Bowers Stadium will now join most other collegiate football stadiums with a new turf upgrade. Athletic Director Bobby Williams has announced that the stadium will have its 10-year-old artificial turf replaced, making this the newest improvement to the many Sam Houston State University sports facilities.
After announcing the upgrade plans for the McAdams Tennis Center earlier this week, and renovating the baseball and softball complexes, the athletic department turns to football for its next project.
“It’s a process that’s been in the works for a few years,” Williams said. “The turf should begin being replaced at the end of spring, and should be ready for next year’s football season.”
The hard part is trying to determine the cost of a project this big. Williams said a meeting will be held sometime in the next few weeks to determine the pricing of everything.
Bowers Stadium was built in 1986 and the Astro Turf which now covers the field was installed in the summer of 1996.
Over 10 years later, improvements to the 27,000 square foot facility will begin.
Coach Tom Whitten was also very pleased with the additions.
“This is a great improvement to the facility, and it is very common to do this. More and more stadiums are using this new turf.” Whitten said.
The new turf being used is a sand and crumb rubber mixture that mimics natural soil and special plastic shafts are used to simulate blades of grass. This new field turf is now used in most football stadiums to replace the once popular, Astro Turf.
“Players are going to enjoy the new style turf,” Whitten said. “We spend a lot of time out there and it’s hard on your back and legs. This new turf is quite a bit softer, and we are very thankful for it.”