ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard announced Monday morning that Iowa State has received a lead gift of $25 million from the founder of Reiman Publications, which jumpstarted plans to enclose the southern end zone of the south end zone at Jack Trice Stadium. 

This lead gift from Roy and Bobbi Reiman allows the university to request permission from the Board of Regents to begin the planning process for a project that’s expected to make the entrance to campus more appealing and a dramatic game-day environment.

“We must maintain the terrific game-day atmosphere that has developed at Jack Trice Stadium in recent years and closing in the south end zone will have a dramatic impact,” Pollard said in the release. “It will add to our home field advantage, give the stadium a big-time feel and improve the game-day experience for thousands of fans.

“Although we still need to seek approval from the Board of Regents and develop the final plans for the project, we do have an aggressive timeline in our minds to complete the project as soon as possible. We would like the project to be completed by the start of the 2015 football season, if possible.”

At 9:33 a.m. on Monday morning, Pollard tweeted “Watch cyclones.com or cyclones.tv today at 11:30 a.m. for an exciting University announcement. It is a great day to be a Cyclone!”