Pastides: Premium locations a priority

With all of the improvements and planned development around Williams-Brice Stadium, the South Carolina administration understands that in major college football the work is never truly completed.

In a sitdown interview with Gamecock Central, South Carolina President Harris Pastides echoed recent comments by athletics director Ray Tanner expressing the need for more premium seating options at the stadium

"I think there's a vision for the east side of the stadium to increase the number of premium locations," Pastides said. "Let me say, I'm very sensitive to fans and Gamecock Club members who, if ever they needed to be displaced, I'm extremely sensitive to that. But I think there are many things that we could do on that side of the the stadium that would not require that.

"I think it's just a trend that you see in the professional and in college ranks. Watching at home has become too easy and too fun, that if you're going to come to the stadium, you're kind of looking for a premium experience. Otherwise, what's the point of just having a bad seat somewhere, in the elements, having a hard time seeing the game, maybe buying a hot dog and going home when you could have done the same thing easily? I think, yeah, we're sensitive to that, and you'll be hearing about changes, I think, down the road."

Tanner said recently in an interview with 107.5 The Game that the fan base's demand for premium seating currently outweighs what the stadium can offer. South Carolina currently has around 18 suites on the west side, according to Tanner, and The Zone plus club areas on the south side.

There are currently no premium seating options on the east side where Tanner says one of the studies concluded that they could add suites and clubs in between the lower and upper decks without compromising either.

Tanner said in the same interview that they would also eye renovations to the Floyd Football building and that he would also like to one day have a Hall of Fame at or around Williams-Brice Stadium.

The next order of business around the stadium is, of course, the planned $50 million football ops building which has received final approval and is expected to be completed around August 2018.

Pastides is excited about the facility which will house the football program's offices, locker rooms and meeting areas on the same grounds as the practice fields rather than forcing players to cross Bluff Road from the stadium to go to practice.

"I was skeptical at first, I don't mind telling you that I didn't want it to be just about keeping up with the Joneses, I wanted it to be about taking better care of the team, the players and the coaches, and I got on board, because I do believe it will provide that," Pastides said.

"I'm still sensitive about players having the right amount of time off to be regular students and to do their work and to hang out and to visit with families and maybe even study abroad and stuff like that. But, yeah, it's going to be a first class facility. I think once we have it, just like the Steve and Jerri Spurrier indoor practice field, just like the new outdoor field, we're going to look at that ops building and say we can't imagine that it was never here."

While the process of upgrading facilities in terms of major college football is never truly over, Pastides is proud of the effort to this point.

"The improvements at the stadium, the apron, the Heisman trophy area, Gamecock Park, the gameday store, I mean my goodness, I pinch myself when I go down there now," Pastides said. "I remember just a few short years ago, the traffic around the stadium, there were cars moving around with fans, safety issues by the Cockabooses, broken concrete, very few trees, across the street, the Farmer's market, the Bojangles. I was told this, I went to the SEC Championship game, because I'm the vice president of the SEC, and I had people who are not Gamecocks tell me they think we have the premium, or certainly one of the best, tailgating venues in the SEC now, so that made me quite proud."

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This is part 2 of a multi-part interview with South Carolina President Harris Pastides. Pastides was selected as the school's 28th president in 2008.