Alfond Stadium nears completion> Multipurpose facility to provide new opportunities for UMaine athletes

ORONO – Tuesday morning, while offering a sneak peak at the University of Maine’s Harold Alfond Sports Stadium, Stephen Rich paused in the wide entrance to the mezzanine level, where many fans will get their first look at the Astroturf of Morse Field from above.

“This is my favorite spot,” Rich said as marveled at the bright green turf of Morse Field, where the UMaine field hockey team was practicing. He couldn’t help but think of his daughter, Logan, who is playing field hockey at John Bapst High School in Bangor.

The facility is expected to provide a new opportunity for young players to compete on Astroturf in a college setting while also helping UMaine attract better players and take its field hockey program to new heights.

“I’m thinking that it’s real important for Logan and girls like her to have that opportunity,” said Rich, who marvels that the university raised the more than $5 million needed for the field and stadium project through private donations.

Rich, an architect at WBRC Architects and Engineers of Bangor, has spent the past year designing, planning, and overseeing the construction of the $2.5 million grandstand at Alfond Stadium. With the project nearing completion, the excitement is audible in Rich’s voice as he lists the many amenities the structure and the multipurpose facility will provide to visitors.

UMaine’s 6,000-seat grandstand gives spectators a complete view of events on Morse Field and on the Clarence Beckett Family Track. The aluminum structure also features spacious walkways and aisles, complete with railings, which are designed to allow safe, quick entry and exiting, Rich said.

Preferred seating, for UMaine supporters who make significant financial contributions, will include fold-down seats with backs. All other seating is on traditional benches. Including the bleachers on the visitors side of the field, the stadium will hold approximately 10,000 fans.

Handicap access and seating are provided on all levels – the bleachers, the mezzanine and all the way up to the luxury boxes and press box. Several handicap platforms are strategically located on the grandstand.

“Every seat in here is going to have a wonderful, unobstructed view,” said Rich, who said even the front row should be high enough for fans to see over players standing on the sidelines.

From the top of the grandstand spectators are treated to a panoramic look at UMaine’s athletic facilities, including Mahaney Diamond, the three soccer fields and the football practice field, along with Alfond Arena to the rear.

“You can see Mount Katahdin on a clear day,” Rich said of one vantage point. “It’s a view nobody’s ever had [from here].”

The ground level includes a ticket office, a concession stand, rest-rooms and service rooms for telephone and electrical systems. A propane generator has been installed to provide emergency exit lighting and power.

High above the complex, patrons in the luxury boxes will enjoy other comforts, including theater-style seats, large windows and access to a kitchenette and restrooms. The rooms are patterned after the sky boxes at Alfond Arena.

Television, radio and print media, UMaine personnel and coaches will be treated to spacious work booths – all in accordance with NCAA regulations – in one of 10 rooms on the upper level, which is 90 feet above the ground.

At night, the facility will be lit to a brilliant 125 foot-candles by the several 90-plus-foot light towers installed around the perimeter.

The new $317,000 Daktronics scoreboard and message board, a gift from field benefactors Phillip and Susan Morse, arrived Tuesday from South Dakota. The device, which can be used for track and field, football and field hockey, is 18 feet tall and 32 feet wide.

The Astroturf, which was wet after a Tuesday afternoon rainshower, fills the complex with color. The half-inch thick carpet, which is made of nylon fibers knitted into a polyester backing, is laid over a 1 1/2-inch elastic layer. The e-layer, which provides shock absorbency, is a combination of rubber granules and rubber strands.

In spite of all the completed work, the tractors continue to hum and workers are still pounding nails and painting to finish the job. Rich said the home grandstand won’t be done in time for UMaine’s Sept. 1 home field hockey opener but will be ready for the Sept. 12 football game.