Golden’s School of Mines boasts new stadium

The Orediggers may be playing on the oldest college football field west of the Mississippi, but housing that field is a brand-new $ 24 millionstadium.

The new Marv Kay Stadium at Campbell Field on the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden will affect the university’s athletics department in a positive way, athletic director David Hansburg said.

But, he said, “this is bigger than Mines. This is a great facility to rally the entire community.”

The complex not only belongs to Mines, Hansburg said, it belongs to Golden and Jefferson County. And he hopes the new facility can imbue everyone with a sense of spirit and pride.

“It brings a cool atmosphere to the city of Golden,” he said.

Along with Mines athletics, the complex will provide host graduation ceremonies, Golden High School homecoming games and other community events, Hansburg said.

The 60,730-square-foot, state-of-the-art stadium will house football, and men’s and women’s track-and-field and cross-country athletes. It boasts 130 lockers in the home locker room, seven meeting rooms and classrooms equipped with smart technology, 14 racks in the weight room and a seating capacity for 4,090 fans.

The structure will provide all School of Mines athletes a facility that is just as good, if not better, as any in the country, said Kay, the school’s former head football coach and athletic director for whom the stadium is named.

Kay, who lives in Golden, is “truly humbled and very, very honored.”

He graduated from the School of Mines with a mining engineering degree in 1963. His faculty career with the school began in 1966, and in 1969 he was named head coach–;a position he held for 26 years. Kay became director of athletics in 1994 and retired from that position in 2004.

Presently, Kay works for the Colorado School of Mines Foundation, the university’s fundraising arm.

Kay has dedicated his life to the school and is an honored resident of Golden, Hansburg said. “It’s rare you see that kind of commitment –; it’s really special.”

The first football game to take place at the Marv Kay Stadium will occur at noon on Sept. 5 when the Orediggers take on the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, a rival engineering school from Rapid City.

“Mines athletic teams are a hidden gem,” Hansburg said, and added the new facility will impact all Mines athletes in a positive way. “Our student athletes work hard, both in the classroom and on the field.”

Kay is looking forward to large numbers of former Mines athletes and alumni returning for the game.

“Each of them has a piece of the new facility in them,” Kay said.

“This is a dream of every athlete that has competed at Mines.”

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