Members of the Gardendale football team, along with other students, parents and supporters spent their Saturday giving their stadium a facelift.

Gardendale High School’s Driver Stadium has received a fresh look for the upcoming football season, thanks to players, students and supporters.

Members of the football team were joined by other students, parents, the Gardendale High School Athletic Club and other members of the community for a field work day on Saturday Aug. 1. Volunteers re-sodded the football field and did renovation work on the press box and restrooms, and also painted the stadium maroon.

“We really felt like our stadium was getting outdated a little bit,” said Head Coach Matt Plunkett. “We’ve got a lot of pride here in Gardendale and we really want our stadium to look like one of the top 6A stadiums in the state of Alabama. And we feel like it does.”

The total cost of re-sodding the field and renovations to the stadium total about $35,000, paid for through various school fundraisers as well as donations from parents and local businesses. There are further plans to add various designs, pictures, and logos to the stadium before the start of the season.

The Gardendale Athletics Club will have another fundraiser Aug. 15 in the form of a mattress sale. Mattresses will be offered up to 50 percent off retail price, and 20 percent of proceeds will go to the athletic program to help pay for new weight training equipment and other gear.

The first game of the season will take place with a home game against Hewitt-Trussville on Aug. 28.