Cal Poly’s Spanos Stadium is currently under a $3.2 million renovation project as an initiative to improve the quality of the field itself. The project’s goal is to replace the natural grass field with a turf field that can be used for more events and programs.
The renovation began in December and has been ongoing since. The project’s scope is to remove the current field, made of natural grass, and replace it with artificial, professional-grade turf.
Alongside turf, there will be earthwork and subgrade preparations, new concrete flatwork and curbs around the field, storm drain and sanitary sewer upgrades and new field goals and posts.
“The upgrade to the field is a mixture of things,” project manager Brandon Medeiros said. “One of the main priorities is the installation of the turf and replacing the natural grass to make the field more accessible to all the events we have on it.”
The field is host to a variety of events and programs throughout the school year, ranging from field sports like soccer and football, all the way to rodeo events. Medeiros commented that the field’s extensive use can be very challenging to maintain.
“Aside from the natural factor of maintaining the grass, we put a lot of effort and money into constantly changing the field to suit an event or program’s needs,” Medeiros said. “For sports, it takes a lot of time to always repaint the field lines and uses a lot of paint. For rodeos, once we have removed the extra dirt and the layers of wood that separate the field and rodeo dirt, the grass needs to have almost complete re-fertilization sometimes.”
The renovation in turn is what will save money and keep the field looking healthy.
“With rodeos, we can now place our protective covers and dirt on top without having to worry about killing the grass, and once it’s removed we just need to touch up on it again,” Medieros said. “This is really helpful for when these events come close together, keeping the field looking very professional for sporting and commencement events.”
The project still has a ways to go as the finishing date is scheduled for June, right before spring commencement. Medeiros said the weather has been on their side, and if things continue this way, the project may finish sooner.
