Seating Upgrade Set for College Stadium

Griffin Stadium at Moorpark College should have a new look in time for next season’s football games.

Fans will soon say goodbye to concrete benches and hello to new silver and royal blue aluminum benches.

The concrete benches date from when the facility opened in 1984.

“I’m so excited to finally see the seats going in,” said John Keever, athletic director.

Paul Griffin Jr., a local developer who built many of the homes around the college, donated $100,000 to the cause. The college hopes to raise the remaining $10,000 needed for the benches and an additional $300,000 for an all-weather track and ticket booth, Keever said.

“We are trying to motivate more people to buy into it,” Keever said. “We plan on adding a dedication wall near the entrance of the stadium to hold wall plaques honoring different sponsors, and we are also selling individual seats and full-color ads on the track itself.”

Of the 4,184 seats, only 100 have been sold, Keever said.

The stadium seats should be completed at the end of the month, said Chris Kapper, owner of Rykap Construction Co., the San Jose-based construction company hired to put in the seating.

All the benches will have backs, and the middle section of the home side of the stadium will have special contoured seats that are more comfortable, Keever said.