HERSHEY -- Penn State's Board of Trustees approved preliminary plans for a new baseball stadium to be built at University Park, adjacent to Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center.

About 1,000 parking spaces for football traffic will be temporarily lost for the upcoming season to accommodate stadium construction, Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said. Five hundred spaces will reopen when the ballpark is finished.

Drawings for the new ballpark, which will be built facing east across Porter Road, were presented to the College Township Planning Commission earlier last week.

Plans include a three-level structure that will accommodate about 6,000 spectators, including 18 suites that seat 12 to 23 people each. The park is scheduled to open in June 2006.

Kendig could not say where the temporary parking spaces would be located, but he said the number of parking spaces for the 2005 football season would stay the same.

"They'll be able to accommodate the same number of vehicles; how specifically, I have no idea," Kendig said. "I don't think it will cause a problem. You have to remember that we built the Bryce Jordan Center on a very big area of parking for football games. It just takes some patience, and we'll do everything we can for the football fans."

Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, said the stadium will include about 3,600 chair-backed seats, 500 bleacher seats, and picnic and suite levels. Schultz added that although Penn State events would be alcohol free, minor league games would serve alcohol.

The ownership group of the Altoona Curve plans to purchase a minor-league team and move it to Centre County to play in the new stadium. The minor-league season will last from June to August, while the Penn State varsity team will play from March to May.

Schultz could not release a cost estimate for the stadium, since the preliminary plans were just approved and a contractor has yet to be hired.

"We've got some good estimates based on timely bids," he said. "We're feeling like we're on the right path right now -- we're doing as good as you can do."

Schultz said Penn State is considering charging for tickets to college games and allowing for the rental of billboards at the park.

"We're going to allow the ownership group to sell billboard spacing, but we will have the right of approval for billboard rents," he said. "Some businesses are interested in buying for both seasons."

Revenue will also come from suite leasing. Schultz said revenue from suite renting would go to the team that is playing at the time, and added that suite pricing has not yet been determined.