Alright, let’s gab a bit about this here… uh… David Booth Stadium thingy they’re fixin’ up. Seems like a whole lotta money, 450 million dollars they say! That’s more money than I ever seen in my whole life, I tell ya! They’re callin’ it a “renovation”, which I guess is a fancy word for makin’ it bigger and better.
First off, they’re tearin’ down a big chunk of the old stadium. They call it “Phase One” of the demolition. Sounds like they’re gonna knock down a whole bunch of stuff and then build it back up again. Probably makin’ more room for all them young’uns to sit and watch the… uh… football game, I think they call it.
I heard they’re makin’ the west side bigger, addin’ 26 rows of seats. That’s a lotta seats! They say it’ll hold somethin’ like 44,900 people when they’re done with that part. And then they’re gonna work on the east side too, makin’ it even bigger, up to 51,500 seats. Land sakes, that’s like a whole town sittin’ in one place!
- More seats on the west side, 26 rows they say.
- Even more seats on the east side, big enough for a whole town.
- A brand new press box for them fellas who talk about the game.
They’re also puttin’ in a new press box, whatever that is. Guess that’s where them fellas sit who talk about the game on the… uh… radio? Or maybe it’s the TV? I don’t rightly know, all that stuff’s too fancy for me. But it sounds important, so I guess it’s good they’re gettin’ a new one.
Now, they say they’re gonna be done with all this by the time football season starts in 2025. That’s next year, right? They’re gonna play their first game in the new stadium on August 23rd against some team called Fresno State. Don’t know nothin’ about them, but I reckon they’ll be wantin’ to win just as much as the… uh… Kansas team, or whatever they’re called.
They’re callin’ this whole area the “Gateway District.” Sounds mighty grand, don’t it? It’s around the stadium and that corner of 11th and Mississippi. They’re buildin’ a bunch of new stuff around there too, I hear. Makes sense, I guess, if you’re gonna have all them people comin’ to the games, you need a place for ‘em to… you know… do stuff.
This whole thing cost a heap of money, like I said. 450 million dollars! They’re tryin’ to raise some of that money, 250 million dollars they’re lookin’ for. That’s a lot of nickels and dimes, I tell ya. But they seem pretty confident they’ll get it. Guess folks really like their… uh… football.
They were gonna play at the stadium this year, but it wouldn’t have had many seats. So, they changed their minds and waited ’til it’s all fixed up. Probably a good idea, nobody wants to sit on a pile of rubble, right? It sounds like this is a big deal for the… uh… university, or whatever it is. They’re makin’ a big fuss about it, so it must be important.
They even gave that football coach, Lance Leipold, a new contract. I guess they figured if they’re gonna spend all this money on the stadium, they better keep the coach around too. Smart fellas, them. Makes sense to me. You don’t want to have a fancy new stadium with a crummy old coach, right?
Anyhow, that’s about all I know about this stadium thing. Sounds like they’re makin’ it real fancy and big, so that’s probably a good thing. More room for folks to sit and watch the… uh… game, and more places to spend their money, I reckon. Just hope they don’t get too big for their britches, you know what I mean?
Well, I’m done jabberin’ on about this. Time for me to get back to… uh… important stuff. Like watchin’ my stories and tendin’ to my garden. This stadium business is for the young’uns anyway. But hey, at least I know a little somethin’ about it now, right? And maybe I can explain it in simple terms, that’s what I do best.
Tags: [David Booth Stadium, Kansas Football, Stadium Renovation, Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Athletics, Lance Leipold, Gateway District, Football Season, Fresno State]
