2012 will be last year the Cougars will play at Robertson Stadium. The field, structure and gymnasium dates back to 1941 when it was known as the “Public School Stadium”. The stadium hosted it’s first sporting event in September 18, 1942, a high school football game that brought a crowd of 15,000, 75% of it’s max capacity. It would later host Houston Dynamo, Houston Cougars and two NFL expansion teams, the Houston Oilers and the Houston Texans. Even though the stadium would be renovated multiple times throughout its life, maximum capacity was an issue for major sporting events.
University of Houston has now chosen the PageSoutherlandPage and the DLR Group to begin the design and construction of the new facility. The firm has experience building multiple large facilities including dozens of high schools, courthouses, correctional institution, convention center and also performed the renovations of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as well as Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium. DLR Group consistently ranks in Architect Magazine’s Architect 50 list, reaching #3 in 2010, for profitability, sustainable ethos and design quality.
Seeing the tear down of Robertson Stadium will be a sad yet exciting day. Gone will be the 70 year old stadium of the past and in its place will be a massive modern development that houses luxury suites, club and box seating, modern electronics, new lighting, locker rooms for home and guest teams as well as an initial design to seat an audience of 40,000 fans with an option to expand to 60,000. Only fitting with the Houston Cougars becoming full members of the Big East Conference with some thrilling games planned for the future.
The project, which was estimated to cost $120 million dollars, has stirred up quite a bit of excitement and support. Ron Yokubaitis, a University of Houston Alum, as well as Carolyn Yokubaitis, founders and co-CEOs of Data Foundry donated $10 million dollars towards the project. Earlier this year the students of U.H. voted to increase fees to support the development of athletic facilities by a margin of 73.9% to 26.1%. If you would like to contribute to the stadium project fund or support an individual athletic program by donating, buying tickets or memberships, please visit the Houston Cougar Pride website.