Explore the past century of Wolfpack football facilities - the playing fields may have changed, but the passion's remained the same.
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Come "home" to NC State for a weekend of exciting events. From the Hillsborough St. parade to Saturday’s matchup with Maryland, there’s plenty to do on and off the field.Maintaining A Sense of Place & History:
Our facilities may have changed over the years, but our passion for Wolfpack football remains as strong as it's ever been.
Part 6 - Metamorphosis of a Stadium
When Chuck Amato was hired as head coach in 2000, he helped build the momentum for improving the stadium that Edwards, the coach who had recruited Amato and his brother Rosie from Pennsylvania, made a reality.
The first piece of a $100 million renovation project was the Murphy Center, a 108,776-square-foot home for the football program that includes coaches offices, a football museum, lockerrooms, weight rooms and a television studio. At the same time, the south end of the stadium where the long-loved grassy bank had been used for general-admission seating since the stadium opened was enclosed with 5,800 chair-backed seats.
The old press box was demolished in 2004 to make way for Vaughn Towers, a four-level press box and luxury seating tower that features 51 private boxes and premium seating for some 1,200 season ticket holders.
In 2006, the original A.E. Finley Fieldhouse was demolished and the North End Zone was enclosed. The $17.3 million project added 5,800 permanent seats atop new home and visiting lockerroom facilities and other storage facilities. Nearly 2,000 bleacher seats were also added underneath the scoreboard, giving the stadium a new capacity approaching 60,000.
In the fall of 2006, Boston College visited Carter-Finley Stadium and lost on a last-second pass from Daniel Evans to John Dunlap. The Eagles' coach at the time, Tom O'Brien, was blown away with the changed that had been made to the stadium, which he last visited while an assistant coach at Virginia in 1995.
"I saw something special was going on here," said O'Brien, who was hired as NC State's head coach in December 2006. "And I wanted to be a part of it."
The final stage of renovations occurred this past summer, when the crowned playing surface originally installed in 1966 was replaced with a sand-based, laser-leveled field, and a new irrigation system was added.
While there are plans to build a luxury seat box similar to Vaughn Towers above the east grandstands, after nearly a decade of renovations, improvements and upgrades, Carter-Finley is complete — an up-to-date modern facility that compares favorably to any in the ACC.
Fans are even more enamored with the stadium than they were when it first opened nearly 45 years ago – for nine straight years, all season tickets have been sold well in advance to the opening game.
Gallery: 2000 - Present
Contributions
This article was written by Tim Peeler, managing editor of GoPack.com. All images courtesy of NC State, from the University Archives and Creative Services. Retrospective video by NC State Creative Services staff, with score courtesy NC State Digital Repository. Site created, designed and programmed by NC State Web Communications.
