I have no official source for this, but I have always heard that the Bowl was supposed to have seats on top of the concrete in the same style as old ND stadium. What I don't understand is if the coating (installed a few years ago) is failing, how is drilling a million anchor holes in it not going to make the problem worse?
The most cost-efficient approach would be to not replace the lights because then nobody can see any other problem, much less the game on the field.