Bemidji State begins Chet Anderson Stadium turf renovation
Bemidji State started replacing Chet Anderson Stadium’s turf, with a new Shaw Sports Turf surface due by mid-July before Beaver and Bemidji High School fall seasons.
Bemidji State University began replacing the playing surface at Chet Anderson Stadium on July 1, starting a renovation that will take one of Bemidji’s busiest sports venues offline briefly before fall football and soccer return. The project swaps out the current synthetic turf for a new Shaw Sports Turf system, with Mammoth Construction handling the work and completion targeted for around mid-July.
The timing matters beyond the university campus. Chet Anderson Stadium is not only home to Bemidji State football and women’s soccer, but also a shared field for Bemidji High School football and soccer. That makes the renovation a community-level interruption as well as a college facilities project, because the stadium serves multiple programs that depend on the same field for practices and early-season competition.
Bemidji State has said the new surface will be an NFL-approved system and described it as one of the first of its kind in NCAA Division II across all sports. The upgrade replaces turf that was installed in 2013, when the university last overhauled the field. That earlier project cost $1.3 million and included demolition of the running track around the field and installation of a new entry plaza.
The stadium itself carries far more history than the current surface. Bemidji State says Beaver football has called Chet Anderson Stadium home since 1939, after a federal grant in that year helped the university build new athletic facilities. The first game there was played on Sept. 27, 1940, and the venue was officially renamed Chet Anderson Stadium on Oct. 5, 1996. When the turf and soccer program debuted for the 2013 season, the stadium became home to both BSU football and women’s soccer.
The university’s soccer quick facts list the venue’s surface as field turf with a 3,500-person capacity, underscoring its role as one of the region’s most visible outdoor athletic sites. That competitive value has been clear for years: a 2022 women’s soccer release said the Beavers were 70-13-5 at home since the turf and soccer debut in 2013.
The 2026 work also follows a June 2025 derecho that damaged the field area, including bent goalposts, adding another layer to the renovation. For Bemidji State and the high school programs that share the stadium, the project is both a modernization and a repair, aimed at restoring a well-used community asset before the fall season begins.
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