Six representatives of the Kansas football team were in Texas last week at Big 12 Media Days, which annually marks the unofficial start of another college football season.
While they were there, construction crews continued to work at a wild pace on Phase II of the east side of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
As you can see in the images, the lighting on the top of the new east bleachers is now — and has been for a while — fully in place and the work continues on the east bleachers, the bleachers in the south end zone and the rest of the Gateway District project that resides outside of the stadium's walls along Mississippi Street.
When the Jayhawks kick off the 2026 season on Sept. 4 against Long Island (7 p.m. on ESPNU), only the lower half of the east side will be complete, a fact that has been known since the project began and part of the plan all along.
Construction on the upper deck on the east side will remain ongoing throughout the season — not on game days, of course — and the project is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2027 season.
So, there's still plenty of work to be done and KU will play its five home games — 2 non-con and three Big 12 games — in front of a reduced-capacity crowd of around 25,000 or so fans during the upcoming season.
Still, the progress has been immaculate and the east side coming into shape has really rounded out the look of the new Booth as a brand-new stadium.
Here's a look at some recent images of the progress they've made and how things look less than two months before football will be played there again.
• R1S1 Sports Photos •
