UPDATED PHOTO: Will Luther's Carlson Stadium be getting a blue synthetic field?

Carlson Stadium at Luther College will be getting a new look in time for football games next fall.

The Luther Board of Regents has authorized a proposal to remove the natural turf on the football field and install a blue artificial surface.  The project will be funded by gifts from donors, with the fundraising goal having almost been met.

The switch to an artificial surface is being made to improve player safety.  Luther is the only school in the Iowa Conference without an artificial surface on its football field.

The use of a blue surface is being made to boost "the visual appeal" of Carlson Stadium.  Not everyone on campus is agreeing with that reason, however.  A letter to the campus newspaper "Chips" by Luther English professor David Faldet said, "Placing an electric blue field as the massive foreground of that view is like the Louvre Museum putting down a yellow shag carpet in the gallery housing da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."