As students walked around campus sweating in 90-degree weather, the FAU Foundation, Athletics Department and members of the public rubbed their hands together nervously in the air conditioned Live Oak Pavilion waiting for a Board of Trustees vote that would secure a 30,000-seat open air football stadium on campus. “I hope that when I leave, I can be assured that we’ll be assured of this great and important addition to the University,” said FAU General Counsel David Kian.

He was assured and left speechless with the rest of the room when the board unanimously agreed on plans for the $76,570,000 “Innovation Village.” In attendance and part of the vote were all 16 Board of Trustee members, Student Government president Tony Teixiera, and University President Brogan. “Innovation Village” will encompass new housing for students, retail storefronts, and of course, the stadium. C.H Johnson Consulting, a corporation know for constructing university stadiums as well as hotels and casinos, introduced renditions of the stadium which will be similar to University of Central Florida’s Brighthouse stadium in Orlando, but with less seating. The Board of Trustees greeted the detailed renditions and operating costs with positive comments. “We know that there is so much that we can do with the stadium,” said board member Nancy Bloosey. “We will make it work and although that means a lot of work, we can do it.” New housing is also a big portion of Innovation Village as it will add a great number of students in the direct route of action at the stadium and retail areas. Boca campus now houses 2,408 students; Innovation Village will double that number by adding another 1,545 beds. Port St. Lucie Student Bobby Johnsen attended the assembly to voice student opinion. “We need a place we can call home and a place to hang our national championship awards,” said Johnsen, “I think we can get there.” FAU will be there when the stadium opens tentatively in fall 2010, phased into the concept lastly after the retail and housing portions of Innovation Village. Craig Dunlap, principal of Dunlap and Associates – a financial research firm assisting FAU with budgeting the cost for the stadium – presented feasibility studies and funding models to the Board to show a direction of payment for the construction. Three main factors include ticket sale and concession revenue, five percent of student athletic fees, and contractual revenues from suite boxes. These figures, however, are yet to be finalized. Confidence in the Board of Trustees was weary, as numerous proposals for a stadium on campus have been strewn away, including a 40,000-seat domed stadium that was to be handled by a private group of investors. That concept was discarded after careful thought by Trustee members such as David Kean. “When I spoke to Wayne Heizinga, he told me to never give up control of a stadium,” said Kean. “The FAU community will be proud that we have made the decision to make this stadium our own.” President Frank Brogan sided with the Board on dismissing the domed stadium project and thought more about the necessities of FAU’s financial standpoint. “Good intent is inevitable,” said Brogan. “But at the end of the day it comes down to the deliverables.”Before the vote, Brogan left the Board of Trustees with positive thought on the steps he has taken towards a greater FAU. “There are three types of quarterbacks, the armchairs who give orders during a game, the Monday mornings who gives orders after the game is over, and the true quarterback who holds a championship in his head,” said Brogan. “I feel like the quarterback who holds that game plan in his head.” The decision to gain a new stadium on campus was not stressed over by all including SG President Tony Teixiera, who voted on Innovation Village with the rest of the Board of Trustees. “This is a great edition to FAU,” said Teixiera. “I got to make the easiest choice of my life.”