Just when you thought Neyland Stadium couldn’t get any bigger, it has.

Seventy-eight new luxury boxes on the east side of the stadium will add

about 1250 seats to the building, pushing seating for Volunteer football

games close to 110,000.

The project, a $18.5 million endeavor, will be the 15th major seating

expansion in the stadium’s history.

The boxes come at a cost of $30,000 a season, including parking, catered

meals, various amenities and 16 game tickets.

“People are excited about the building of the east sky boxes,” Jim

Phillips, Assistant Athletic Director for development, said. “This project

was really in demand, so we felt like it was time to build it.”

The building was warranted, according to Phillips, thanks to a 13-year

waiting list compiled of up to 200 Vol fans for the existing luxury boxes

on the west end of the stadium.

Phillips added that only one box on the west side had changed owners since

they had been built in 1987. He said that originally 52 boxes were to be

built on the east side, but the demand was so high that the athletic

department decided to build an additional level of boxes.

As it is, there will be three separate floors of rooms with 26 boxes on

each level.

Also the boxes boast a large glass window on the rear of the structure to

allow owners and visitors to enjoy a view of the downtown area, Tennessee

River and Smoky Mountains.

“People seem to like the boxes,” Phillips said. “It was time to build

additional ones in order to give more people a chance to enjoy the game

from that perspective.”

Phillips said the boxes will be used for both business and pleasure

purposes.

“Some people find the boxes are a good way to conduct business,” Phillips

said, “while others like to bring their families up and enjoy a game.”

The actual construction of the sky boxes was a fickle process since the

timeframe for the project was set in stone.

“Coming into this, everyone knew that we had until Sept. 2 to finish,” said

Associate Athletic Director for facilities Bob Davis.

“This isn’t like an engineering building where we can wait a semester to

open up – this is Neyland Stadium and we can’t delay the start of the

season. There may be some long days and nights between here and there, but

we’re going to be done.”

The constructing of the boxes began in December 1999 and is set to conclude

Aug. 15, two and a half weeks prior to the opening kickoff of the upcoming

season.

According to Davis, everything has run to perfection regarding construction

behind the work of Ray Bell Construction of Nashville.

“You have to take your hat off to Ray Bell and Jeff Walker (supervisor),

who have both done an excellent job working with this project,” Davis said.

“Everything has been timely and we expect that to continue until

completion.”

Davis noted that the need for the boxes is a testament to the UT fans.

“This is really a tribute to the fans,” Davis said, “to see that they are

willing to support the football team in the form of new sky boxes.

“And we feel that these boxes will continue to sell for many years to

come.”