New look Garry Berry Stadium set for football season opener

COLORADO SPRINGS – Garry Berry Stadium is the oldest “big school” stadium in Colorado Springs and home to football, soccer and lacrosse programs for four schools in the area.

Thursday, just 26 hours ahead of Doherty’s first football game of the season, district athletic director Chris Noll beamed as he showed off the stadium’s face lift that has been going on since early in the summer. The turf is brand new, the track will be brand new when its completely installed in the near future and the video board and sound system have been completely replaced with state of the art technology.

Garry Berry Stadium is the Colorado high school sports equivalent of restoring a classic hot rod. And the teams that call it home can’t wait to get behind the wheel.

“Real talks, we started in October of 2020,” Noll said. “We’ve known for a while that we needed a new field and we’ve known for a while that we needed a track.”

The field has a bit of an unorthodox look to it as Noll chose silver for the turf instead of a traditional green to mimic grass.

Looking at the opportunity to do something different, he chose a color scheme that makes the lines on the field for various sports pop. And the D11 logo at the 50-yard line can stands out enough that passengers on Southwest flying out of Colorado Springs will be crystal clear about which district the stadium belongs to.
 

“It’s a risk,” Noll said. “We knew it was a risk and we wanted to stand out. We wanted people to notice and I think that’s what has happened now. We have had a lot of people in the last week and a half to two weeks want to come by and check out the silver. They think it doesn’t make sense, but now that they’ve seen it, they’ve fallen in love with it.”

Once full construction in the facility is complete, it will fill like a brand-new stadium to those who are used to stepping inside. It was important for Noll and District 11 superintendent Dr. Michael Thomas that the kids play on a surface that is up to date and safe.

And it wouldn’t hurt to give the state options for hosting future playoff venues.

“I would like to showcase our facilities and bring more state championships down to Colorado Springs,” Noll said. “I think Colorado Springs proved last year with basketball, volleyball and spirit that we can host and that people will come to Colorado Springs.”

The fresh-faced Garry Berry Stadium will be on full display Friday as Doherty football hosts Cherry Creek at 4 p.m. Mitchell faces Palmer at 7:30 to tie a bow on a Week 1 double header in which three of four football teams will play on the new turf.

Coronado will get its first chance to check out the facility on Sept. 3 when it hosts Lewis-Palmer.