Ohio State University will spend US$42m (£29.4m, €36.8m) reducing the capacity of its vast 104,944-seat stadium to make room for executive boxes and suites.

Ohio Stadium – located in the state capital of Columbus – will remain the third-largest college football stadium in the country with a capacity of 102,854, behind Michigan’s Michigan Stadium (107,601) and Pennsylvania’s Beaver Stadium (106,572).

Replacing the removed seating will be 35 boxes and 12 luxury suites. The project, which has not yet been approved by the university’s board of trustees, will include other improvements.

The 94-year-old concrete upper level of the stadium will be restored; power distribution systems in the east, west and south stands will be upgraded; and larger TVs and improved sound systems and scoreboards will be installed.

Renovations will take place between 2017 and 2020, subject to approval. The work will be paid for with auxiliary funds, debt and private donations. Loss of just over 2,000 seats will cost the university US$1.8m (£1.3m, €1.6m) during the timeframe.

“We built that into our financial plan,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told local publication Dayton Daily News. “When the suites and boxes come on line, that will replace that, and that money will be used primarily to pay off our debt, to pay off the loan we used to fund our stadium project.”