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I f you’ve ever installed your own deck or hired someone to build an addition on your house, you know construction projects never go smoothly.

Imagine being Scott Paul.

He’s the man in charge of Bank of America Stadium’s three-year, $125 million renovation project. And according to the Panthers’ director of stadium operations, the first phase is 95-percent complete.

“It’s gone as good as it could,” Paul said after updating the media Wednesday. “Of course, there’s going to be hiccups, and there were.”

But Paul added that phase one is within its $65 million budget, and it’s on schedule.

The update came exactly one month until the stadium reopens to the public. Because of the construction, and an international soccer match scheduled for August 2, the Panthers have had to do some schedule shifting.

The annual Fan Fest will be July 25, before the team heads to training camp in Spartanburg the next day. Players won’t practice, but they will be in attendance.

“We felt it was important that we open up the building to Panthers fans first, before the soccer match,” Paul said.

Among the improvements fans will see are two new HD video scoreboards. Stretching 63-feet high, and 212-feet long, they’re 2 1/2 times bigger than the boards they replaced.

The ribbon boards encircling the middle of the stadium have also been switched out with bigger boards and better technology.

There are also four new escalators, and the improved sound system is nearly ready to go full blast.

“The goal of this project was to improve the fan experience. We want them to feel like most everything they can get at home, they can get at the stadium,” Paul said. “By enlarging the video screens, improving the sound system, giving them more engagement opportunities on our video boards and ribbon boards, and giving the folks that have upper level seating an opportunity to get up there easier; all those factors we hope improve the fan experience.”

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BBR NUGGETS

• Panthers and Luke Kuechly get some of the Sunday Night spotlight. 1) Twitter, 2) Twitter, 3) Twitter, 4) Twitter
• A Q&A with Cam Newton. — Grungy Gentleman
• Cam’s cleared. – Instagram
• A Q&A with Kenjon Barner. — The Oregonian
• Should start seeing more of these: Jonathan Stewart, poised for a big season? — Bleacher Report
• Nate Chandler, starting a charity in honor of ‘Mr. Mira Mesa.’ – U-T San Diego
• Panthers’ rookies visit the Hall of Fame. — BBR
• Wow. — YouTube

COMING UP

The two-day Cam Newton Foundation 7 v 7 Tournament kicks off Thursday. Media availability is at 2:00 p.m.

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