In ongoing efforts to revitalize the Univ. of Kansas football program, "no strategy looms larger" than the planned $300M renovation project for Memorial Stadium, according to Benton Smith of the LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD. KU AD Sheahon Zenger on Wednesday appeared on WHB-AM's "The Program" and reflected on the project, saying that he has "looked forward to the massive task at hand since arriving" at the school in '11. Zenger said, "It’s something that just absolutely necessarily has to be done. When I got here a number of years ago, it was at the top of my priority list, and it has remained there ever since. What I didn’t realize when I came here ... was we also needed about seven other facilities before we could embark on that one, and we have been able to check those off." Smith noted KU’s athletic department will "count on donations to enable a Memorial Stadium facelift and build a new indoor practice facility for football." Zenger: "We are ready for this. This is our all-encompassing campaign. This is what it’s all about." Architect renderings of the project "initially were expected to be unveiled sometime in September." However, a KU official said that though a September reveal still "remains in play, it’s now possible the designs might not reach the public eye until October." Zenger "didn’t divulge much about how the stadium," which opened in '21, will "look different in the near future." Zenger: "It’s the best location in the country in terms of the view of campus and just the college feel. We’ll do everything in our power to honor that and protect that legacy" (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD, 7/27).
