Mar 16, 2025
Associated Press file photo
UNIVERSITY PARK – Beaver Stadium’s field has a new name.
The Penn State Board of Trustees on Monday morning approved the naming of the field at Beaver Stadium as West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium.
The vote was 22-8.
The $50 million gift from the Werzyn family and West Shore Home provides support and momentum to the Beaver Stadium Revitalization project, helping to ensure a future foundation for Penn State Football and for all of Penn State’s 31 athletics programs.
The naming will be effective this fall and extend through the 2039 season.
West Shore Home will make annual payments to finance the field naming, paying $10 million over the next 10 years, and the remaining $40 million over the next 50 years.
Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft told the board that the investment was frontloaded to pay for Beaver Stadium’s $700 million renovations.
“We are incredibly grateful to B.J. (Werzyn), P.J. (Werzyn) and West Shore Home for this game-changing gift, as their commitment to Penn State Athletics and the institution will have a lasting impact on our student-athletes, fans and community,” Kraft said. “As an alumnus of our great university and a business owner in Central Pennsylvania, B.J. understands the critical role that Beaver Stadium plays in our community, as well as the importance of preserving the great traditions of Penn State while helping us build a strong future. We are thankful for the Werzyn family and West Shore Home for their generosity and dedication to Penn State.”
B.J. Werzyn is a Johnstown native.
Trustee protests field name
Those voting against renaming the field for West Shore Home included some who favored naming it for the late Joe Paterno.
Board members Ted Brown, Suzan Collins, Daniel Delligatti, Barry Fenchak, Anthony Lubrano, Matt McGloin and Jay Paterno were opposed.
Trustee Anthony Lubrano protested naming the field to anything other than “Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium,” which he proposed just over a year prior.
“This is a very sad and sobering day for Penn State,” Lubrano told the board. “Today, for many of us, the music dies. Today, the Penn State we know and love is no more, because we’re about to commit the ultimate betrayal – fitting, given that Catholics around the world are celebrating the Lenten season. The only question we should ask is, who will play Judas for a few silver pieces?”
Lubrano said naming the field after Paterno, Penn State’s former head football coach who led the program to two national championships, would raise hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions for the university.
Brown speculated naming the field for Paterno would raise more than $250 million.
Lubrano and Short were the only no-votes in the finance and investment committee, Onward State reported.
McGloin, who played for Paterno and is new to the board, said that it was past time for Penn State to honor its former coach.
“By not giving him the honor he deserves, you’re trying to eliminate the past and everything he’s done,” McGloin said. “What’s happening now might look like a successful move, but I don’t believe it’s a very honorable move … There shouldn’t be a price for our identity here at Penn State.”
Lubrano said Kraft and PSU President Neeli Bendapudi called Sue Paterno last week to inform her of the naming proposal. She asked, StateCollege.com reported, what plans there were to honor her husband and was told his office would be recreated in the all-sports museum.
“That’s just not sufficient,” was her response, Lubrano said.
Two of the board members who voted in favor of the renaming also favor finding a way to honor the Paterno family.
“I think it’s really unfortunate that we’re making this a referendum on how we feel about Joe Paterno and the Paterno family,” trustee Naren Gursahaney said, according to StateCollege.com. “I know I speak on behalf of most of my peers, if not all of my peers, on the board that we all have tremendous respect for the family and appreciation for all of their contributions to this university, and I do believe and I’m committed to finding the way to recognize him in an appropriate manner.”
“We need this $50 million, but we also absolutely need to honor the legacy of the most impactful individual in the history of Penn State,” trustee Donald Cairns said, according to StateCollege.com. “And I’d like us all to commit to each other that we’re going to be diligent about doing that in a very meaningful way.”
Investment ensures university’s future
David Kleppinger, the new chairman of the Board of Trustees, said West Shore’s donation is an investment to ensure Penn State’s future.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am proud to announce the naming of the field at Beaver Stadium in recognition of the extraordinary generosity of the Werzyn family and West Shore Home,” he said. “This forward-thinking gift is yet another powerful example of how the Penn State community coalesces to invest in our future. Their support will not only elevate the game day experience, but also has potential to provide Penn State students with applied learning opportunities, which is central to President Bendapudi’s vision. B.J. and P.J. Werzyn, along with their partners at West Shore Home, are setting a new standard for how philanthropy and innovation can shape the future of our university and its students for years to come.”
Meanwhile, the university reported construction continues on the $700 million Beaver Stadium Revitalization project, with work currently being undertaken on both the East and West sides of the stadium.
Micropiling has begun on the West side of the stadium in preparation for the construction of the PAM Health Misitano Family Tower, suite levels, expanded concourses and elevator/stair towers on the perimeter, the university said.
In addition, 7,900 temporary bleacher seats will be installed on top of the suite level, along with temporary concession and restroom amenities for the season.
On the East side, expansion of the main concourse is underway, as well as critical maintenance projects to repair some of the aging elements of the stadium.
The project is targeted for completion in time for the 2027 season.
West Shore Home, a home remodeling business based out of Mechanicsburg, has partnered with Penn State in the past. The company inked running back Nick Singleton to a multi-year NIL deal in 2022.
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