Kansas AD Travis Goff 'fired up' about Kansas football renovations

For the first time since 1921, Kansas isn’t playing its home games at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium this season. Instead, the Jayhawks are hosting their opponents at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City while construction occurs back on the school’s campus.

However, the Jayhawks will be rewarded for their wait. The Gateway District Project will transform the north entrance to campus, including Kansas’ football facilities. During the second quarter of Kansas’ showdown against UNLV on Friday, Kansas athletic director Travis Goff pulled back the curtain on the school’s massive project.

“We’re fired up,” Goff said. “First of all, it’s real. We are about nine months into construction, but we have about 10 months to go. On August of 2025, we’ll be playing in a new on-campus stadium in Lawrence and everybody’s fired up about that.

“You think about the importance of college football and athletics — this facility, this venue, this district, is a tangible indicator of that, right? It’s a way to draw people into the university. You think about enrollment impact, think about student experience, alumni engagement — so it runs far beyond football. And we want to have it activated 300+ days a year, conference center and other auxiliary components.”

Phase 1 of the project includes a new build of the southwest, west and north sides of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, as well as the conference center on the north end.

Future phases of the project will then focus on the south and east portions of the stadium, along with the entertainment, dining, retail and other potential aspects of the Gateway District. Goff couldn’t be happier to provide the improved facilities to Kansas head coach Lance Leipold and his program.

“It’s incredible,” Goff said. “The commitment to the young men and the loyalty to stick around and see this thing through. Then, of course, what Lance and his staff has done has been something that I think rivals anything in modern college football.

“And again, in a lot of ways, we’re just getting started. Now, it’s about how do we sustain it, how do we continue to add layer and layer upon the success we’ve created?”

Kansas has already partly reaped the benefits of the project. Last August, HNTB and Multistudio finished their renovations to the football team’s locker room and weight room.

Each Kansas player now has a fully furnished locker, featuring an embroidered headrest and custom reclining features. Additionally, the lockers are equipped with an airflow unit to dry equipment, along with extra space for any belongings.

The Jayhawks’ weight room also now features 18 platform weight racks, up from 12 in the previous weight room. Further, the weight racks will be custom-made to be most optimal for director of sports performance Matt Gildersleeve’s training style.