Kansas athletic director Travis Goff met with the local media on Thursday to give several updates about the state of KU Athletics. Goff discussed various topics, including the current renovations being made to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and Allen Fieldhouse.
The construction on The Booth is phase one of the Gateway District project which will transform the football stadium and surrounding area at 11th and Mississippi. Anderson Family Football Complex is also being renovated and will add an extra 25,000 square feet.
Goff broke down which aspects of the stadium are being revamped during phase one from the KU Football Preview Center, which opened last fall. Goff looked out over the construction while meeting with reporters.
“We'll be seeing that lower bowl with concrete slabs down, and we'd see the steel going all the way up to the Founders Club,” Goff said. “What's not up there yet is the upper deck of the west side. Then we take the corner to the northwest and the north, obviously, new north field level clubs, upper-level north. And then attached to that north end is the conference center. That's phase one. That's a $450 million project, the entirety of which will be completed in twelve and a half months.”
Phase one, which is “on budget, on schedule,” is slated to be completed in early August 2025. It will be ready for the football team’s “week zero” game against Fresno State on August 23rd.
“It’d be a really fun opportunity to open, celebrate with Lawrence, with the state, with our fans, and dedicate that first phase,” Goff said.
Phase two will include renovations to the east side of the stadium. Goff says their objective is to not have to relocate during the second phase.
“I would feel very strongly that a 70% completed new build with construction on a segment of can be operational for a season, but that would be the goal,” Goff said.
He also said that construction on the east side “could be conceivable” during the offseason but a majority of the details will be revealed in the future.
The Gateway District project is “a really strong statement about the future of Kansas football and our commitment to Kansas football,” according to Goff. He thinks it has and will have a positive impact on recruiting.
“When we’ve had our official visits over the course of the spring and summer, those guys and their families are getting hard hats on, and they’re going through Anderson and they’re stepping out on that perch and they’re seeing that west side and the north is real,” Goff said. “And of course when you’re talking to class of ‘25 or class of ‘26, every one of them is going to play every one of their football games right here. And that’s a pretty powerful statement.”
Allen Fieldhouse is also undergoing renovations, with its capacity being reduced to 15,300. Goff said he wanted to maximize the fan experience in Allen Fieldhouse, with the top corners being the areas that will see seating reduction. The project also includes a new video board and a revamped concourse.
“Now, that's not just for experience, even though we're going to have two adjacent video boards up there that I think the fans will love," he said. "It's also to really hide the mechanical that needed to come out, in particular of the third upper-level concourse.
“And the reason we're doing that is because we want all of our patrons to really have a great concourse experience with restrooms and with concessions. So by opening up and taking that mechanical out, it necessitated the removal of the crow's nest. Secondary, we're adding and mirroring the chair backs on that west side like we have on east. So same number, same look, same feel on chair backs.”
Despite the capacity shrinking by 1,000, Goff does not expect student allotment to be affected. He said some modifications to the student spillover locations may change, but the number of students in Allen Fieldhouse will not decrease.
The Allen Fieldhouse renovations are slated to be completed in early October, before the unveiling to the fans at Late Night in the Phog on October 18th.
