The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 67 days
Just 67 days until the Bulldog Nation can fill up Sanford Stadium again. Georgia football kicks off the 2018 season against Austin-Peay in less than 10 weeks. Speaking of Sanford Stadium, 1967 was an important year for the home of the Dawgs. That year saw the first major renovation in the stadium’s history.
UGA “double-decked” Sanford Stadium by building a second deck to the east and west sidelines. This added 19,640 seats to increase the total capacity to 59,000. The expansion was a response to the early success of the Vince Dooley era and other stadium renovations around the SEC at the time. After disappointing seasons from 1960-to-1963, Dooley turned the program around when he arrived in 1964. By 1966 the Dawgs were SEC Champions again and just a point or two short of the National Championship.
With players like Kent Lawrence, Kirby Moore and Bill Stanfill returning in 1967, the Georgia Bulldogs were a hot ticket. Demand was up and UGA had to had to match with supply.
UGA chose Heery and Heery of Atlanta as architects for the project. The General contractor was Baugh and Coody, Inc. from Albany. The total cost of the project was around $3 million, or nearly $22 million in today’s money.
Construction finished in time for the 1967 season. In the first game in the new look Sanford Stadium, no. 7 Georgia defeated Mississippi State 30-0. The Bulldog’s wouldn’t lose a game in the double-decked Sanford Stadium until November 1, 1969. And combined with an undefeated season at home in 1966, Georgia had a 16-game home unbeaten streak.
The project contained more than just the top decks however. Sanford Stadium also added a new press box, presidents box and club seating. Thanks to the additions, the stadium built almost 40 years earlier had caught up with the times and remained one of the premier stadiums in the SEC.
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Sanford Stadium wouldn’t receive another major renovation until the east end zone was enclosed in 1981. UGA enclosed the west end zone in 1991, built the top deck on the north side in 2003, and completed the skyboxes in 2004.