Fundraising efforts make new stadium a possibility

A persistent fundraising effort by the UW-L Foundation filled the University's coffers with $13 million for construction of the new Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. While this amount falls short of the total estimated construction costs, University officials feel optimistic. "The total project costs about $18.6 million and we've scaled back the first phase of the project so that costs will not exceed $13 million," said Vice Chancellor of Finance Bob Hetzel. Construction has been divided into three phases, the first of which includes principal construction of the stadium complex. A new grandstand of 6,000 seats, new turf and track surfaces and the new Veterans Memorial Plaza, an expansion of the Veterans Hall of Honor, will be built initially. The lighting will also be enhanced on the soccer and recreation fields. Hetzel made clear that the University will not bite off more than it can chew financially. "The University will be putting more money into it as we're able to identify additional funds through the Foundation. Then we'll consider the second and third phases," he said. Exactly what is constructed in each phase will depend on whatever funds are available. Completion of a strength and fitness room is tentatively scheduled for one of the later phases, as mandated by a student referendum which allocated $750,000 for its construction. University officials have said that if sufficient funds are not available, that money will be put toward improvements on the REC center. "As soon as we gauge how much of the stadium project we're going to move forward with, the second step will be to talk with students, talk with the staff at the REC center and then begin plans with how best to spend that money," Hetzel added. UW-L will receive official permission to green-light stadium construction at the UW-L Foundation's meeting on Friday. Demolition would begin this summer, and a new structure would be ready for use by Fall 2009. Meanwhile, the football team is currently in discussion with Winona State to use its facilities for home games next season. The costs of renting their facilities are yet to be determined.

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out