In the movie Field of Dreams, actor Kevin Costner hears a voice that says "if you build it, they will come."

Well, the Tech athletics department is building it. And the fans certainly will come.

Tech AD Jim Weaver announced recently that the Hokies are moving up the timetable for the expansion of Lane Stadium. The plans call for the addition of nearly 12,000 seats in the south end zone to be finished by the 2001 season and for the press box renovations to be completed by the 2002 season. So in other words, the completion dates have been moved up a year.

Since that announcement became public, the Hokies' administration has hired an architect firm to handle the expansion. After interviewing four firms, the stadium expansion committee decided on HOK Sport. That company will team up with Moseley, Harris and McClintock - a firm based in Virginia Beach.

When asked about the credentials of HOK Sport, Tom Gabbard, Tech's resident facilities guru, smiled.

"Well," he said. "They've done nine of the last 10 NFL stadiums and 31 college stadiums, including Penn State and Florida."

Officials at HOK Sport and at Moseley, Harris and McClintock believed they could get the work done ahead of the original timetable, barring weather or other unforeseen problems. So kudos to university president Charles Steger, university vice-president for finance and treasurer Ray Smoot, and all the university officials involved for expediting the process. You've heard of supply and demand. Well, with season tickets selling at a record pace, there's not enough supply to meet the demand.

But after the UVa game this fall, Tech officials hope to begin alleviating that problem. The south end zone addition will feature a huge locker room for the visiting football team. A partition can divide that locker room into two locker rooms and the Hokies' administration plans to use both locker rooms for visiting soccer, lacrosse, softball and track teams.

The addition also features a huge press area, including much-needed dark rooms for photographers, and concession stands. The nearly 12,000 seats will be above the locker room, with nearly 800 of those seats being club seats (theater-type seats). And the addition will be double-decked. That represents a change from the original plan, which called for a bowled in end zone.

"The main advantage of doing that is to get the fans closer to the field," Gabbard explained. "We want the fans right on top of the action. We want the stadium to be intimidating for opposing teams. And by being closer to the field, the fans will be in better seats."

Expect to see some construction on the press box in the summer of 2001 as well. Workers probably will get a jump by digging footers and doing other things before that project begins full throttle after the 2001 season.

The press box renovation will include club seating, a President's level, a level for the working press, a level for radio, coaches, and visiting ADs and a level for television. Those first two levels will possess huge eating areas for catered meals.

The press box renovation also will have anywhere from 36-60 sky boxes (the exact number has yet to be determined) and the entrance of the stadium - part of the press box renovation project - will house the Hall of Fame, offices for development (VTAF offices), the ticket office and an area for academic enrichment for all athletes.

In all, this project runs about $50 million. Which begs the question - where on earth does Tech find the money to pay for such a project? It first starts with fund-raising, but Tech officials hope ticket sales and sales from suites and club seating will help pay for a lot of the project.

"We think we've got a finance plan that will work," Gabbard said. "We play Virginia and West Virginia here every other year and then play Miami and Syracuse the other years [the years Tech doesn't play Virginia or WVU at Lane]. We think we'll have three or four sellouts a year and that we'll sell between 65-75 percent of the tickets for the other games.

"We think we'll sell at least 85 percent of the club seats and 85 percent of the sky boxes. When you add that up, we think we'll have adequate revenue to service the debt.

"And that doesn't take into account the seasons we'll have seven homes games. Nor is the bowl revenue included into this. And we've already gotten $1.5 million from fans who have contributed to the project and we haven't even started our fund-raising efforts. That really says a lot about our fans."

Hopefully, by 2002, everything will be finished. And if it all works out, maybe Lane Stadium/Worsham Field will be Tech's field of dreams.

More on facilities

Gabbard carries the title of associate athletic director for administration. But those around the athletic department know him as the man in charge of facilities. And this summer will be a busy one for him.

In addition to the work being done on the north end zone (the construction of 3,000 bleacher seats), Gabbard is overseeing a slew of other summer projects. Here's the list: