Auburn Board of Trustees grants final approval for $300M renovation to Jordan-Hare Stadium

AUBURN — The largest capital project in Auburn University 's known history was cleared by its Board of Trustees on Friday, April 17, with final approval granted for a both a multi-purpose facility and plaza space on Jordan-Hare Stadium 's north end, projected to cost a combined $323 million. The new multi-purpose facility has an estimated price tag of $305 million, with the additional plaza space surrounding it projected to cost $18 million. The board also approved a motion to restore nearby Petrie Hall, running in tandem with Jordan-Hare's renovations.

An estimated price tag has not been listed for that project. In terms of timeline, Auburn hopes to have at least a portion of the project completed and available for use by fall 2028, with the remainder to be finished in 2029, Auburn Vice President of Facilities Management Jim Carroll said. "I'm going to try not to get emotional about this, but if I live for 20 more years, this would be one of those moments where you come back to this facility, 20 years from now, and be happier about it than you are right now," Auburn athletics director John Cohen said during Friday's meeting.

"This is a moment for Auburn University — the university, not the athletic department. The entire university and everything that comes with it. " The multipurpose center will construct a seven-story addition onto Jordan-Hare, with "new campus and game-day kitchens, flexible dining and concession venues, a multi-purpose hall and ballroom, flexible and adaptable spaces for both campus and game-day usage, and new club and premium suites," according to materials for the board's April 17 meeting.

What's dubbed the "North Plaza," according to meeting materials, will add an elevated plaza above Heisman Drive, between Jordan-Hare and Petrie Hall, with "expanded hardscape and landscape," and operational support space for the north end zone project beneath it, as well as connections to the east and west of Petrie Hall. Auburn's last project at Jordan-Hare was the completion of another piece of the north end zone, with a 47-by-154-foot video board placed above the end zone for the 2025 season, replacing a scoreboard that stood since 1987. That projected, approved in June 2024, was given an estimated price tag of $25.