Work on Memorial Stadium almost done

With football season slowly creeping up, Memorial Stadium in Berkeley will be ready to host Cal’s season opener against Nevada on September 1.

The stadium was out-of-use due to seismic repairs and modernization.

It sits right along the Hayward Fault and has been standing for a grand total of 90 years.

According to UC Berkeley, the mechanical, electrical and plumbing work is just short of completion, with about 95 percent of the work done.

That last 5 percent of the work will include painting and coating walls, putting tiles in restrooms and adding, signs, handrails and light fixtures.

The last stretch of the completion project will take five months.

Remodeling this stadium was a trying task for Webcor Builders, with only one entrance for trucks and equipment. The stadium also had to be lowered by 4 feet.

The interior is earthquake-safe, with an exterior preserving the stadium’s glory. Exterior work is around 70 percent complete.

Assistant athletic director Bob Milano Jr. said that while operations won’t be entirely smooth, the allure of football will ensure the stadium is open by its current deadline:

It’s not quite usable yet and we’ll likely have some rough edges, but it would take an act of God to prevent us from staging a football game here.