ThunderBowl taking shape

By JOE E. CERVI, THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Nick Pannunzio has no trouble sleeping at night.

Being on schedule, and within budget, pays off for builders when it gets dark.

Nick Pannunzio

Pannunzio, the general contractor in charge of the ThunderBowl football complex next to Colorado State University-Pueblo, said Tuesday that the 6,400-seat facility, complete with 28,000-square foot field house, will be completed as planned.

"Barring a catastrophe, we'll be ready to go," Pannunzio said. "We're definitely on schedule, and we're pretty close to budget. We still need to raise about a half-million (dollars), but we're close."

His sense of optimism, and humor, allowed him to relate the standing joke regarding his future.

CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/CHRIS McLEAN

"Danny (DeRose, president of Friends of Football) says there are two places reserved for Sept. 6 (the CSU-Pueblo home opener): Dutch Clark Stadium and Adrian Comer Funeral Home," Pannunzio joked. "If this isn't done, the team plays at Dutch and I'm dead. With all the dirt we're moving, I'll probably just have them dig a couple of extra holes under the 50-yard line and they can bury me there."

Pannunzio, a 1985 graduate of CSU-Pueblo and former quarterback - he even threw the last touchdown pass before the school dropped football from its athletic programs after the 1984 season - donated his time to build the $12-million stadium. He basically is building the complex at cost.

"All of the overhead, and supervision, is from me and I'm doing that for free," Pannunzio said. "Plus, I've pledged a half-million in cash over the next five years personally. But this is one of the greatest things I've ever done."

The ThunderBowl is the biggest project in Pannunzio's 16-year general contracting career. Not only that, he didn't break ground until last July, giving him just 13 months to complete the massive project.

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/CHRIS McLEAN Work is continuing on the new football field on the campus of Colorado State University-Pueblo. Bleachers are already up on both sides of the field and excavation is under way for the ground that will be the field itself.

"Knowing football, and football stadiums, it's been a little easier for me," he said. "We didn't need to hire someone to tell us what the locker rooms should look like or where they should go. Like anything you build, there's a process to it. Everything's going according to plan and we haven't had any major problems."

Pannunzio said the scheduled completion dates (approximate, of course) for the individual projects are:

March 1 for the stands, with 3,200 seats on each side.

May 1, for the field house, which will house the football and women's track programs, a weight room, officials room, training room as well as ticket offices and meeting rooms.

June 1 for the football field and track, a nine-lane, all-weather surface.

June 1 for the visiting locker room, which will also be used to store athletic equipment.

Aug. 1 for the two press boxes. Construction on those buildings begins in March. Friends of Football owns the stadium and will lease it to the university for as long as it has a football program. CSU-Pueblo head football coach John Wristen said he makes two or three trips a week across campus to the field house from his temporary office in the school's library.

"It's unbelievable, especially how fast it's getting done," Wristen said. "I moved into the new Dal Ward Center when I was at CU and this is going to be just as nice. Nick has done a tremendous job."