NDSU will celebrate the beginning of construction on the Sanford Health Athletic Complex with a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, July 22, at 10 a.m. on Dacotah Field. Among the speakers will be NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani; Gene Taylor, NDSU director of athletics; Paul Richard, president of Sanford Medical Center Fargo; and Steve Scheel, president of Scheels.
The event is open to the public with parking available in the Fargodome south lots.
The $41 million expansion and renovation of the existing Bison Sports Arena, which began in April, will transform the facility and the surrounding area, known as the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, into a true Division I athletic complex. Additionally, it will serve as a "front door" venue welcoming student-athletes and campus guests with the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame, Hall of Champions and various fan services and facilities.
Scheels Center will seat more than 5,700 fans for basketball, and the Nodak Mutual Insurance Company Basketball Training Facility will feature two courts on the southwest corner of the existing structure. The west-side addition and renovations will house human performance facilities, including strength and conditioning, sports medicine and rehabilitation areas, and an academic center for student-athletes.
The newly built Shelly Ellig Indoor Track and Field Facility opened for training and competition in December 2012.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.