Stadium Update: Video Board, Elevators Taking Shape

The massive 30-foot by 50-foot video board is in place and should be operational by early July.

Crews from Stanley Elevator have made much progress in the last week as they build a couple of elevators on site.

Carpeting, painting and brickwork are under way in various spots in the building.

Construction of the new Wildcat Stadium is steaming along where once stood the visitors' stands for Cowell Stadium.

"Overall we're in really good shape," said Steve Metcalf, UNH's deputy director of athletics who oversees the project. We have a state fire marshal's inspection set for the last week in July and hopefully we'll get a certificate of occupancy at that time. The first two weeks of July we anticipate getting the furniture in and by the middle of August all furniture should be in place."

Wildcat Stadium, the new home of the high-powered UNH football team and a multi-use facility, will be broken in on Saturday, Sept. 10 with a stadium opening game against New England rival Holy Cross.

The Wildcats begin the 2016 season a week earlier with a game against San Diego State, an FBS school, on September 3, at 8:30 (ET).

Season tickets for Wildcat Stadium, which will feature the Service Credit Union Victory Club that offers an enhanced fan experience unlike any in the region, are now on sale. A $99 general admission season ticket is also being offered. Information on tickets and the stadium is available online or by calling 603-862-4000.

The steel for the video board and the board itself went up in short order in the past two weeks.

"Now all the components that drive the board, the hardware that is not part of the board, are being put in place," Metcalf said. "Then they'll get it connected to the press box and the press box connected to the Field House."

Meanwhile, the press box that has stood since the 1930s on the Field House side of the stadium, is coming down.

"In the very near future, that press box will start to shrink rapidly," Metcalf said.

Carpeting and painting continue in the new stadium as workers get closer to their finishing touches.

"They're working on completing different spaces and then they'll start to go through punch lists for different rooms on different levels, punch lists for the rest of the building," Metcalf said.

Crews are working on a pair of elevators – one primarily for the fans and the other primarily for service and coaches.

"They've got the elevator shaft in and they put the hydraulics in and then build the cabs," Metcalf said.

The opener against Holy Cross is the first of five regular season home games. The Homecoming contest against William & Mary is set for Oct. 1. Other home games are against James Madison on Oct. 15, against Stony Brook on Oct. 29 and against Albany on Nov. 12.

The UNH football team finished with a 7-5 record last season and qualified for the FCS tournament for the 12^th straight year. The streak of 12 straight playoff berths is the longest in the country.

Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu

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Stadium Update: Video Board, Elevators Taking Shape

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