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Click Here to visit the Boone Pickens Stadium website with construction cameras, videos, photos, and more.
Boone Pickens Stadium, renamed from Lewis Field after the historic gift from the OSU alum, offi cially opened a new south side in 2004, a new north side in 2006 and construction is ongoing on a multi-year project that will put OSU’s stadium among the nation’s elite.Currently on display is the ongoing west end zone project. When completed, Boone Pickens Stadium will feature 60,000 seats in a horseshoe setting with modern-day fan amenities, while maintaining perhaps the closest proximity to game action in all of football.
The west end zone project will also include a new multilevel football operations center. Some of the features of the project will be new football offices, meeting rooms, speed and conditioning center, locker rooms, equipment room, athletic medicine center, media facilities, hall of fame area and training table.
The final touches at the top of the stadium will raise OSU’s suite
total to more than 100, with the total of club seats remaining at
4,000. Four video boards will be featured along with a ribbon
board that will encircle the interior of the stadium.
The wheels were set in motion on the stadium project when OSU alum Boone Pickens made the single-largest gift in school history in 2003. His $70 million gift ($20 million of which was earmarked for stadium expansion) spurred the “Next Level Campaign”, which generated more than $100 million in gifts and pledges and involved more than 2,500 individuals, making it the single-most successful campaign in OSU history.
Pickens capped the fundraising effort in 2005 with his momentous gift of $165 million that will not only benefit Cowboy football, but will aid with the development of OSU’s planned multi-million dollar athletic village. The gift is the largest ever received by a university athletic department.
It’s not just the stadium that is changing. In 2005, the playing surface was replaced with Football Pro, a surface created by Millennium Sports Technologies that is considered the best and most durable synthetic surface available.
OSU’s practice field has also been completely reshaped and covered with a new natural surface that ranks among the best in college football.
The commitment to success is not just alive and well at Oklahoma State, it is on display every day as the home of Cowboy Football continues its rapid transformation into one of the premier facilities in all of college football.
The new surfaces, in addition to renovated locker room and weight training facilities, were made possible through gifts by Pickens and fellow OSU alum Sherman Smith that totaled $3 million. Smith, another generous OSU alum, will have his name on Oklahoma State’s new indoor practice facility (see page 18).
OSU’s football home is now far removed from the original field that opened in 1914. The Cowboys’ first athletic field gained its first permanent seating in 1920 and was repositioned from north-south to east-west to “avoid the prevailing strong winds.” The stadium was originally named after Laymon Lowery Lewis, the popular dean of veterinary medicine in the early 1900s.
The first addition to the stadium came in 1924 with the steel and concrete portion of the south stadium. During the 1929-30 seasons, 8,000 permanent seats were built on the north side to bring the capacity to 13,000. In 1947, the south stadium was increased from 20 to 53 rows and capacity climbed to over 30,000. The fi rst permanent press box was added in 1948. Prior to the 1950 season, 10,600 more seats were added to the north stands, increasing capacity to 39,000. The next expansion didn’t come until 1971 when the cinder track around the fi eld was removed. The fi eld was lowered 12 feet and 20 rows of permanent seating were added to both sides.
The first artificial surface was installed in 1971 at a cost of $2.5 million, and the coaches’ offices (now part of the Athletic Center) were constructed prior to the start of the 1978 season. The stadium’s press box was torn down and reconstructed in 1980 at a cost of $1.8 million and the lighting system was installed prior to the 1985 season.
A second artificial surface was installed prior to the 2000 season and remained in place until the summer of 2005.
Due to construction, official capacity at Boone Pickens Stadium is 44,700 for the 2007 season. The all-time largest crowd in stadium history is 51,458 for the OSU-OU game in 1979. More than 51,000 also were on hand for a game against Arkansas the same year.
| Attendance | |
| 2008 Capacity | 60,000 |
| Largest Crowd(s) | 51,458 |
| (vs. Oklahoma, 1979) | |
| 51,000 | |
| (vs. Arkansas, 1979) | |
| Opening Dates | |
| Field Opening | 1913 |
| (Athletic Field) | |
| Stadium Opening | 1920 |
| (capacity 8,000) | |
| Venue Renamed | 1914 |
| (Lewis Field) | |
| 2003 | |
| (Pickens Stadium) | |
Previous Expansion & Renovation Projects
1924: Permanent south side seating
1929: Permanent north side seating
1947: South renovations raise capacity to 28,000
1948: First permanent press box constructed
1950: North renovations raise capacity to 39,000
1971: Field lowered, capacity increased to 50,440
1978: Coaches building constructed
1980: New $1.8 million press box added
1985: $750,000 lighting system added
Next Level Campaign
2004: South side completed
2006: North side completed
2008: West endzone seating completed
2009: Project completed in time for 2009 opener
| Records | |
| OSU Home Record | 274-173-27 (.607) |
| Athletic Field Record | 23-12-7 (.580) |
| (1901, 1903-1913) | |
| Stadium Record | 251-161-20 (.604) |
| Perfect Home Seasons | 10 |
| (1910, 1912, 1914, 1918, | |
| 1924, 1931, 1940, 1945, | |
| 1957, 1984) | |
| Five-Win Home Seasons | 12 |
| (1912, 1924, 1931, 1932, | |
| 1940, 1972, 1975, 1976, | |
| 1984, 1987, 1988, 2002) | |
| Most Home Wins | 6 |
| (1931, 1984, 2002) | |
| Longest Home Win Streak | 9 |
| (1984 and 1985) | |
This grand facility, now bigger and better than ever, remains home to more national championships than any other facility in America.
One of the nation's largest collegiate strength and conditioning facilities (30,000 square feet of space including the weight room and oval running track) is housed in the basement level of the Athletic Center.
In order to complete the project on schedule while not missing a home basketball game during the 1999-2000 season, an ingenious plan was devised to allow construction work during the day but allow games to be played at night and on weekends.
At 30 feet above the ground, the concourse level is illuminated with natural light from large window walls, where visitors to the arena can look out across Stillwater in all directions.
The Athletics Center's new sports medicine facility boasts a cutting-edge Hydroworks Therapy Pool with a variablespeed treadmill for student-athletes to rehabilitate injuries safely and effectively by running in water.
The Athletics Center features the nation's only skybox suites that allow fans to view basketball or wrestling in the arena from the east side and football games from the west side.
Heritage Hall showcases more than a century of excellence in athletics at Oklahoma State University.
Located within the Athletic Center, the Hall honors the countless men and women who have left their mark on the OSU campus, as well as in our hearts and minds.
Four main eras in OSU history are displayed chronologically from north to south, each filled with success stories and memorable moments. Browsing through the exhibits, visitors find national champions, Olympians, academic accolades, mascots, military heroes, campus life and much more.
Heritage Hall provides a glimpse into O-State’s proud past as it looks forward to an even brighter future.
The future of Oklahoma State University Athletics will not be defi ned by a single facility or venue but by an assortment of new facilities that will form a state-of-the-art complex on the OSU campus.
The Athletic Village, to be located just north of Boone Pickens Stadium, will benefi t every program in the Oklahoma State athletic department while providing OSU with cutting edge venues located in a convenient and comprehensive setting. And unlike most campuses in which facilities are added individually, Oklahoma State is in the enviable position of being able to put together a long-range facility blueprint that will allow the venues to complement each other in an integrated fashion.
While planning for the Athletic Village is still in the early stages and all artists’ renderings are subject to change, the completed projects will include new venues for track, baseball, tennis and soccer.
The village will also house the Sherman Smith Training Center, the new indoor practice facility that will benefit every studentathlete on the OSU campus.
On Jan. 11, 2007, Oklahoma State University announced that alumnus Sherman Smith was donating $20 million toward Oklahoma State University’s athletic indoor practice facility.
The gift made Sherman Smith the second largest private donor in the history of OSU. “This gift is a reflection of how much Oklahoma State University means to Dad,” said Will Smith, son of Sherman Smith and family spokesman. “He very often shares stories, tales and anecdotes of his time as a student at Oklahoma State. He enjoys watching his Cowboys and Cowgirls and their pursuit of conference and national titles.
“It is a privilege to have the resources to financially assist in the vision of OSU Athletics,” he added. “The energy business has been very good to us, and we feel blessed to make this contribution.” The new indoor facility will bear Sherman Smith’s name.
“This is a special gift serving Oklahoma State athletics,” said athletic director Mike Holder. “An important part of dramatically improving our athletic facilities, this gift continues the momentum that has been established at OSU. Sherman has been a tremendous difference maker in supporting OSU Athletics for many years. We are extremely grateful to Sherman and his family for this important contribution.” The new facility will be strategically located across the street from Boone Pickens Stadium in the Athletic Village. Studentathletes, coaches and athletic trainers will have convenient access to Boone Pickens Stadium, Gallagher-Iba Arena, weight training facilities, sports medicine amenities, administrative offices, and future additions to the Athletic Village.
The new facility will be located adjacent to OSU’s new football practice fields.
