Installation of the new artificial turf at Memorial Stadium should begin next week.
“It’s due in on Friday or Saturday,” said Darren Cook, the Kansas University athletics department’s director of facilities.
KU is switching from AstroTurf to AstroPlay, a new synthetic surface billed as player-friendly as natural grass, but without the maintenance headaches.
Once the turf rolls arrive by truck from Dalton, Ga., the process of laying the carpet in five-yard wide strips will take three or four days, according to Cook.
After the surface is placed, workmen will spread thousands upon thousands of rubber granules into the blades of ersatz grass.
“The granules are what make it different than the old turf,” Cook said. “They kind of mimic dirt.”
After the granules have been installed, KU officials will paint the Jayhawk logo at midfield, and mark other areas, such as the coaching boxes, that are not inlaid with the turf.
The project will cost about $330,000. Cook expects it to be ready for use by mid-July, or in plenty of time for the football season because the Jayhawks’ first home game won’t be until Sept. 16 against Alabama-Birmingham.
This will be the fourth artificial surface in Memorial Stadium. KU will be the first NCAA Div. I-A school with AstroPlay.