Construction begins on KU Indoor Football Facility

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Construction begins this week on the Indoor Football Facility at the University of Kansas, the first phase of Kansas Athletics’ transformative Raise The Chant vision, introduced last fall by KU Chancellor Doug Girod and Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger.
 
The indoor football facility project is an integral part of Raise The Chant, Kansas Athletics’ groundbreaking vision that focuses primarily on football.
 
Raise The Chant, announced last September, was kicked off with a $50-million gift from KU alumnus David Booth.  Phase 1 involves the indoor facility; future phases involve extensive renovations to Memorial Stadium, including a variety of premium seating options at all price points and enhanced fan amenities such as suites, lounges, reserved chairback seating, concourse viewing decks, expanded concourses and premium concession options.
 
Target date for the completion of the indoor football facility is late fall 2018.  The facility will sit to the west of the stadium’s press box.
 
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of benchmarking and thorough preparation since we announced this project last fall,” Zenger said. “It is extremely rewarding – to us and to our fans – to see construction fences up and shovels in the ground. This state-of-the-art facility is a necessary component of our commitment to enable our football program to compete successfully in the Big 12 Conference.”
 
HNTB, based in Kansas City, Mo., is the architect for the 89,000-square-foot indoor facility; JE Dunn, also of Kansas City, is the general contractor.
 
“Not only does the indoor football facility put us one step closer to completing the needs of the program,” Zenger said, “it will also provide an entertainment space for donors, alumni and fans on gameday.
 
“We welcome the support we’ve received from so many Jayhawks,” Zenger said. “We need everyone involved in this effort, because like everything we do, we are committed to tackling this project in a fiscally responsible manner.  We will only assume expenses that we know we can manage.
 
“In that light,” Zenger continued, “we are grateful for the leadership of our donors and their understanding of how essential the success of this vision is – not only for Kansas Athletics, but also for the entire university.”
 
The Raise The Chant vision comes on the heels of some $90 million of construction at Kansas Athletics over the past four years.  That construction boom includes:
 

  • The removal of the track that encircled the field at Memorial Stadium;
  • The installation of new turf in the stadium;
  • The addition of premium seating in both end zones of the stadium;
  • A $3 million renovation of the Anderson Family Football Complex, including the locker room, team auditorium, nutrition center, recruiting lounge and video boards;
  • A $1 million renovation of the Jayhawks’ Sports Medicine Facility, complete with modernized rehabilitation and treatment areas, an x-ray room and treatment areas;
  • A state-of-the-art track and field stadium, which has already drawn major national events to Lawrence, as well as new softball and soccer stadiums;
  • An indoor-outdoor tennis facility; it, too, is already drawing major events to Lawrence;
  • McCarthy Hall, an impressive new housing facility for the men’s basketball team and other distinguished non-student-athletes;
  • An 8,300-square-foot golf practice facility, which includes locker rooms, lounges, offices, indoor and outdoor putting greens and seven hitting bays;
  • At baseball, the renovation of the Padgett Family Indoor Facility and the construction of the Rich Jantz Outdoor Training Center;
  • The construction of the DeBruce Center, which serves not only as the home of James Naismith’s Original Rules of Basketball, but also as a place where the campus community and visitors can enjoy dining options, study, talk, or just take in the spirit of KU;
  • Soon to come: A brand-new Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, construction of which will begin immediately following the 2018 season, thanks to a $10-million pledge from long-time KU benefactor Stewart Horejsi.

 
“That’s an enormous amount of new and renovated facilities – in just the past few years – that absolutely needed to get done,” Zenger said.  “But obviously our work is not finished. With Raise The Chant, we address Kansas Athletics’ most-pressing need – a meaningful and long-overdue upgrade and renovation of our near-century-old football stadium.”
 
For more information and updates on construction progress, visit RaiseTheChant.com.
 

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