ST. LOUIS—Before the Dome at America’s Center could usher in a new dose of green, it needed to wait for Pink to clear through first. Pink, the musician, not the color.

Crews needed about a month of uninterrupted time to install new turf at the facility for the first time in at least a dozen years, a timeframe that came once the singer’s Aug. 10 concert with Sheryl Crow cleared the books.

That work continued Friday.

The status of the athletic playing surface has been a source of fan consternation for some time, between the color, and for football, the appearance of different yard markers that vary in styles and locations depending on if it’s a professional or college contest.

The new turf and a new approach solve both problems.

“I know I heard the comments last season about the color. And we’ve got the right color green now, and so we’re excited about that,” said Brent Buchanan, the Vice President of Operations for Explore St. Louis. Workers will paint the field for each event just like they would for a grass field so that in the event college football returns to the venue, the field would not see the remnants of field markings for the UFL’s Battlehawks, for example.

The field comes with a new system that rolls up and stores the turf when it isn’t in use. That will save up to two days of work when crews are transitioning the dome from one purpose to another.

The turf will not only be a more pure shade of green, but it will be brighter to the eyes, thanks to another project that brought the Dome up to LED light standards.

“You're not going to build a new home or build a new office building without LED technology and so being able to catch up, have the better color temperature a huge energy efficiency and energy savings as well,” Buchanan said.

The turf and lighting projects each cost approximately $1 million. Officials are pursuing grants to move to LED lights throughout the America’s Center complex.

As for football, the Battlehawks are set to return in 2025, but the UFL has yet to announce a schedule for the spring league.

St. Louis will host 6 games instead of five because of a scheduling conflict in San Antonio.

The University of Missouri hosted Memphis in a college matchup last season but has not announced plans to return to The Dome. In 2026, Missouri and Illinois will resume their football rivalry game that had been played here previously. The games are currently scheduled to alternate between the two campuses.