North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: A Grand Opening
8/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 20, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- Saturday night, it's time to celebrate.
More than 1,200 people who have purchased seats or suites in the recently completed C. Richard Vaughn Towers at Carter-Finley Stadium are expected to turn out for a black-tie optional affair, the first unveiling of the luxury suites and press box that is being hailed as one of the best in the country.
"What we tried to do on the Murphy Center and the Vaughn Towers is to go beyond what anybody else had done," said Bobby Purcell, the executive director of the NC State Student Aid Association, which funded the construction of both projects. "There are some bigger facilities, but we think the quality that we have goes beyond anything that exists in the country.
"We wanted to raise the bar and set the standard for others to kind of chase us for a while."
It's certainly a long way from the much smaller facilities that served Riddick Stadium way back when or the two-story press box that hovered over the second deck of the west grandstands from the time Carter Stadium was opened in 1966 until it was torn down following the 2003 season.
"We have already had a number of schools come in and see this," Purcell said. "I really believe it is the standard nationally right now. I think a lot of other universities, much as they did for the Murphy Center, will come in to see what we have built."
The four-level tower provides 955 club seats in the Curtis and Jacqueline Dail Club Seating and has 51 suites for corporate entertainment. There is also a chancellor's box, two boxes for home and visiting coaches, four radio and television booths and a press area that will seat up to 112 members of the media. The new tower will boost the official seating capacity of Carter-Finley Stadium to 53,570.
The new facility includes its own 4,000 square foot kitchen, operated by University Dining, that will provide catering services for the suites and club-seat holders. Also included in the building project are additional concession stands and new restrooms that will serve spectators in the west grandstands.
Among those who will speak at the gala are Purcell and athletics director Lee Fowler, plus Richard Vaughn and Curtis Dail, two of the biggest contributors for the $35 million project.
Vaughn, who contributed $5 million in 2004 to the Wolfpack Club, graduated from NC State with a degree in nuclear engineering. He is currently the chief executive officer of John S. Clark Company, a construction company in Mount Airy.
Vaughn has been a major contributor to the Wolfpack Club for more than a quarter century. He has also devoted service to the university, serving as a member of the University Board of Trustees, the Wolfpack Club Board and president of the Wolfpack Club. He has also served on selection committees that helped choose Fowler as the school's athletics director in 2000.
"This is an outstanding gift by the Vaughn family," Purcell said. "Richard is a true representative of NC State, in terms of his long-term involvement, both in leadership and in finances."
Curtis and Jacqueline Dail of Garner have helped fund numerous building projects at NC State and in Wake County. As part of the Dails' $5.2 million gift to the school in 2002, the club level seats at Vaughn Towers will be named after the couple. Their family name is also on NC State's newly opened basketball practice facility attached to the Weisiger-Brown Building, the football practice fields adjacent to Carter-Finley Stadium, as well as portions of Doak Stadium and the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Facility. The Wolfpack's new softball stadium, for which construction will begin in January, will also bear the Dails' name.
Neither of the couple went to NC State, but they long-ago developed an affinity for the school. They also recently helped the Wake County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals complete the Wake County-Curtis Dail Pet Adoption Center in Raleigh, thanks to a $600,000 donation to the Wake County SPCA.
Dail, a Cumberland County native, is a business entrepreneur who operated two dozen Hardee's franchises in the Carolinas and owned other commercial real estate ventures around North Carolina.
"They have given their money to a lot of different causes, both at NC State and in Wake County," Purcell said. "They have really become a part of the Wolfpack athletic family. They don't just go to games, they know the coaches personally.
"I bet during the course of a year, they come to as many different Wolfpack athletic events and games as anybody."
The completion of the Vaughn Towers, which will be fully operational for the Wolfpack's 2005 season-opener against Virginia Tech on Sept. 4, further enhances Carter-Finley Stadium, which has undergone massive changes in the five years since Chuck Amato became the Wolfpack head coach.
"The thing that this shows is the kind of commitment we have made to building a successful football program," Amato said. "I am proud to be here when it is going on. I am a blessed person to be here at a time that we decided to do all this. They started (in 2000), and haven't slowed down since."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
