In 1904, when a young horticulture professor sectioned off part of the land the school had given him for agriculture purposes so the sports teams could use it, he never could have imagined what that plot of land would become. He used his own money to purchase bleachers from the Bryan fairgrounds, and later that year the A&M Board of Directors appointed the area, with a seating capacity of all of 500, A&M’s permanent sporting grounds.

He might never play in it, but Johnny Manziel's legacy will surely be a big part of Kyle Field.

His name was Edwin Jackson Kyle, and he was a member of the Texas A&M class of 1899.

For years, Kyle Field has had a reputation of being among the most iconic venues in all of college sports. And certainly, it is historic. Underneath the stadium’s west side, you can still see the arches and flag pole brackets from the first concrete deck built in 1927. That’s right, parts of Kyle Field, that people can still sit in, predate the release of “Gone With the Wind.” By almost twelve years.

However, despite its history, atmosphere, and near mystic status in the minds of A&M fans, it’s never been an exceptionally nice stadium. For some, that was part of the experience. Kyle Field wasn’t there to make the fans comfortable, it was there so the Aggies could play football, and that’s it.

For freshmen, the perpetual hike up those ramps to the third deck, seemingly at an ever-increasing incline, is a right of passage. For ticket-holders, especially those herding children, it was a constant incentive to upgrade your seats. Also, the heat. Oppressive, inescapable heat, with the only reprieve available being a well timed Lemon Chill. There isn’t even air in the bathrooms, which are an adventure (and absurdly huge time commitment) all their own.

Kyle Field also hasn’t just been the home of the 12th Man, it’s been the home of an ever-increasing population of thousands of Mexican free tailed bats. Their presence is not a invisible one either. Studies say smell is the strongest sense tied to memory, if so, walking by a bat cave in Texas on a windy day might send any unsuspecting Aggie into flashbacks of great Aggie victories.

And, for years, that’s what most of Kyle Field has been. Loud? Sure. Impressive? Of course. But comfortable, convenient or aesthetically pleasing? Definitely not.

Well, not for much longer.

On Wednesday, the Texas A&M Board of Regents gave final approval for a 450 million dollar renovation plan for Kyle Field and the surrounding area. If the plan is anything, it’s bold. The plan will increase Kyle Field’s capacity to 102,500 seats, the largest in Texas, and the largest in the SEC.

Kevin Sumlin said his only input was trying to make sure the stadium was as loud as possible.

Despite what A&M chancellor John Sharp said, I don’t think anybody is buying that the A&M decision makers didn’t know that the proposed stadium would be the largest in the state and the SEC.

“It’s the largest? I didn’t know that,” he said smiling.

Athletic director Eric Hyman said the project represents a bold step forward for Texas A&M.

“It really is an exciting moment for Texas A&M Athletics, for Texas A&M football, for a lot of people that have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this project prior to now,” said Hyman. “It’s an exciting moment, we’re writing a new chapter. A new chapter in the history of the university. This is a daunting challenge, it’s powerful, it’s ambitious, it’s aggressive, it’s iconic in a lot of the ways we talked about earlier.”

One of the more hotly debated topics about the new look Kyle Field was that capacity. After all, it was just three seasons ago that the Aggies averaged less than a sell-out at Kyle Field with a capacity of just under 83,000. However, with A&M’s fast growing fan base, Hyman thinks the demand will be sustainable.

“There were healthy discussion on this,” he said. “You analyze it and you evaluate and you go back and forth, but when it’s all said it and done it’s like Wayne Gretzky said ‘It’s not where the puck is, it’s where you want to hit the puck.’ If you look at Texas A&M, the growth of Texas A&M (...) and you look what the future has in store and how many graduates we’re going to be putting out, this is a facility to be able to meet the needs. This is something we will grow into eventually.”

It’s out with the old at Kyle Field. No more bathrooms with the same urinal that your father might have used when he attended A&M. No more gray wall of terror on the exterior of the East and West sides. And, no more bats. Efforts are already underway to rid Kyle Field of its airborne mammal residents. That also means no more guano smell, which might be the most welcome of all the changes.

What will greet fans in the fall of 2015 might be the best stadium in all of college football, but it’s not the looks of the stadium that will ever make Kyle Field. Perhaps the most important changes of all are closing in the stadium, lowering the field and adding canopies to help hold in the noise. Kyle Field was already among the nation’s loudest stadiums, and could now reach a whole new level.

There’s where Populous, the architecture firm charged with this redesign got it the most right. Because whether it’s the concrete monster with a hint of guano on the air, or a brand new sparkling upgrade of it’s former self, Kyle Field’s most important feature will always be that it’s the home of the 12th Man.

It’s just that now, finally, the quality of that home will match the history and the passion inside of it.