On August 15th of 2023, the University of Kansas Athletics Department announced their plans to rebuild the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium or “The Booth.” Named in honor of Kansas University alumni, David Booth, who generously donated fifty million dollars to the renovation efforts, the original stadium was first opened in 1922 and was the seventh oldest college football stadium in the United States before the remodel. Though “The Booth” is currently only halfway renovated, the stadium’s new features include a 5,280 square foot videoboard and approximately 2,300 club seats in three different club spaces along with many other amenities.
Faculty member Ellen Chindamo, who worked for Kansas University for over twelve years, says that she is “Beyond excited for them … [and] it’s a really beautiful facility.” Chindamo, along with many other members of the Seabury community, attended the first KU football game as well as the following Friday’s. KU football’s first game of the year took place on Saturday, August 23rd, and ended with a final score of 31-7 KU.
Chindamo uses the Seabury soccer field as an example: “For instance, take our soccer field: a group of parents and people, friends of the school, got together to donate the money to do the field. We didn’t finance any of it. We only funded it with outright gifts. When people drive by here, it looks even more like a school. They get to see us cheering in the stands. They get to see us on the field. They get to see people playing, and that’s pretty cool,” she says.
Chindamo points out that “Athletics speaks to a number of a wide range of people, right? And there’s really nothing like that school spirit, and we really needed to update a very old and antiquated stadium.”
When asked what she thinks about the timing of this renovation, specifically in regards to construction, Chindamo responds, “There’s never a good time for construction, we should say, and it just had to be done, right? So when you see the new plaza, when you see how they are putting all of the structure to the neighborhood in place, I think it’s working. There’s probably a few kinks that they’re trying to work out a little bit, but it’s pretty great.”
Chindamo says that “The university is finishing out what’s called a comprehensive capital campaign, so they have one every few years. This one has been in the silent phase since 2018 … at that time I was working for KU. So there’s lots of different projects going on, but the people who are passionate about this project, they got to give to the one that they love”
A comprehensive capital campaign is a fundraising initiative that an organization like a university or a company takes part in to raise money for a large project such as the renovation of The Booth stadium. In the case of “The Booth,” this campaign has been in the works since 2018. While there are many improvements made on the Booth stadium on behalf of the fans, there are also a number of enhancements that benefit the student-athletes. The remodeling of the Anderson Family Football Complex includes a brand new locker room and weight room, both of which have helped the team to improve greatly in their athleticism.
Overall, The David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is a project that both the University of Kansas and the city of Lawrence are very proud of.
