In nine days the clacking of cleats on cement will overtake the chattering of the crowd at Lubbers Stadium as the Grand Valley State University football team marches down the new tunnel upon entering its modernized stadium.

Like a thoroughbred in the gate prior to the start of the Kentucky Derby, the buzz in the stadium, created from the numerous improvements to the stadium, will be electric.

“The atmosphere at Lubbers Stadium is going to be terrific for a student-athlete,” said GVSU athletic director Tim Selgo. “These guys come to college to get their education and to compete. They put in a lot of hard work. On game night, we want that to be fun for them. I am quite confident that we can fill that place up with our students and fans and we are going to get Lubbers Stadium rocking more than ever before.”

Throughout the summer renovation of Lubbers Stadium, one of the biggest changes was the field being lowered eight feet. Instead of walking right into the venue and being eye-level with the field, there will now be more of a bowl effect when one looks down onto it.

“We went from a field to an actual stadium,” said junior quarterback Heath Parling. “Just walking down there and looking up, it actually feels like a college football stadium. A lot of guys are getting pumped up just to run out of that new tunnel and see how many people are actually there.”

In addition, FieldTurf, with 518,000 pounds of sand and 194,000 pounds of rubber on top of it, replaced grass as the playing surface. Two roads for snow removal have been added along with approximately 2,300 seats, including the Huntington Club sections.

The discontinued track has been removed, and to further enhance the game-day experience, the Peppino’s Patio and ESPN 96.1 Zone have been created. And all these changes were completed by the Aug. 7 projected completion date, yet there are still some last-minute housekeeping chores to be finished.

“A lot of Grand Valley State football branded items will start showing up in the stadium in the next week and a half, so a lot of color will be included,” said Doug Lipinski, associate director of athletics for marketing at GVSU. “On the east and west side between the 200 level and 100 level sections, there is a cement fascia. One wall will be blue and have the Grand Valley logo on it and one side will say ‘Welcome to Lubbers Stadium.’ Currently it is all just concrete. Also, we will have banners off the light posts and right off the student section.”

Other changes and additions include the Laker marching band being relocated, joining the student section in the south end zone, playing toward the home fans on the press box side. Meanwhile, the grass behind the north end zone will serve as overflow student seating. Also, the area on the south concourse will be home to the Lake Michigan Credit Union Laker Legends, a tribute to GVSU’s rich history of student-athletes and coaches.

With such dramatic changes to Lubbers Stadium, GVSU has seen an increase in ticket sales for 2012 and anticipates a much louder atmosphere come kickoff.

“Our season tickets are up 6 percent from last year,” Lipinski said. “We anticipate the noise level to increase. We have done a little bit of testing with our sound system and it seems like our student section is going to be a little louder. I think our fans will enjoy the new look. September 8, our home opener, will be electric.”

[email protected]