After nearly seven months, construction on Ole Miss’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is making progress as the project reaches its final phases.
Football fans can expect 2,000 additional seats, new grass, turf, sound systems and video boards. The construction on the stadium will be finished this August, just in time for the home-opener on Sept. 10 against the Wofford Terriers.
Director of Facilities Planning Ian Banner manages the project for the University and oversees the different phases of construction.
“So much of the preliminary work of construction, there’s no visual return on your efforts,” Banner said. “Digging in the ground, laying cables and ducts — none of it is visible. When you get into the super structure, that’s when you get the visual return and that’s where we’re at. Soon you’ll see the cranes up and the seats going in, as well as the enclosure and the finished material on the outside.”
Banner emphasized the importance of teamwork in finding solutions to the few challenges that they have face along the way. The Athletics Department and the Facilities Management Department have been working together alongside contractors to overcome any problems that occur.
Banner said the teamwork between these parties has been well-organized and constructive.
Although the project is on schedule, the team has had to work together to find solutions to several issues.
“There have been some situations where we’ve had some intense rain and it managed to get out from north end zone side and found its way onto the field and disrupted some of the grass being planted,” Banner said. “Also, we’ve lost 51 days of work to this intense weather but builders are amazingly adept at finding solutions to problems.”
