Sanford Stadium grows larger as construction continues on $68.5 million renovation

ATHENS — UGA asked media members to refrain from taking photos or shooting video when taking a tour of the new press box at Sanford Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Once inside, that request was understandable.

Construction has a long way to go.

There remains much work to be done to complete Phase II of the $68.5 million project. But Tanner Stines, who oversees facilities and capital projects for the Georgia Athletic Association, assured one and all that the 95-year-old football facility will be ready to go for the home opener Sept. 7.

“We might have to give y’all a paint brush,” Stines cracked.

Indeed, the truly important needs are set. Dooley Field looks to be in fine shape, sans the trademark power “G” at midfield and other paint-on-grass features. And the iconic hedges, also replaced after last season, are almost fully grown. The top of the fence that runs between the two rows of privet that have encircled Georgia’s field since 1929 can be seen on the eastern end of the stadium, but the hedges are in need of trimming everywhere else.

But as far as the stone, steel and glass, there remains much work to be done on the exterior façade of the newly expanded South grandstands. The tension was palpable as hard-hatted construction workers scurried about throughout the newly erected interior spaces putting finishing finishes on work that has been ongoing since the Bulldogs completed their final home game of last season against Ole Miss on Nov. 11.

For Georgia fans, the most interesting development is, at the end of all, the Bulldogs will have themselves a (slightly) larger stadium. The new press box tower and other additions gave Sanford Stadium an additional 287 seats. That raises the capacity to 93,033, the first permanent seating increase since 2004.

When it’s full, that won’t break the record for the most fans ever to attend a Georgia football home game. That remains the Notre Dame game in 2019, when the Bulldogs installed 500 temporary seats to raise capacity to 93,246. Georgia also packed in 93,000 – and many believe several thousand more – when coach Kirby Smart renamed the 2016 G-Day spring game “93K Day.”

But as far as regular fall Saturdays, Sanford Stadium remains the ninth-largest on-campus facility in the country. It ranks sixth among SEC stadiums, behind Texas A&M’s Kyle Field (102,321), LSU’s Tiger Stadium (102,321), Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium (101,915), Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium (101,821) and Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (100,119).

The new construction represented Phase II of a renovation project that began after the 2022 season to widen concourses and add restrooms and concession areas on the south side of the stadium. In the process, the Magill Press Box, which had occupied the South’s 200 level since 1967, has been converted into a premium space for donors now called the “1929 Club.”

Those “200 or so” seats have sold out for the 2024 season, according to UGA. That’s no small accomplishment considering the invitation-only occupants, in addition to needing to belong among Georgia’s top-donor tiers, fans must contribute an additional $7,500 per seat to sit in the area occupied for the past 57 years by sports writers and radio/TV reporters.

Going forward, the press has been moved out of that valuable real estate and into the top of a new tower that was connected to the west end of the existing south-side section. The view has shifted the sight lines considerably, from club from the midfield to “500-level” and from midfield to roughly the back line of the West end zone. Even Scott Howard, the legendary play-by-play voice for the Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network, and his crew will be calling games from a similar vantage point on the 400 level.

But Georgia has dressed up the press box nicely with amenities and conveniences. There will be multiple wide-screen monitors mounted throughout to provide closed-circuit and broadcast feeds as well as real-time statistical data. The expectation is that the facility eventually will bear the name of the great Dan Magill and/or recently retired, legendary sports information director Claude Felton.

The area below the press box will feature six new premium-seating suites. Phase one of the construction project added one row of seats to the South’s lower level.

Georgia could further expand the stadium’s capacity by closing in the west end of the stadium. However, currently there are no plans to do that. The Bulldogs like the horseshoe effect of having a stadium opening facing into campus.

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