had a grass playing surface until 1970, when Astroturf was installed. Natural turf was reinstalled on the field for the 1996 season. Since that time, the turf has consistently received praise from players and coaches. For their efforts, the groundskeepers were honored in 2004 as the winners of the STMA College Football Field of the Year. 2013–2015 renovation On May 1, 2013, the Texas A&M Board of Regents approved a $485 million rebuild of Kyle Field. The renovation would temporarily raise the official seating capacity to 106,511 people for the 2014 season, making it the largest football stadium in Texas and the SEC (surpassing Neyland Stadium by 57 seats) and the third largest football stadium in the country. The renovation was done in two distinct phases geared around the football season, and began immediately after the conclusion of the final 2013 season game in November with the implosion of the student section side. The stadium renovation was complete by the beginning of the 2015 season bringing the official capacity to 102,733. Per local media, KBTX, major milestones for the Kyle Field project were as follows, with construction sequenced and phased to allow the playing of regular home football games in the stadium for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons. The renovation was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Phase I (November 2013): Demolition of the first deck of the east side of the stadium, reconstruction of the first deck, and construction of the south end zone, which includes seating, media interview areas, 12th Man Productions and related gameday support, and a commissary and recruiting area. Phase II (November 2014): Demolition of the entire west side of the stadium (including the last remnant of the original 1927 stadium), complete construction of the south end zone, and reconstruction of the west side. Other significant items included in the scope of work for the Kyle Field redevelopment included: Demolition of the Read Building, G. Rollie White Coliseum, and the Netum Steed strength and conditioning facility, all of which are adjacent to or part of Kyle Field Construction of a new strength and conditioning laboratory training area on the university's west campus Lowering of the playing field by approximately 7 feet and relocation of the playing surface approximately 18 feet to the south allowing for an additional six rows of seating around the stadium Relocation of the existing south end zone scoreboard and