Oregon State to expand Valley Football Center

Earlier today Lindsay Schnell of The Oregonian published an interesting look at Oregon State’s efforts to keep pace with the University of Oregon. The article contains an announcement from Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis about the school’s plan to upgrade the Valley Football Center — a project that is expected to cost about $40-42 million.

It’s not quite the $68 million monstrosity the University of Oregon unveiled earlier this year, but it’s a start.

Here’s De Carolis:

"This is what I call ‘The Duck Factor.’ We’re going to expand the Valley Football Center. We’re in the middle of what’s called the quiet phase, which means we’re having private conversations with people who would consider giving elite gifts to make this happen. Call it an arms race or whatever you want, but if somebody’s building a better mousetrap, then you need to build a better mousetrap."

Assistant athletic director Shawn Heilbron discussed how the Beavers can’t afford to fall behind other Pac-12 schools in terms of facilities:

"People understand the need to invest in football. We’re seeing what’s happening within the Pac-12 and nationally, and programs that are making strides forward are investing, whether it’s in stadiums or operations buildings. We’ve done a very good job given that we have not done anything significant since the Reser Stadium expansion (in 2005) … we have to always keep our foot on the gas and stay ahead. We haven’t fallen behind, but we need to move back ahead, where we were for the middle of the last decade."

OSU’s desire to expand their facilities in response to the Ducks is pretty understandable. OSU’s decision to mimic UO’s hideous uniforms, however? Eh, probably not the best call. After all, potential donors can’t really sign checks if they’re blinded from all the orange. (I kid. Sort of.)

[Source: The Oregonian]