When Davis Field first opened on Nov. 11, 1936, it primarily hosted football games. And while the facility is no longer used for football, some of Idaho State University’s most notable sports legends played on the field, including Babe Caccia and Dubby Holt. Originally known as the Spud Bowl, the facility was built as a federally funded Works Progress Administration Project. Today it hosts soccer and track and field events and was home field to Olympic gold medalist Stacy Dragila while she attended ISU. Recently the facility underwent a $7.1 million renovation to bring it into the 21^st century and provide the much-needed facilities for ISU’s championship level student athletes.

Keller Associates led the design and construction administration for this project. Improvements to the facility included widening the soccer field and reconstructing the track to meet NCAA standards, installing stadium lighting to meet NCAA regional broadcast levels, installing a video scoreboard and audio system, and adding 2,400-seat bleachers and a press box. Other components of the project included new grass turf for the soccer field, a precast privacy wall, and terrace seating.

With the upgrades to the field, ISU will be able to host Big Sky Conference and NCAA regional and national events well into the future. This project was awarded a third place ACEC Idaho Engineering Excellence Award for Special Projects.