CHAPEL HILL – The UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees approved a $22 million plan Wednesday to expand Kenan Football Stadium.

The project will begin at the end of the upcoming football season and will add two floors and a number of suites to the stadium, according to Associate Athletic Director Steve Kirschner.

Although the athletic department said the new suites were a continual request from fans, the new facilities will also give athletes and coaches a larger work space and a state-of-the-art area to show off to recruits.

"The recruiting room that they’re in now -- where prospects come and their families stay during game day -- was not exactly built for that,” Kirschner said. “So this is going to be what it is intended for."

Tar Heel fans said they are excited about the change.

"The more people you get, it's a better atmosphere -- better for recruiting," sophomore Jesse Lamar said. "Get as many students down closer to the field, put everybody else up high so we can make it as loud as possible.”

UNC and Duke are the only two schools in the ACC that don’t have suites.

The project is scheduled to be finished before the 2009 football season. The athletic department said it hopes to make more improvements to the rest of the stadium within the next couple of years.

Plans for Kenan