Friends University, Verizon planning new stadium tower
Friends University and Verizon Wireless are teaming up on a new cellphone tower that will double as a light pole for the Falcons’ football stadium.
The proposal would replace an existing 76-foot-tall wooden stadium light pole with a 105-foot metal pole that would hold the football field’s lights and speakers and Verizon’s antennas.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the plan on Thursday. Planning staff is recommending approval.
The proposed facility is needed to increase capacity for more devices and larger amounts of data.
Planning Department report
“The applicant has stated that the proposed facility is needed to increase capacity for more devices and larger amounts of data,” the staff report said. “The facility will also increase the chances that the applicant can maintain reliable services to the area.”
The tower also will include space for at least two other providers to install antennas in the future, the report said.
Deb Stockman, associate vice president at Friends, said it’s a win-win situation.
Verizon and its customers get better cell coverage, and the university will get an annual fee for use of its property for the tower.
“It’s always good to look for any kind of an innovative sort of additional income that we can bring in to help reduce the cost of our tuition,” she said. “Besides the cell service, it’s just a nice little income stream.”
The plan requires planning commission approval because the university is in the historic Delano District, where cell towers are prohibited under the city’s wireless communications ordinance.
However, the city’s Wireless Master Plan specifically encourages using stadium light poles as cell towers to minimize any additional visual impact on residential neighborhoods.
“This proposed monopole at the site appears to be possibly one of the least intrusive proposals for this area,” the staff report said.
The commission meets at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Building, 271 W. Third St.
Dion Lefler: 316-268-6527, @DionKansas
This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Friends University, Verizon planning new stadium tower."