Penn State receives $25 million gift toward Beaver Stadium renovation
Penn State Athletics is receiving a big financial boost toward its plan to renovate Beaver Stadium. The department announced a $25 million gift on Wednesday from the Misitano family and PAM Health toward the ongoing $700 million project to modernize and improve the 107,000-seat venue.
“Upon the completion of the Beaver Stadium Revitalization project, the newly constructed West Tower naming opportunity will recognize their generous gift,” Penn State wrote in a news release. “The West Tower will be home to a University Welcome Center, expanded concourses with open views of the field and modern amenities, private luxury suites, loge boxes and two distinct club seat experiences with lounge access. It will also feature more than 59,000 square feet of public-facing event space.”
Anthony Misitano, a Penn State alum who is the CEO of Enola-based PAM Health, his wife Catherine, and daughter Brittany have key supporters of the football program, first as season ticket holders, and also as donors to it and the athletic department at large. Among other things, they have also supported the Football Excellence Fund and endowed scholarships for field hockey, women’s hockey and women’s basketball
“We are so very grateful to the Misitano family and PAM Health for their generous gift to the Beaver Stadium Revitalization project,” Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said in a statement.
“The Misitano family has a long history with Penn State Athletics and has been unbelievably supportive of a number of sports programs, and this tremendous Founders Gift is another example of their devotion to Penn State. Words cannot express the appreciation we have for the Misitano family and PAM Health for their commitment to be leaders in this important project to make Beaver Stadium even more iconic than it already is.”
More on the Penn State plan for Beaver Stadium
The Penn State Board of Trustees approved the massive renovation plan earlier this year. Some of it, like winterization work, new concourse concessions and escalators, video and ribbon boards, and improved circulation for fans, is complete and/or will be seen this year. Construction to fully renovate the west side of the stadium starts after this season. It is to finish by the start of the 2027 season.
“We don’t have enough premium, [and] we actually lost an event, a big, big, big event, because we didn’t have premium,” Kraft said in July. “And that has to be a part of it. We’re expanding concourses. More concessions, more bathrooms, but there are pinch points to get around. It’s just tight. It’s also expensive to build in Happy Valley. All of that told, it wasn’t like we threw a dart. That’s what it costs to do what we need to do to get the building up, healthy, and alive again, and then to fix a lot of the other issues. Then, when you do that, you have to pay for it, and the west side premium is going to help a lot with that.”
