The University of Missouri Football’s 99th year at Memorial Stadium hasn’t held a typical sold-out crowd. Only three sides of the field are filled with fans as the north end zone is currently under a $250 million renovation.
The investment, known as The Memorial Stadium Centennial Project, is on schedule to coincide with the stadium’s 100 year anniversary, executive athletics director and chief infrastructure officer Joe Swingle said.
“We’re getting close to being almost midway done,” Swingle said. “So it’s going along like it should.”
Additions are made to the stadium weekly.
“Each week, if you do attend the games, you can tell something (is) different just because of how fast they’re moving,” Swingle said. “We’ve got three shifts, so we’re working 24/7 and it’s really going great.”
Once construction finishes, Memorial Stadium will be a bowl-shaped stadium, adding to the immersive experience of watching Mizzou football.
“Memorial Stadium was kind of in a horseshoe shape,” Swingle said. “Now we’ve got a full bowl.”
Memorial Stadium has endured many changes in its storied history, but never one as big as this project.
The renovation is “very key for the history of football and for what we have here at Mizzou,” Swingle said.
Despite the major changes, tradition remains at the forefront of it all. Mizzou’s Rock M will return to the north end zone, and an additional six columns celebrating the Francis Quadrangle will be added.
This construction project will change the look of Mizzou football for the foreseeable future, but tradition continues to follow the Tigers.
