DHS tells university they need to remove motor pool & gas tanks at a cost of $1.5 million
Chicago - Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis revealed on Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security has played a role in the changes taking place on the North side of Spartan Stadium.
Gas tanks and pumps within a long-standing motor pool used to service campus vehicles posed a security hazard and is being removed.
"That was the most important thing about all of this,'' Hollis said, "getting those gas tanks out of the Northeast quadrant.
"I think 9-11 was the first time when we said, `we have an issue here,' and then Homeland Security came in about a year ago and re-identified that as a critical issue and President (Lou Anna) Simon put it on a list.''
Hollis quickly pulled $1.5 million out of athletic department funds to have the motor pool and the hazardous gas tanks removed, while MSU transportation services director Roy Simon worked to find funds and a relocation spot for the motor pool.
"There really wasn't an option; it had to be taken out for the safety of fans and the environment we live in today, there wasn't another option,'' Hollis said at Wednesday's Big Ten athletic director meetings at the Sofitel Hotel. "That $1.5 million is in addition to the $24 million (for the North end zone project).''
"The stadium was kind of out in farm land when it was first built, so they put the motor pool there, which made sense at the time,'' Hollis said. "Over the years, there was just never an initiative to get it out. It was a gas tank for all of the (university) vehicles on campus, there's a car wash in the stadium, and oil bays.
"Motor Pool could operate comfortably there for years to come, but it was not the best place to have it for seven Saturdays.''
The MSU Board of Trustees will meet from June 19 through June 21, at which time the construction will likely get the final stamp of approval. The project, which will bring Spartan Stadium up to new millennium standards, would be slated for completion next May.
http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2013/05/michigan_state_footballs_spart.html