Football stadium construction remains on schedule at Kansas State in unusual times
The Kansas State football team hasn’t held a practice, scrimmage or game since the calendar year began, but Bill Snyder Family Stadium has been one of the busiest areas on campus all spring.
As the coronavirus pandemic has halted in-person classes and canceled all K-State sporting events until at least the fall semester, construction at the school’s football stadium is going strong.
Construction cranes have been visible for several weeks on the south end of the stadium, with crews of workers coming and going as if they were surrounded by a normal world. Their work has been deemed essential, and their progress is noticeable. The video board that used to hang above the south end zone has been removed. Same for the concrete concourse that fans used to walk across and circle the stadium. That area is all dirt now, but it will soon be much more.
Big changes are coming.
The Wildcats are in the beginning stages of a $50 million facility upgrade that will introduce a new game-day experience at their football stadium. The enhancements include two new video boards that will mirror the ones currently located on the north end of the stadium, as well as new premium seating, a covered concourse, restrooms and a 13,500-square foot club space that can also be accessed through Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State athletic director Gene Taylor says the video boards should be up in time for the start of football season, whenever that occurs, and the rest of the project should be finished in time for the 2021 season, as originally expected.
“Everything is on schedule right now,” Taylor said in a phone interview. “They are primarily focusing on the video boards this year so they will be up and running. By the end of May, we should see steel starting to go up. That steel will support the premium seating areas. As of now, the weather has been good and we haven’t had any delays. They are out there working every day.”
That may come as a surprise to some K-State fans. As various businesses across the country have temporarily closed in response to statewide stay-at-home orders, it’s natural to wonder if something like construction at a college football stadium has been slowed. But K-State hasn’t experienced any delays.
Taylor said the construction workers at K-State are all following their company’s safety protocols. That hasn’t been much a challenge thus far, as most of the work that has taken place at the football stadium has featured the use of cranes and other machinery that allow workers to naturally distance themselves from each other.
Most of the “detail work” that will require closer gatherings won’t take place until the latter stages of the project.
After this facility upgrade is finished, K-State will focus on other athletic enhancements such as a new volleyball arena, a new football practice facility and an Olympic training center.
K-State has highlighted the progress at its football stadium by sharing a live stream of the construction workers on its athletic web site. At any time of day, you can take a look at what’s going on behind the south end of the stadium. Last Friday, when the weather was good, cranes moved back and forth throughout the afternoon. On Monday, when heavy rains descended on Manhattan, there was very little activity.
There were concerns that construction might be slowed when quarantine measures began in March. And there are some concerns that delays may still occur.
But the Wildcats haven’t encountered any problems yet.
“The biggest thing we worried about was materials,” Taylor said. “Would we be able to get enough steel and other things to move forward? Knock on wood, everything looks like it will be here on schedule.
“If you come to the stadium in August, you are going to see a lot of steel and the video boards will be up. You will see a lot of progress.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Football stadium construction remains on schedule at Kansas State in unusual times."