page_title: Kinnick Stadium
section_title: Renovation
hierarchical_section_title: Kinnick Stadium / Renovation
caption_attribution_description: Kinnick Stadium renovations in the south end zone. Taken on July 21, 2005.
context_page_description: Kinnick Stadium, formerly known as Iowa Stadium, is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, in the sport of college football. First opened in 1929 to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds up to 69,250 people, making it the 7th largest stadium in the Big Ten, and one of the 20 largest university owned stadiums in the nation. It is named for Nile Kinnick, the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner and the only Heisman winner in university history, who died in service during World War II. It was named Iowa Stadium until 1972, when longtime lobbying by Cedar Rapids Gazette sportswriter Gus Schrader successfully convinced the UI athletic board to change the name. It is currently the only college football stadium named after a Heisman Trophy winner.
context_section_description: After 75 years of operation, the Iowa Board of Regents endorsed a major renovation of Kinnick Stadium on March 10, 2004. The US$86.8 million project was to build a new state of the art press box, a new scoreboard with a new sound system, replace the "temporary" south endzone bleachers with permanent seating, triple the restroom facilities, and more than double the number of concession stands, as well as smaller changes such as new locker rooms, a bronze statue of Nile Kinnick and the dedication of the Krause Family Plaza to which Kinnick Stadium is now adjacent. Every brick for the renovation came from the Glen-Gery Brickyard in Redfield, which is located near Nile Kinnick's childhood home in Adel. The stadium was rededicated on September 1, 2006. Among other things, the rededication featured a flyover by a F4F Wildcat, the aircraft that Kinnick flew in World War II.
  The stadium also underwent major renovations in 1956, 1983, and 1990 where capacity was gradually taken from 53,000 to 70,397. The 2004–06 renovations pushed the capacity to 70,585.
  In the spring of 2009, the natural grass turf and 20-year-old drainage system were replaced with a new state-of-the-art synthetic FieldTurf playing surface.
  In 2013, the Iowa Board of Regents approved an $8 million upgrade of Kinnick Stadium's video and sound systems. These upgrades include the installation of new HD video displays in both the north and south endzones, as well as a new HD ribbon display above the north endzone. The upgrades were completed by the start of the 2013 football season.
  In 2016, the Iowa Board of Regents approved an $89.9 million upgrade to Kinnick Stadium's north end zone. The renovation included the addition of box seating, outdoor club seating and a scoreboard larger than the board in the south end zone. These renovations lowered the total capacity of the stadium to 69,250. The project was completed shortly before the beginning of the 2019 season.
  In 2019, the tunnel connecting the home locker room to the field was upgraded, with the addition of black and gold signage, lighting, and logos.
caption: The new scoreboard in the south end zone at Kinnick Stadium.
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