On campus, construction officially began on the rebuilding of Littlejohn Coliseum last week. It\u2019s been a long process to get to this point, and much work is yet to be done, but it\u2019s exciting to see the construction fence up and dirt being moved. As with any project, there will be some inconveniences along the way. Avenue of Champions between Perimeter Road and Centennial Blvd. is closed as the demolition phase begins, and a few trees were removed from the area last week. Please know athletics and the university\u2019s facility planning department has developed a tree plan that will replace every tree in the area.<\/p>\n
While work is just beginning on Littlejohn, the player development area at Doug Kingsmore Stadium will be wrapping up in the next month. The renovation of the club and suite levels at Memorial Stadium continues in full swing and will be complete prior to the season opener on Sept. 5. For updates on each of our facilities projects, you can visit our recently launched Expand and Enhance<\/a> page on ClemsonTigers.com, where you\u2019ll find up-to-date pictures, webcams and renderings for each.<\/p>\n At last week\u2019s meetings, the conference announced the ACC Network selected our football season opener against Wofford for its 12:30 p.m. start time, and that our Week 2 game would be on ESPN3. The 12:30 p.m. kickoff of the Appalachian State game allows for a few hours more recovery for our student-athletes before the short turnaround of an ESPN Thursday night game at Louisville the next week.<\/p>\n And as we prepare for those early season games, it\u2019s been tremendous to get weekly reports on season ticket sales. We\u2019ve already eclipsed the 50,000 season ticket mark, and as of last week the renewal rate from last season is 89 percent compared to 85 percent at the same date a year ago. Our ticket office continues to contact those who have not renewed as of this writing. Additionally, it\u2019s exciting to see nearly 60 percent of all season ticket sales have taken place online. We\u2019re working with our ticketing provider to constantly upgrade the online experience, and appreciate all who have utilized the system already.<\/p>\n We close out the 2015 Prowl and Growl tour Tuesday evening in Charleston, and I\u2019ve enjoyed meeting so many of you and the excitement for Clemson Athletics is visible at each stop. Due to your generosity, IPTAY is on pace for a record breaking year!<\/p>\n Thank you for your support of Clemson Athletics and IPTAY. It is truly appreciated by each of our student-athletes and staff. We hope you have a great summer and can\u2019t wait to see you again in the fall.<\/p>\n Go Tigers,<\/p>\n Dan Radakovich<\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"http:\/\/image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com\/pics33\/160\/IK\/IKTIWOBPLOSTNAI.20141008200057.jpg\")
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