FARGO, ND – The Athletic Department of North Dakota State University unveiled its latest massive modernization of its facility on Friday, October 14 and held a dedication ceremony at Nodak Insurance Company’s Football Performance Complex on campus.
The entire $54 million construction project cost was privately funded, including a lead gift from Nodak Insurance Company, which received naming rights.
A state-of-the-art training facility for national champion NDSU’s soccer program, the complex includes capacity for women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s track and field programs, which are also affected by weather throughout the year.
The completed first phase of the project included the construction of the full-size indoor practice facility and the additional outdoor artificial grass practice field. The second phase will include a football locker room, team briefing room, sports training and equipment rooms and more.
“We are incredibly grateful for this gift – and for the contributions and generosity of all of you – for what it does for this facility, what it does for the institution, but ultimately what it will do for generations of student athletes who are due.” of these gifts,” said NDSU President Dr. David Cook.
The facility will be more than 117,000 square feet, including the practice field, operations building and warehouse. It will eventually include an elevated gathering area for recruiting visitors and guests, a weight room and gas station, and a retractable multi-sport net system.
Seven overhead doors open from the indoor facility to the outdoor practice field to ease transition during team practice. LED lighting systems, scoreboards and music boxes are also installed on both fields.
“I’m thinking about the impact this facility will have on[our student-athletes’]training, development and overall ability to succeed at NDSU,” said the NDSU athletic director. Matt Larsen. “I’m thinking of the impact this facility will have on the future of Bison Athletics. There are very few complexes in Division I athletics that can compete with Nodak Insurance Company’s Football Performance Complex.”
“This building, with the name of Nodak Insurance Company on its side, will live well into many of our lifetimes, providing year-round opportunities for coaches and athletes to excel at their craft,” said Jim Alexander, President and CEO of Nodak Insurance Company. “It will be a source of pride for our board, our agents and employees, the community and the state.”
The complex was designed on-site by Foss Architects and Interiors of Fargo in collaboration with Kansas City-based Crawford Architects.
Over the past decade, NDSU has opened new on-campus venues for basketball, wrestling, softball, indoor track and outdoor track and field, in addition to significant facility upgrades for volleyball at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse and soccer at Dacotah Field. Other new training facilities include the Nodak Insurance Company Basketball Performance Center and indoor short-game golf facility, as well as state-of-the-art strength and conditioning and sports medicine facilities at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, which opened in 2016.
Overall, the NDSU athletics facilities overhaul has completed projects totaling $110 million over the past decade.
