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Texas Tech football turf project at Jones AT&T Stadium nears completion

Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
·2 min read

The Texas Tech football team will be able to practice soon on the new turf at Jones AT&T Stadium, a Tech athletics spokesman said, as the installation of the surface moved closer to completion late Friday.

Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti said Friday the team would be able to get onto the turf to practice "probably next week," though no specific date has been determined. The Red Raiders' second closed scrimmage of the preseason is Saturday on the practice fields outside the Sports Performance Center.

The turf installation has stayed on the mid-July to mid-August schedule that the Avalanche-Journal first reported in April, citing Tech officials' expectations. Deputy athletics director Jonathan Botros said then the plan was to have the turf ready for the Red Raiders' "final few practices of fall camp."

A view of Jones AT&T Stadium on Friday afternoon shows the progress of the ongoing turf installation. Later Friday, lettering was placed in the south end zone. Infill material from the south end 45-yard line to the end of the field was still to be added.
A view of Jones AT&T Stadium on Friday afternoon shows the progress of the ongoing turf installation. Later Friday, lettering was placed in the south end zone. Infill material from the south end 45-yard line to the end of the field was still to be added.

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That project and the installation of Musco's Total Light Control technology system are for this season. Workers have retrofitted the existing stadium infrastructure with the Musco lighting, which can be programmed for choreographed patterns and colors.

The projected costs are $900,000 to $1 million on the turf project and $1.2 million for the lighting system.

Workers completed laying Hellas's Matrix Helix turf and placing lettering in the south end zone Friday. Still to be added was Hellas's REALFILL infill, which consists of SBR rubber granules atop a silica pea base.

Though the turf appeared to be two different shades of green, Giovannetti said it will be uniform when the process is complete.

A photo of Jones AT&T Stadium on Friday afternoon shows the progress of the south end zone building project. The four-level building is scheduled to be complete in time for the 2024 season.
A photo of Jones AT&T Stadium on Friday afternoon shows the progress of the south end zone building project. The four-level building is scheduled to be complete in time for the 2024 season.

When last season ended, Tech began a two-year football facilities project estimated at almost $220 million. The centerpiece is a four-level south end zone building. Construction on the building, including structural steel going up, will continue during the season, Tech officials have said, with the site secured the day before games and work resuming after games end and the stadium is cleared.

A sponsors' banner will front the construction area, though the banner's not intended to cover up the work. Giovannetti said recently Tech officials want fans to see the project in progress.

Because of the construction overlooking the south end zone, visiting teams this season will dress in trailers in the stadium's east parking lot. Once the season ends, Tech coaches and players will use the same portable facilities next spring and summer. That's because the Football Training Facility, the team's headquarters, will be torn down to make way for the two-level Womble Football Center.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football turf project at Jones AT&T Stadium nears completion