ORONO – The drone of tractors working in the background made it hard to hear the speakers, but those who attended Wednesday’s groundbreaking for the University of Maine’s Mahaney Dome were pleased to see work is well under way.

Businessman Kevin Mahaney, a former Olympic and Americas Cup sailor, donated $1 million for the project in honor of his father, Bangor businessman and longtime UMaine athletics benefactor Larry Mahaney.

“My son Kevin is one of my heroes,” Larry Mahaney said. “He’s been unbelievable.”

A sizeable gathering of UMaine coaches, administrators and staff turned out for the ceremony at the site of the former Chester G. Bridge Tennis Complex. UMaine president Dr. Robert Kennedy and interim athletic director Blake James thanked the Mahaneys for their latest contribution to the university.

“We’ve got a great coaching staff and we have wonderful student-athletes and some really good facilities, but this was one area where we really needed a boost and the Mahaney Dome is going to provide a tremendous lift for many of our programs as well as the university,” Kennedy said.

“The one thing that we can’t circumvent up here is the weather and we’re at a disadvantage,” he said.

The concrete for the 38,000-square-foot facility, which will be completed later this year, was being poured Wednesday. The dome, which will be pressurized to keep the roof aloft, will be used for the baseball, football, softball, soccer and field hockey programs and other university functions.

It will be equipped with artificial FieldTurf. Former UMaine Little All-America linebacker John Huard, who works for FieldTurf, donated $20,000 in extras for the project.

“If we expect the coaches to do well, we need to give them the tools to do well,” said Kevin Mahaney, who for five years served as a UMaine trustee. “If we expect the athletes to perform, we need to give them the tools so that they’re able to perform. That’s what my dad has done his whole life is give people the opportunity to be successful.”

It was five years ago Larry Mahaney tried to generate support for an inflatable dome. The administration voiced concerns about the cost of running and maintaining such a facility and mothballed the project.

The elder Mahaney stuck to his guns and eventually pitched the idea to Kennedy and former UMaine AD Patrick Nero.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,” Larry Mahaney said, quoting former President Calvin Coolidge.

“A lot of people talk, but you can’t deposit rhetoric,” he added. “You’ve got to step up to the plate. You’ve got to do it.”

Mahaney thanked numerous people at UMaine for their efforts, especially Kennedy, women’s soccer coach Scott Atherley, director of facilities planning Anita Wihry, vice president for administration Janet Waldron and project specialist Claude Junkins.

Mahaney expressed his gratitude to John Bridge, son of Chester Bridge, for agreeing to vacate the 15-year-old tennis courts to pave the way for the dome. The courts are expected to be rebuilt elsewhere on the Orono campus at a later date.

Mahaney also challenged UMaine to fund a walkway from the dome to the field house so athletes won’t have to go outside to access the facility.

Kevin Mahaney promised to continue the family tradition of supporting UMaine.

“My idea is to keep giving back,” he said. “Even though I went to a small liberal arts college [Middlebury], my Mahaney heart and obviously my checkbook are going to remain here at the University of Maine for a long time to come.”