Nearing completion, Kyle Field project reps give latest update

Normally, people on the East side of Kyle Field take pride in their procrastination abilities.

Luckily for Kevin Sumlin and fans of Texas A&M Football, the Kyle renovation wasn't left up to the students that usually fill up those sections.

Instead, it was put in the hands of Chancellor John Sharp and businesses who are much better at dealing with deadlines.

Those in charge of leading the $450 million renovation spoke with media in the East side press box on Monday to provide updates on the nearly finished job. The first order of business at Kyle Field was addressing the field itself.

“In January, a guy named Sumlin called me and said, ‘I want my first practice (in Kyle Field) to be August 22nd," Sharp said. "I told him, ‘Coach, that isn't possible.' Well, after some more research, we found out it was possible.”

Through discussions with various members of his team, construction schedules were shifted and a drainage system was moved to the top of the list.

As many will remember, grass and rain mixing caused quite a few problems last year. According to Greg Kaufman, head of Populous, that won’t be an issue moving forward.

“This drainage system was not only designed for a hundred-year flood, which is six and a half inches of rain per hour," he said. "This design is for 10-12 inches. If you have ever been in that kind of rain, it is worse than a hurricane, but this field can take it.”

Another big change from a year ago will come in the form of Kyle Field’s state-of-the-art WiFi technology. Phillip Ray, A&M System Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, touched on how the connectivity compares to other stadiums across the country.

“I’ve been on the west coast and seen the new stadium that is supposed to be the ‘true standard’ and I would not trade them today, no way," he said. "This is what the Aggie Family deserves.”

Ray did go on to mention that Verizon and AT&T customers will have full use of the connection, but they are still in discussions with Sprint and T-Mobile. However, they are hopeful an agreement will be reached soon.

The real details of the WiFi came when Todd Christner of Corning Optical Communications Wireless, spoke.

“It is hard to test a system like this without 100,000 people in the stadium," Christner said. "So the only way we can optimize this system, and really make it hum and perform, is by getting 100,000 people to use it.”

With a program of this magnitude, there will always be kinks to work out along the way.

“Game one, it will function better than what you have seen in the past with other stadiums," Christner added. "Game two it will function better, and even better in game three. Each game, the system will get better.”

In addition to all the technology and turf science, it was also announced that Slovacek has made a hot dog specifically for Texas A&M that will not be available anywhere else in the country.

The stadium is expected to reach its ‘substantial completion’ on September 5th — one week before Kyle Field opens its doors against Ball State.