Today in history in 1987, The Daily Cougar’s Marilyn Swanson reported Environmental Capstone Design students were given the chance to develop building plans for the renovation of Robertston Stadium as part of a semester-long class project.
‘Given the athletic department’s deficit, and the University’s tight budget, there’s not much money available for improvement,’ civil engineering professor Jack Matson said. ‘It’s an ideal undertaking for us.’
The 15 students in the class were divided into three groups, which received $100 each from the Board of Regents to design and build a model of its renovation plan.
Bill Wilson, then-manager of facilities and operations for the athletic department, said renovation plans must include the addition of 15,500 seats to increase capacity to 37,500 and an expanded storm drainage system for Robertson Stadium to meet Southwest Conference requirements.
According to the UH athletic department’s Web site, the current capacity of Robertson Stadium is 32,000. The stadium was built in 1941 in partnership with the Houston Independent school District. Houston played all its home games there until 1951, when the team moved its home games to Rice Stadium. In 1965, the Cougars became the first college team to call a domed stadium – the Astrodome – its home before returning to playing at Robertson in 1998.
