Students and other fans alike will encounter some new game experiences at Camp Randall Stadium this season.
In addition to the well-documented move of the student voucher exchange to right outside Camp Randall, once students are inside the 88-year-old stadium they will discover changes to the friendly confines of the student sections themselves.
The most obvious change is the creation of two pedestrian aisles at rows 19 and 42 that stretch across the entire student section.
\It allows free flow of traffic,"" said Jim Schumacher, project executive with Cullen-Smith, the construction firm that performed the $109 million renovation of Camp Randall.
The athletic department included the cross-aisles to meet safety requirements outlined by the Kaiser report, which was a 1993 incident report commissioned by the chancellor's office after 70 people were hurt in the student section stampede following UW's 13-10 upset of Michigan.
""We had to create surge zones, so if there ever was [another] surge, we had to have relief,"" Schumacher said.
Associate Athletic Director Doug Beard explained that UW could not immediately implement all 51 of the Kaiser report recommendations to improve stadium safety.
""Some of those we did immediately after that game, others had to wait for a major remodeling project like we've just gone through,"" Beard said.
Additionally, the first 22 rows of the student sections became 18 wider rows, which created more space for people in the event of a surge.
These renovations, combined with the return of the band to the bleachers, meant the student section shrank by about 1,000 seats. However, the athletic department solved this by expanding the student section into part of section J and moving those season-ticket holders to areas that used to be reserved for visiting team tickets.
""We still have the exact same number of [student] tickets we had before-14,000,"" Beard said.
Beard added UW still meets the Big Ten's requirements for amount of visiting team tickets it must provide.
Some of the other updates fans may notice include:
u Gate changes: There are now only 10 larger gates in which fans can enter the stadium, instead of 22 smaller gates. The student gate, Gate 5, on the north end of the stadium, remains as large as the previous entrance. There will be 14 ""chutes"" for students to enter Gate 5 through when they exchange their vouchers, which will hopefully keep line chaos to a minimum.
""It's going to be a learning curve for students with anything that's new,"" Beard said. ""We'll make adjustments game to game. We want to make it work.""
u On-field changes: The lowest four rows of obstructed view seating have been removed along with the outer track. Fans will not be able to walk on the field level to access their seats.
u Concourse improvements: Cramped narrow hallways have given way to more spacious concession and bathroom areas. Also gone are the days in which one had to wander through tight spaces and up and down stairs if they wanted to walk around the entire stadium.
""People may not realize it, but at the main concourse level you are between seven and nine feet off the ground on the west side and about 33 feet off the ground on the east side,"" said renovation design leader Bill Doyle of Berners-Schobel. ""Now you can go all the way around on the same level.""
