COLUMBIA — The game-changer, the blank canvas that will usher in a new look and new era for South Carolina football …
Remains mysterious.
“I was hoping that this summer we would have a little more information. We’re continuing to make progress on that but we don’t have anything at this point that we can share,” athletics director Ray Tanner said. “But I hope that we will be able to sooner than later.”
USC announced on Feb. 7 that a nearly 900-acre site behind the football program’s operations building and 17 acres around Colonial Life Arena were being put up for bid to developers from around the country. The idea was to pick one developer, let them build on the site(s) and then use the money for improvements to Williams-Brice Stadium, some of which could be major projects.
Neither USC nor the public would have to spend a penny for the development since the school owns the land and could sit back and collect a rent check every month. Bids were due in March.
Whether or not there’s been a bid selected or the project continues to simmer, USC isn’t saying. There wasn’t going to be anything done to the stadium for this season anyway — Sept. 9 is the first home football game — but after such a grandiose announcement, folks are anxious to see what’s on tap.
The scope of the project could net $1 billion, university officials said. But until bids were perused, they couldn’t say exactly what the development would include. Studies have been done on developments around AT&T Stadium in Dallas and Truist Park in Atlanta, each areas that mix the ballpark with restaurants, hotels and shopping space.
“I’m noticing a lot of other schools are popping up now with different ideas and moving in that direction. We think we’re a little bit ahead of that pace,” said Tanner, who said he’s still optimistic that this project will happen. “But the pathway to get there is not as easy as you would like for it to be. But it’s a major project.”
The bulk of the acreage behind the Long Family Football Operations Center is on a flood plain. There was once a project titled Carolina Venture that wanted to build a community on the site, but federal and county regulations denied it due to approximately 847 of the 889 acres being located in that flood plain.
Columbia’s historic rainfall in 2015 flooded that area and many parts of the city. Yet USC is confident that it will be able to build on the site and then use that money to finance stadium improvements.
Tanner said there were no renovations to the stadium for this season outside of the standard repairs and fixes, but teased that there may be a “a couple of surprises” as the Gamecocks head into the new season.
But the big surprise, the game-changer, remains uncertain.
