FARGO — The de-footballization of Dacotah Field is continuing this month at North Dakota State, with the athletic department addressing issues with the old north stands. It’s another step in making the facility all soccer, all the time.
Workers tore out concrete bleachers that at one time were an addition to the north stands and will replace them at some point with another grandstand, a new storage building and concession stand. The old press box was ripped out and a new one is being constructed more toward the middle of the soccer field.
The approximately $2 million cost is being funded entirely by private donations and was jump-started of sorts with the Nodak Insurance Football Performance Complex being almost completed. NDSU football in the past has used Dacotah as a practice field.
“We need to make this feel like the home of our women’s soccer program,” said Todd Phelps, NDSU’s deputy director of athletics.
Making it a home won’t end with the grandstand and press box project. Phelps said plans call for replacing the artificial turf in the next couple of seasons and replacing it with one that has soccer lines only. The current turf was installed in 2017.
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Plans also call for making the northside entrance more fan friendly, instead of the appearance of walking through a large brick wall to get to the field. That would include new fencing and pavement.
“At least make it feel like more of an entrance,” Phelps said. “Just to make it more identifiable that you’re coming into Dacotah Field.”
Phelps said it’s uncertain how many people the new grandstand will seat.
“We’re working through some pricing and what that might look like,” he said.
The project actually started last year with some landscaping work. The original Dacotah Field grandstand, which was constructed in the mid-1950s, that extends to the back of the soccer goal line toward the Sanford Health Athletic Complex will remain “for right now,” Phelps said.
It was the home of Bison football until the Fargodome opened in 1993. With football and soccer facilities seeing a finish line, Phelps said the hope is to complete the softball complex with some type of indoor facility.
“We’re getting close to the point where, you know what, we might be pretty much almost done at this point,” he said. “But then there will be something else.”
The Trust Project
