Sports complex gives face-lift to part of UNL campus

In August, that corner near 14th Street and Cornhusker Highway will look much different. The soccer field, its grass berms and stadium lights will be visible to drivers.

Already visible is a massive building that has six indoor tennis courts. A boardwalk will allow spectators to keep tabs on the action on the 12 outdoor courts.

Like other NU facilities, the new soccer and tennis digs will include plenty of logos letting passersby know they’re approaching the home of the Huskers.

The new facilities are being built across Salt Creek from Nebraska Innovation Campus, on ground that was once State Fair Park campgrounds.

From the parking lot there is a panoramic view of Innovation Campus, the Devaney Sports Center, the state Capitol and Memorial Stadium.

“I think this creates a beautiful North gateway to campus,” said John Ingram, who is in charge of capital planning and construction for the Nebraska athletic department.

“That’s what really attracted us to this particular piece of ground. Number one, it gave us the ability to put tennis on campus, coupled with soccer, and a great view. You feel like you’re a part of campus, you can see downtown and it sets up a really nice row of facilities for us with this complex, our outdoor throws practice area (for track), and then Devaney.”

Ingram shared more details of the $20 million project on a recent tour.

The soccer field will have permanent grandstand seating on one side and berm seating on two others. The playing surface will be natural grass, much to the delight of soccer purists.

In the early years of the program, the soccer team drew nice crowds, including many families, when the Huskers played off campus at the Abbott Sports Complex in northeast Lincoln. The crowds have dwindled since the team moved back on campus, sharing facilities with the track team on a field without lights. Weekday afternoon matches, and bleachers a long way from the action, were not viewed as fan-friendly.

A bike trail will lead from the new facility to the UNL City Campus and connect with the citywide trail network.

John Walker, Nebraska's only head coach since the soccer program began in 1994, had input on the design.

“I think having a soccer-specific stadium is something we’ve lacked, and on-campus we’ve never had. To have that is huge,” Walker said. “The fact that we have lights allows us to play the Friday night games, the Thursday night games. I like that it’s not just the traditional types of bleachers that you get at a lot of stadiums and there are proper chairs and bleachers with back supports. The final part is this has a roof so it gives a chance for the noise to stay in the stadium and fans to be covered if there is bad weather.”

The schedule for the soccer team's first season in the new stadium is intriguing, including a match against perennial power North Carolina, which has Lincoln Southeast grad Paige Nielsen on its team.

The tennis courts are an equally important boost for the Huskers' program. Each of the 12 lighted outdoor courts has a small scoreboard, in addition to a large scoreboard displaying team scores. There will be chair-back seating, both at court level and elevated.

Inside will be six courts, with two rows of seating above each court. From their offices, coaches will have a view of both the indoor courts and campus.

The athletic department has looked to build a home for the tennis program for several years.

“For tennis particularly, they haven’t really had a home,” Ingram said. “They’ve always had the worst facility in the conference, and still been successful. You got to hand it to those longtime coaches, Scott Jacobson and Kerry McDermott, for making do for so many years.

"For my colleagues, I’m so excited to have them move into this new facility after sticking it out with Nebraska for so long and not having a great place to recruit to.”