Tuesday, August 25, 2009
This summer wasn’t a quiet one around Memorial Stadium or Allen Fieldhouse.
The buzzing of cranes, bulldozers and other heavy machinery provided the soundtrack to an offseason that has featured a complete facelift of Kivisto Field and the continuation of a $38 million project to renovate and provide additions to the fieldhouse.
A new FieldTurf is replacing the AstroTurf artificial turf installed in 2000 on Kivisto Field. The FieldTurf is in line with the turf used on the Jayhawks’ practice fields installed last summer.
“We’re excited that we will be playing on a surface that so many NFL and top collegiate teams also use,” coach Mark Mangino said in a statement coinciding with announcement of the plans in May. “And the fact that our new practice fields are also FieldTurf is a real benefit for our players.”
Fans may find it difficult to notice the difference between the new turf and those of years past, but the blue endzones and a Jayhawk on the field twice the size of the old logo will be hard to miss.
“We just knew that we wanted something very distinctive just like we have at Allen Fieldhouse,” Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said. “Surveys have said that the Jayhawk is the second to the leprechaun as the most recognizable mascot in the United State.”
Additionally, the crown used for drainage on the old field has been removed — providing a more even surface for players to compete on.
“The surface will be much better on the players physically,” Marchiony said. “I don’t know that the average fan will notice it but the players certainly will. It will be much better on their legs, ankles and knees.”
Kansas will join five other Big 12 teams and more than 60 NCAA teams when it opens the season using FieldTurf on Sept. 5. In a survey of 1,565 active players released in January by the National Football League, four of the top five NFL fields and five of the top eight of the league’s artificial surfaces were FieldTurf. Kansas has used an artificial surface for football since 1970.
“This is as good a field as there is anywhere,” Marchiony said. “It’s state of the art.”
FIELDHOUSE GETS A LIFT
Shortly after Kansas won the national title, Kansas coach Bill Self signed a contract extension to remain at Kansas and silenced questions of whether he would jump to his alma mater, Oklahoma State.
Signing a deal that made him one of the country’s highest paid coaches had to have been a plus, but Self made it clear in negotiations that renovations to team facilities were equally important, likening it to an “arms race” — the football team completed a $31 million project last summer.
Memorial Stadium was updated this summer with brand new artificial turf. The FieldTurf that replaces Kivisto Field’s old AstroTurf matches the FieldTurf used on the football team’s practice field. The new field is part of a $38 million project to renovate and provide additions to athletic facilities. The Allen Fieldhouse complex is also the subject of updates, including a donor’s atrium on the second floor of the fieldhouse. A completion deadline for the project is set for early October.
Scheduled for an early October finish, Allen Fieldhouse has undergone a laundry list of renovations and additions since April.
Junior guard Conner Teahan said that when he joined Kansas in 2007 he was already impressed with most of the resources and facilities he saw but added that he’s looking forward to the new basketball practice facility and locker rooms being constructed.
“The practice facility is going to be great,” Teahan said. “It will really allow us to have a more open and flexible schedule. Last year it was tough for a lot of guys to get the work they wanted in because we had to schedule around the women’s team.”
Both Teahan and Marchiony agreed that the improvements would be a boost to recruiting, something that has already experienced a jump on the heels of 2008’s national championship. Kansas’ Class of 2009 is currently ranked sixth on Rivals.com.
“The improvements are a huge recruiting tool,” Teahan said. “I took a look at the facilities when I was deciding where to go but I’m different that other people in that a lot of guys may find facilities to be more important to them.”
Other improvements to the Allen Fieldhouse complex include improved concourses and concessions, remodeling of Parrott athletic center, an addition to the Anschutz sports pavillion, new office spaces and an expansion of the Booth Family Hall of Athletics. Marchiony also said that a donor’s atrium will be added on the second floor of the west side of the fieldhouse where donors can spend time before games and at halftime.
Marchiony said that he couldn’t classify anything as complete at this time, but the early October deadline is still in sight.
Allen Fieldhouse often finds itself at the top of discussions of the nation’s best college basketball venue. That considered, those connected with the basketball program view the changes as expanding the experience of attending a game from sitting in the stands to a broader experience.
“Obviously the inside of Allen Fieldhouse where you watch the games doesn’t need to be touched,” Teahan said. “But the improvements to the outside will make it more of a fan-friendly environment and a hot spot to watch basketball games.”
— — Edited by Abby Olcese
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