ole Miss in 2001, and that is partially because of the donation from Allison, who grew up less than a mile from where Centennial Bank Stadium is located, briefly played football for ASU before graduating in 1969 and is now chairman and founder of Centennial Bank.
"Maybe that donation helped make his decision a little bit," Allison said, jumping from his chair as Mohajir made the announcement. "I thought they ought to be playing at Centennial Bank Stadium."
Mohajir unveiled plans for a more than 39,000-square-foot project estimated between $15 million and $16 million that will replace the existing press box, which was built in 1974 when the stadium opened.
Construction will begin in October for the project that will include 18 suites -- 16 of which already have been sold -- along with 42 loge boxes, 300 club seats and new restrooms and concession stands.
Construction could affect game-day operations a bit this season, but ASU does not have a home game between its game against Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 4 and its game against South Alabama on Nov. 8.
"Fast track," Mohajir said. "It's going to be transformative. It's going to be a great thing."
Not far from where Mohajir made Tuesday's announcements, progress continued on a new scoreboard in the south end zone and an indoor practice facility beyond the north end zone set to open in March. Plans for it were announced two years ago along with an attached operations center, a project that Mohajir has said would cost $28 million.
Mohajir said Tuesday that groundbreaking for the operations center has been put on hold until after the west-side expansion is complete because revenues from it will go toward that project. Even still, Mohajir expressed excitement for the continuation of the largest facelift the stadium has received since it opened 40 years ago.
Since then, ASU has added seats and built an operations center in 2002 in the south end zone, but never has so much gone on at the same time, which allows ASU to keep up with what Mohajir calls its "peer schools."
Sun Belt Conference rival Louisiana-Lafayette broke ground last week on a $7.3 million performance center, which is part of a $115 million building master plan, and Louisiana-Monroe announced plans last month for a $3 million field house.
" You've got to continue to build," Mohajir said. "You've got to continue to grow. You've got to show momentum and show your recruits and your fans that you're committed, and that's what this is."
Mohajir said he called Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden and the St. Louis Sports Commission on Monday and told them he had decided to keep the game in Jonesboro.
"You know what St. Louis' response was? We'd like to offer you more," said Mohajir, who declined to disclose what the final offer was. A source told the Democrat-Gazette in July that it was between $1.5 million and $2 million.
Allison said he was against moving the game and told Mohajir as much. Now he'll get to watch it in his hometown, and hopefully from the comfort of seating that he helped make possible.
"This makes a difference," Allison said. "This changes dreams to reality. With this program and this administration, this football program is on the move."
Sports on 08/27/2014