Kibbie Dome - Football

Football

The Kibbie Dome officially seats just 16,000 for football, making it the smallest venue in Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A). A record crowd of 17,600 was recorded for the eighth consecutive rivalry game victory over Boise State in November 1989, during the schools' I-AA Big Sky era. The football field runs east-west, but even with the new translucent upper end walls (2009 and 2011), sun location is not a major visibility issue.

For two and a half seasons, 1999 to 2001, the Vandals used WSU's Martin Stadium in nearby Pullman as its home field, as Idaho transitioned back to Division I-A from Division I-AA. When Dennis Erickson returned as head coach in 2006, there was talk of adding a second deck to the Kibbie Dome to increase the football seating to 25,000, and building a new basketball arena. In February 2007, the state board of education appropriated funds to study expansion possibilities. On December 6, the board approved funding to begin design work for $52 million in improvements, including an expansion to 20,000 seats, lowering the elevation of the playing field, and other various safety and spectator improvements.

When not used for football, the former AstroTurf football field was rolled up in about an hour to reveal 93,000 square feet (2.13 acres, 0.86 hectares) of polyurethane tartan surface, used for indoor tennis and track & field. The five-lane track is 290 meters (317 yd) in length, and 9 tennis courts are lined on its infield. Basketball and volleyball courts are also lined on the tartan infield. The AstroTurf was spooled onto a large field-width reel at the base of the west wall.

In 1990, the original synthetic turf (Tartan Turf) of 1972 was replaced after 18 seasons. In the summer of 2007, the Kibbie Dome's AstroTurf was replaced with RealGrass Pro, a next-generation infilled synthethic turf similar to Field Turf. Unlike the carpet-like AstroTurf, the infilled synthetic turf is not easily rolled up in a continuous reel, and must be removed in sections. The turf sections are five yards (4.6 m) in width, running from sideline to sideline, attached to each other with velcro. Other stadiums with RealGrass Pro include Texas Stadium (the former home of the Dallas Cowboys), and the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Life and safety upgrades to the Kibbie Dome began in the spring of 2009. The west wall was replaced with a non-combustible construction assembly; translucent plastic panels on the upper half and opaque metal siding on the lower. Concurrent with the end-wall replacement, a range of interior life safety work took place: field level exiting in the new west wall, addition of handrails in the seating aisles, provision of the required smoke exhaust systems; and other life safety and code mitigation improvements. The second phase of the project was completed in 2011 with the replacement of the east wall. A premium seating area (Litehouse Center) was established in 2011 in the former press box area above the south grandstand; a new press box was constructed above the north grandstand.