Photo courtesy of PENN STATE ATHLETICS Former Penn State player Michael Mauti (right wearing hardhat) is surrounded by current players Randy Adirika (52), Dayshaun Burnett (43), Malachi Goodman (78) and Cortez Harris (46) during the taping of a promotional video for the Beaver Stadium Revitalization Project.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Many of us have lived through a home remodeling project whether it be the construction of a new kitchen or bathroom. Maybe even something more extravagant like the building of an extension or garage,

For the Penn State faithful, the work will be a smidge larger in scale and extensive and carries a bigger price tag of $700 million. That’s the cost for the Beaver Stadium Revitalization Project, which is expected to wrap up prior to the 2027 college football season.

The 107,000-seat stadium looks familiar in some ways today, but Penn State just put the (temporary) finishing touches on Beaver Stadium’s interim look, which debuts today when the Nittany Lions host Nevada in their season opener.

Penn State football will play its seven-game home schedule in a unique environment, as Beaver Stadium continues to undergo aspects of its renovation while the Nittany Lions chase a national championship. The work kicked off last January when the press box structure fell on the west side of the stadium.

“I’m totally amazed how quick they got it constructed,” said Brian Heckert, of Reedsville and a long-time Penn State football fan. “In June, none of the (temporary) bleachers were up and they had just started pouring the concrete for the supports.”

Penn State’s Beaver Stadium will feature more than 7,000 temporary seats this season, as the Nittany Lions play through a long-term renovation.

Heckert’s family, which has had season tickets since 1954, won’t be affected this season, but they will have to relocate to new seats in the near future.

Heckert also finds it fascinating that work continues on the stadium between games.

“They are there Monday through Thursday to continue to work through the season on some minor stuff,” Heckert explained. “They also invited everybody over for an open house for the new side. They put these blue curtains up behind the stadium, so it covers the steps and the backs of the bleachers.”

Penn State has trickled out details about the three-year renovation plan, which when finished, Beaver Stadium will feature an entirely new West Tower, a complex of more than 600,000 square feet that will house two clubs, 15 executive suites, 30 loge boxes and about 4,500 club seats. It also will feature the Lubert Family Welcome Center that Penn State is positioning as the university’s “front door,” school officials said.

“The planned renovations to Beaver Stadium aim to extend the life of the historic venue while enhancing the fan experience and upgrading the facilities to meet top-tier standards within the collegiate conferences,” Penn State said in a statement.

Temporary bleachers for two seasons

In the meantime, Beaver Stadium will feature temporary seating for the next two Penn State football seasons. InProduction, which bills itself as the nation’s “largest provider” of temporary seating structures, has spent the summer constructing the giant bleachers atop the West Tower’s base.

InProduction builds temporary seating facilities for sporting events from golf tournaments to F1 races to soccer matches as well as seating for Northwestern’s temporary football stadium.

Officials also talked about the progress of the East deck temporary bleachers that Penn State has installed for the season. They are located on concourses on the northeast and southeast corners of Beaver Stadium. Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin called these seats welcome additions to the Beaver Stadium experience.

“Why didn’t we do that in the past?” Franklin recently told reporters. “That was wasted space forever.”

‘Lineman approved’

In the latest of its series of promotional videos about the revitalization project, Penn State enlisted the help of former Nittany Lion Michael Mauti and a group of current linemen to check out the new seating at Beaver Stadium.

“I figured we’d bring some of the biggest guys on the team to check these new bleachers,” Mauti said.

“For sure, nobody’s better for the job,” a smiling Malachi Goodman, a freshman offensive lineman from Bloomfield, N.J.

“I’ve even heard that 75 percent of the materials were labored and made right here in Pennsylvania. They’re PA tough,” said Brady O’Hara, a freshman offensive lineman from Mars, Pa., reading a cue card before heading up to the temporary seats.

The players put the construction to the test, pulling on the supports and testing the structure. Once seated, the players were certainly impressed.

“I’m not going to lie … these might be the best seats in the house, besides ours from the field,” said an impressed Dayshaun Burnett, a freshman defensive end from Pittsburgh.

Mauti added, “Hey guys, I’d say this new seating is officially …”

“Lineman approved,” they all said in unison.

New signage, technology at Beaver Stadium

Penn State also has added new signage to reflect the stadium’s updated name. Penn State officially will refer to it as West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, after the Pennsylvania home-remodeling company made a $50 million gift for the field-naming rights.

According to Sports Business Journal, InProduction also has brought spacecubes to Beaver Stadium. The temporary structures live up to their name by adding space to venues through movable cubes.

At Beaver Stadium, InProduction is turning the spacecubes into temporary broadcast and media booths below the temporary West side stands. They’re being used as temporary hospitality areas.

Parking and tailgating unaffected

School officials anticipate football game day parking and tailgating will not be limited during the stadium construction period, there might be minimal impacts across the construction site. The construction footprint will be expanded during the off-season but will shrink to accommodate football game day parking in-season.

For more information, visit www.gopsusports.com and click “Beaver Stadium Revitalization.”