BLACKSBURG - The action on the field won't be the only interesting thing to see at the Virginia Tech football team's home opener Saturday.

Assistant athletic director Tom Gabbard said fans will be awed when they look at the construction being done at Lane Stadium. Work began in January to expand the stadium's west side; the 166,000-square-foot complex is expected to be completed next August. The west-side concourse will remain open to the public this season, so fans will be able to get a close-up look at the progress of the $52.5 million project, which Gabbard said is the campus' most costly capital project ever.

"When they come to the game, they're going to see how big it's going to be," Gabbard said. "A fan that looks at a drawing and then looks at it in real life is going to say, 'Hey, that's a pretty big structure' - and we're going up two more floors. It's going to be pretty nice."

Work is on schedule and on budget, Gabbard said. Most of the concrete work is done, including the foundation and five floors. The steelwork, including the steel for the top two floors of the seven floors, will begin next month. Once the steel is in place, partitioning will begin on the complex's various offices.

When the season is over, the press box will be cut up in sections - it won't be imploded as originally planned. Work will begin next year on such things as the luxury suites and stadium clubs. Lane's capacity will be expanded from 65,115 spectators to 66,233, with all seats reassigned for the 2005 season to reward generous donors.

Work will be done today to make the construction area safe and more amenable for those attending Saturday's game. No scaffolding will be left exposed to the fans.

Plenty of gravel will be laid along the two new west-side entrances in the center of the construction area. Those entrances, which double as emergency exits, will be fenced off. Those entrances will remain once the project is finished.

In addition to the new entrances, there will be two other west-side entrances. The southwest entrance remains the same, but the northwest entrance will be closer to the north end zone.

Signs will alert fans to the location of the west-side entrances.

The west side will have fewer concession areas this season because of the construction. The turkey-leg vendor, for example, will move to the southeast corner.

"We have adequate space on the west and we have more than enough space in the south, so if it gets too crowded on the west you can go to the south" for concessions, said Gabbard.

For night games later this season, two temporary light poles have been added on the west side to replace the ones lost because of construction.

The Hokie Club will try to raise $15 million for the project.

Debt service and $10 million naming rights will pay for the rest of the project, although a naming-rights donor has not yet been found.

Money from the addition's luxury suites and club seats will be used to pay off the debt.