Husky Stadium: The Man Who Makes It Happen
Multimedia story by Kyle L. Simon, click here to view.
Text by Kiki C. Horas
A seating capacity of 72,500 allows Husky Stadium to rank as the nation’s 15th largest on-campus facility. It is the largest stadium, college or professional, in the Pacific Northwest. (Official Athletic Website of the University of Washington)
“That’s definitely what I do, y’know. And they love it.” – Kelvin Palfrey
As spectators stream out of the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium after a football game, Kelvin Palfrey, 48, stays behind and looks on at the post-game band and cheerleading show. Palfrey is not your typical Husky fan. He is the one who makes that football game, and any other games in the Husky Stadium, happen.
Palfrey is the utility lead worker at Husky stadium. He prepares the facilities for training and games—football, volleyball, softball, track and the list goes on. He can be found in his John Deere vehicle, which he uses to move around the huge stadium, or a forklift. The forklift requires training and a license to operate. His duties include making sure that the training fields are usable, supervising the maintenance of the stadium, repairing bleachers, supporting UW’s recycling program and many others. Without Palfrey, the facilities at Husky Stadium would be at a standstill.
When spectators pour into the stadium for a day of excitement, the thoughtful and humorous Palfrey has been at work for hours already. Palfrey has the “roughest …hardest job”, especially during football season because he has to work outside in cold weather. “[But]it’s a job,” Palfrey says, and being able to watch Husky Football makes all his work worthwhile.
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