I remember watching BYU playing football against Wyoming in 1962. I was at the old football field sitting on the west side when BYU’s quarterback, Eldon Fortie, “the Phantom” came into the game injured with his shoulder taped up and scored to lead BYU to win the game. On Thanksgiving weekend in 1965 I was with five other BYU students going down to see the BYU-New Mexico football game. Just past Farmington, New Mexico I was sleeping in the back seat early in the morning and another student was driving the car when it spun off the road and flipped upside down. We were all hurt, especially my back but somehow I still managed to get to the game and watched BYU win their first WAC Championship. I was at the “Miracle Bowl” at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego in 1980 and one of the few who stayed to the end of the game. I was again at the Holiday Bowl in 1984 when BYU played Michigan and went on to win the National Championship.

Now you know my feelings about BYU I will get down to the reason of this letter. When BYU built the new Cougar Stadium in 1963 and added the end zone seats in 1982 I noticed steel pillars going to nowhere between the “four gaps” which I only assumed would be filled into a bowl stadium in the future. Now after these many years later it still has not come to pass. I heard of talks through the years that maybe the stadium would be eventually torn down and a dome cover would be added on. Now I personally think this is nonsense. If we use the existing structure of 63,470 seats and fill in the four end gaps it would give us 7,000 new seats per gap or a total of 28,000 new seats making it a 91,470 seat LaVell Edwards Stadium. If you want to make it a 100,000+ seat bowl you could add a 2nd tier above the student section.

Think of the sound level from a stadium this size to cheer on our Cougars. Please consider this proposed plan.

Robert Nelson Ballard, Salt Lake City