Baylor University's McLane Stadium, situated just steps from the Brazos River and adjacent to I-35, has created a new front door for the university and city of Waco, extending the campus footprint and aiding in redeveloping the city and Central Texas region. Linking the campus to the city, the stadium?s site provides connectivity to new development along the Brazos River, providing momentum for growth in downtown Waco and beyond. Two new pedestrian bridges connect the campus to the stadium site, creating opportunities for new traditions and game-day pageantry that shapes the experience of attending a Baylor football game.
An amphitheater along the water, boat slips and curvilinear landscaped walkways leading to downtown further draw the community to the site on non-game days. The stadium?s design responds to the campus? classic Georgian architecture but interprets these traditional elements in a non-conventional way, framing views of campus and the Brazos through a horseshoe form with serrated brick walls and abstract viewing portals. A campus of columns, McLane Stadium features a rhythm of large columns to give scale and majesty to the stadium, while the light and airy canopy unifies the building, creating an iconic focal point of the stadium on the water.
Since opening in August, McLane Stadium has been a catalyst for momentum, inspiring a visionary development strategy centered on the stadium that will forever change the city. With its connectivity to campus and downtown, it has become an authentic representation of Central Texas ? of what the university, the city and the region will become and the experience that the community can come to expect.