Close-up

Football fans at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, have a new home for their Baylor Bears. The 2014 football season marked the inaugural season of McLane Stadium, Baylor University's state-of-the-art stadium on the banks of the Brazos River. The new 860,000-square-foot, 45,000-seat stadium is more than twice the size of Floyd Casey Stadium, where Bears fans spent the previous 64 seasons.

The horseshoe-shaped stadium was built on a 93-acre lot and features 39 suites, six founder's suites, 79 loge boxes, 3,000 Baylor Line seats and 6,700 student-designated seats. Fifty-five percent of stadium seats now will be shaded throughout the day by Birdair Inc.'s PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) Teflon®-coated woven fiberglass membranes, providing fans with relief from the Texas sun. The lightweight membrane provided a cost-effective solution requiring less structural steel to support the roof, enabling long spans of column-free space.

In addition to football, McLane Stadium will host a variety of musical, sporting, family and lifestyle events.

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