Old Stadium Rediscovers Youth

With over 99,000 square feet of new artificial turf installed this summer, the old football stadium on Augspurger Road has been given a second lease on life.

The old stadium, abandoned by UB football for the current UB Stadium in 1993, will now serve as a safe, all-weather field used primarily for sport clubs and intramurals.

"Weather has really hurt intramurals and sport club programming, forcing us to cancel a lot due to bad conditions," said Ed Michael, director of Recreation and Intramurals. "With this new field we can overcome unsafe field conditions and do a whole lot more."

According to Michael, the new turf is just the first part of a rejuvenation project in the old stadium, which had been sorely underused since Recreation and Intramurals stopped regular programming on the field three years ago for safety reasons.

"The field had just become worn and unsafe to play on," Michael said.

Ed Wright, director of intramurals, echoed Michael's sentiments.

"We had been getting a lot of negative feedback from students about turf burn and ball movement on the hard field," he said.

Michael said the new field enables Recreation and Intramurals to not only fulfill normal intramural programming, but to expand and make its programs more flexible.

"The old field had marks only for football, but the new field will have markings for football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse," Michael said. "It opens up a myriad of opportunities we never had."

Additional improvements that will be finished by next year include permanent restroom facilities -- which the stadium now lacks -- and a permanent lighting system that officials said will allow for extended outdoor intramural programming. The new turf is scheduled to be completed on Wednesday and will be ready for fall intramurals, Michael said.

Funding for the $435,000 turf project came from the Office of Student Affairs.

"Most of the cost for the project was covered by the comprehensive fee all students are charged," said Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs. "Therefore the stadium will be first and foremost a field for club sports and recreation and intramurals."

According to University Facilities Director Kevin Thompson, the new turf is a rubber-based turf, much like that in professional stadiums like the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park. Dubbed "A-Turf," the new grass-like surface replaces the carpet-like "Omni-Turf" that covered the field for over 15 years.

"The field has longer grass and granular rubber made from old truck tires, making it feel more like natural grass," Thompson said. "So along with being safer, it is more environmentally friendly."

Thompson also said the turf is similar to what will be installed in the main UB Stadium next year, replacing its natural grass field.

While officials are optimistic about the flexibility the renovations to the old stadium afford student clubs and intramurals, some students are skeptical about how much good only one new field will do.

"The field really isn't big enough to be split into two fields without reconfiguring the whole stadium," said Greg Meyers, a senior mechanical engineering student. "But as long as they use it for something, it'll be good."