The University Record, January 9, 1996
Football fans can pave a yellow (maize?) brick road
By Jared Blank
If all goes according to plan, you’ll be able to follow the yellow brick road into Michigan Stadium’s Gate 4 next season. OK, the bricks won’t be yellow, but a new brick walkway will be the centerpiece of a five-year $5 million renovation for the stadium.
Phase one of the plan, set to begin this spring, features a unique $750,000 fundraising effort by the Athletic Department to pay for a new “Champions Plaza” at the entrance on the corner of Stadium Boulevard and Main Street. Maize and Blue faithful can purchase personalized bricks that will line the entrance to Gate 4. According to Robert J. Decarolis, senior director for financial operations, the Athletic Department hopes to sell 6,000 bricks to line the new plaza.
“The brick sale is a small part of the total master plan for the football stadium renovations,” DeCarolis says. “We will be putting in a number of new amenities, including more convenient concession stands and restrooms.”
Bricks are available in three sizes and range in cost from $100—$1,000. DeCarolis notes that 150,000 brochures will be mailed to faculty, staff and season ticket holders, among others, starting this week.
The stadium also will sport a less daunting exterior, as the chain link fence and barbed wire will be removed throughout the five-year renovation and replaced with a wrought iron fence. The first sections of new fencing will be placed around the Champions Plaza this spring.
