IPTAY expansion on target for a fall completion

An additional 8,000 square feet is being added to the IPTAY building, located next to the West End Zone in Memorial Stadium. When completed, the 29,000 square-foot structure will offer three floors of much-needed space. The $10 million project is being funded by donors and private gifts to Athletics.

Project manager Kevin McDonough said the work is about 80 percent finished and explained the IPTAY building has been designed to complement the West End Zone and Memorial Stadium. “Aesthetically, it will fit into the context with the rest of the area,” he said.

The outside of the building structure is essentially completed. Inside the building, workers have hung drywall throughout the building. All electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems and fire protection are also in place.

While sidewalks, curbs and outdoor landscaping is typically reserved for the end of construction, McDonough said that workers intend to complete those items before Clemson hosts its Aug. 29 football home game. “During the fall season, we will complete work on the inside,” he said.

The ground floor of the building has been redesigned and will feature a faux glass wall, collaboration spaces, staff offices, workrooms and an externally facing ticket office. The basement area, which was the former home to the Clemson University Police Department, has been cleared and prepped for future expansion.

The once two-floor structure now has an added floor, which will offer a 48 x 40-foot multipurpose room complete with a number of big-screen TVs, a beverage-serving area, a kitchen, tables and soft seating, similar to what one would see in the West End Zone. The space is connected to a large outdoor patio with a panoramic view that overlooks Memorial Stadium.

The second floor is also home to a 30 x 30-foot executive boardroom with TV monitors, a wood ceiling and other high-end appointments. “It’s a really good place for the IPTAY board to call home,” said Harold Turner, project manager for Thompson Turner Construction Company, which is leading the project. “It’s a neat space.”

Turner, who himself is a 2011 Clemson graduate (along with 90 percent of Thompson Turner’s staff), said the building will be Green Globes certified. “It’s important to build a sustainable building,” he noted. “Building sustainable structures help the environment. It’s the right thing to do. Additionally, the cost savings go right back into the project.”

Along with the new, Turner has kept some of the old features of the site. The bronze Tiger statue that greeted visitors in front of the IPTAY entrance will remain. So will the brick pavers that lined the sidewalks – each inscribed with a donor’s name.

The project began in Dec. 2018 and is slated to be completed in November.