Kansas isn’t forgetting about track and field as it continues its massive stadium renovation plan.
“We have been looking at the possibility of building a track stadium. We must make a decision pretty soon. The condition of the track in Memorial Stadium is deteriorating,” KU athletics director Bob Frederick said Wednesday.
“We are investigating a number of possibilities. One includes the matter talked about last night (at city commission meeting).”
KU and the Lawrence school district want to build a track and soccer complex on city-leased land owned by the federal government. KU, school district and city officials unveiled the plan Tuesday for the existing Youth Sports Inc. complex in southwest Lawrence.
City commissioners unanimously approved their ideas as part of the area’s revised master plan.
The components include building a track complex with seating for 4,000 to 8,000 people. KU, and possibly the school district, would assist in the funding, which could cost at least $1 million.
The track would be for KU practice and events as well as high school competition and community uses.
“There are three options I guess,” Frederick said. “One would be that we determine we’ll keep the track in the stadium and build a new track or resurface the track.
“The second option would be what they talked about at the city commission meeting. The third would be to build a track at some other location other than that. The one discussed last night is the most appealing.”
Frederick said KU is “leaning toward moving the track elsewhere and lowering the (football) stadium.”
Tests will be taken to evaluate the soil underneath the stadium, he said.
“We have never taken any core samples of the soil underneath the stadium,” Frederick said. “You must drill down 10 or 15 feet to see what’s down there. We have every reason to believe based on the drilling we did to install the lightposts that we are OK, but we’ll probably take some samples from the football field area.”
Frederick said he believes the track team can still practice on the track this upcoming season.
As far as holding the Kansas Relays, that’s still up in the air. The Relays were canceled last spring because of stadium construction.
“That’s something we are taking a hard look at now,” he said. “We just have to make some decisions.”
