Camp Randall Stadium Renovation

Nice Timing

Cullen-Smith scores with Camp Randall project

By Jim Cryns

Success on the football field often comes down to timing.

The same can be said for the reconstruction of a football stadium. And when that stadium happens to be the home of a Big Ten Conference football team as well as the nerve center for a major college sports program, the line between good and bad timing gets even finer.

So, in looking back at nearly three years spent reconstructing Camp Randall Stadium, the team of J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc. and Fond du Lac-based C.D. Smith Construction can safely say that it successfully walked one of the finest of lines.

“What I’m most proud of is it came off without a hitch,” said Jim Schumacher, Camp Randall’s senior project manager for Janesville-based Cullen. “Sure, some fans were inconvenienced, the owner was inconvenienced, but, overall, it was a great success.”

High-profile projects are nothing new for Schumacher or Cullen, which took on Camp Randall on the heels of the reconstruction of the state Capitol in Madison.

“After my work on the Capitol, I had no trepidation about approaching Camp Randall,” he said. “I said, ‘Let’s go for it.’”

The Capitol experience taught Schumacher that a successful project relies heavily on calendar management and dealing with small problems before they grow.


	Project Name: Camp Randall Stadium Renovation Location: Madison Submitting Company: Cullen-Smith LLC, Janesville General Contractor: Cullen-Smith LLC Architect: Berners-Schober Associates Inc., Green Bay Engineer: Arnold & O'Sheridan Inc., Brookfield Owner: State of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison Project Cost: $86.2 million Project Size: 350,000 square feet Start Date: December 2002 Completion Date: August 2005

“We had a team of people that worked exclusively with the scheduling of staff and teams,” he said. “It was a great feat to get everyone on the same page. We didn’t have just the football season to work with; we had a working environment.”

But the construction team managed to balance its working environment with that of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to make major changes to the stadium. The facility’s capacity grew from 76,129 seats to 80,321 seats. The structure now houses 72 suites along with 337 club seats and 590 varsity indoor seats.

The reconstruction effort also included the demolition of the south end zone area, including the old scoreboard and the bleachers. And, to deal with a major concern of fans, the women’s rest rooms were more than doubled to 463, while men’s rest rooms increased from 445 to 499.

But, Schumacher said, one of the biggest challenges of the job was honoring the history of the landmark structure. The stadium was built in 1917, and it underwent several updates over the years.

“They were true craftsmen, as we are today,” Schumacher said. “They were true to what was put before them. They followed their plan, which allowed us to follow ours.”

And, as the reconstructed stadium heads toward its second full football season, the Cullen-Smith team can rest assured that its plan worked out.

“You have a great sense of accomplishment when you’re done,” Schumacher said. “It was a benchmark project because we came together collectively and formed a joint venture with everyone involved and pooled all our resources to complete the project.”

And for Schumacher and thousands of other Badgers football fans, the precise timing that held the project together will serve as a source of pride for many fall Saturdays to come.

“I think our vision held since the very beginning,” he said. “I’m a season-ticket holder for the Badgers; my father was a season-ticket holder. I’d like to think that every time I sit in the stands, I can see our fingerprint on the structure.”