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The home of the University of Saskatchewan’s football Huskies is getting a major facelift after receiving $3.14 million in funding from the provincial government.
The funding announced Friday will go towards enlargening the field at Griffith’s Stadium, while installing shock-absorbent turf and lighting upgrades.
“We have been looking forward to this for quite a while now,” said Adam Machart, who plays running back for the Huskies.
“For athletes who spend a lot of time on this field, it’ll be exciting to have this new facility. Being able to spring to the sideline and not worry about the change of surfaces will be great.”
The track area surrounding the field will be removed and transformed into turf, allowing players more room to run without the risk of slipping and injuring themselves on the track.
“Some turf facilities in the country are phenomenal, I’m excited for us to be apart of that standard,” Machart said with excitement.
For everyone involved in the project, it’s something that they have been looking forward to.
“We are ready to replace this turf, and make sure we are providing the best quality playing surface for our athletes and for the community as well,” said Chad London, Dean of the College of Kinesiology.
An announcement for the Griffiths stadium facility upgrades was held on July 17, 2020. (Logan Stein/650 CKOM)
The money for the upgrades comes from the government’s $7.5 billion infrastructure plan to boost the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today marks another important milestone in the evolution of sport at the University of Saskatchewan,” university president Peter Stoicheff said.
“The support of the government is meaningful and important in this challenging time.”
Stoicheff is hopeful the construction will encourage the possibility of there being more events at the stadium, such as the Vanier Cup.
PCL Construction Management Inc. will be in charge of the project. They had previously done work on the field in 2006.
Work on the stadium begins Monday. People involved with the project are hopeful it will be mostly completed by October or November.
Final touch-ups will be done next spring after the snow melts.