Tracking the progress at Memorial Stadium, Part III

By Matt Tait     Aug 4, 2014

The latest look at the turf installation project at Memorial Stadium.

With fall camp set to open at the end of the week, construction on the new turf going down in place of the old track at Memorial Stadium is nearing its completion.

Construction crews began installing the turf on Thursday morning and are expected to tie together the final touches this week. .

There’s still some work to be done, with regard to stitching in the lines and markings off of the playing field and adding the new Big 12 logo to the turf and the new black, decorative fence that will surround the south end, but the bulk of what’s going to be there on Saturdays this fall is in place and you can really start to see what it will look like.

It’s important to remember that, what it looks like today and what it will look like on game days is completely different. On game day, there will be benches out there, equipment out there, players out there and all of the other things that make up a Saturday college football atmosphere.

Finishing off the turf is an involved process that includes both hot glue, adding the rubber that gives the surface its softer feel and sewing together the pieces that measure five yards wide and anywhere from 30 to 50 yards long.

Jim Kaltmayer rolls out turf in an area previously covered by running track, Thursday, July 31, 2014, at Memorial Stadium. Installation of the turf — one of the final steps in a six-week stadium upgrade — began early Thursday and is expected to be finalized over the weekend.

Here’s a quick look at some of the most recent photos of what’s going on over at Memorial Stadium:

**This one from late Sunday evening offers a good look at all the green that now surrounds the playing surface at Memorial Stadium:**

**Here are a few from Richard Gwin from late last week as the project began:**

**And a couple more from me during a trip up there last week:**

Workers lay down new turf in areas previously covered by running track, Thursday, July 31, 2014, at Memorial Stadium. Installation of the turf — one of the final steps in a six-week project that began with the removal of the track — began early Thursday and is expected to be finalized over the weekend.

Workers roll out turf in areas previously covered by running track, Thursday, July 31, 2014, at Memorial Stadium. Installation of the turf — one of the final steps in a six-week stadium upgrade — began early Thursday and is expected to be finalized over the weekend.

A shot from the top of the west side of Memorial Stadium during the early stages of the turf installation project.

A closer look at the extra layers of turf at the back of the south end zone at Memorial Stadium.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.