Satire: UNI receives $100 million donation for new outdoor football stadium

NOTE: The following article and image are of a humorous nature and do not reflect actual events on campus or the thoughts, beliefs and actions of the individuals mentioned. Any resemblance to reality is completely unintended and consequentially awesome.

University of Northern Iowa Director of Athletics Troy Dannen announced Friday morning that UNI will break ground on a new 30,000-seat state-of-the-art outdoor football stadium sometime in mid-May. The stadium is to be completed by the start of the fall 2012 football season.

Former UNI alumnus and lifelong Panther football fan Bob Harrison informed the university in February that he would like to donate $100 million to the athletic department for use toward a new outdoor football stadium.

"I haven't missed a UNI home football game in the past 28 years and UNI football has always had a special place in my heart," said Harrison, a 1961 UNI graduate. "I have always felt that saving money is important and at this point in my life I didn't know what else to spend that money on, so I figured, why not give some of it to the athletic department.

"I have been a season ticket holder since before the (UNI-Dome) was constructed in the mid-1970s. However, I have always felt that football is meant to be played outdoors. That's the main reason I decided to donate the $100 million," said Harrison.

President Ben Allen, Dannen and Harrison have been meeting frequently over the past few months to discuss the possible options for an outdoor stadium since Harrison expressed his interest in donating back in mid-February.

"We have looked over all the options and we feel that building a 30,000-seat state-of-the-art outdoor stadium is the most financially viable way to spend this generous donation," said Dannen. "It was extremely hard to keep this information from the general public for so long.

"We hope that this new state-of-the-art outdoor stadium will help with publicity as well as recruiting on the national stage. With the McLeod Center, UNI-Dome and now this new football stadium, I believe we are at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference in terms of facilities," said Dannen.

President Allen addressed the issue on whether or not the UNI-Dome would still be used for athletic events in the future.

"We will still use the UNI-Dome for sporting events such as track and field, the annual softball tournament, the high school football playoffs as well as UNI football practices and work outs," said Allen. "The (UNI-Dome) will still be significant to the University of Northern Iowa and the athletic department; it just won't host home football games following the upcoming 2011 football season."

The new outdoor football stadium, which is yet to be named, will be located west of the McLeod Center where the intramural athletic fields are currently located. The stadium will have approximately 30,000 seats, including a state-of-the-art press box with luxury suites, a state-of-the-art JumboTron replay screen, locker rooms and an equipment and storage shed.

The stadium will have two sets of grandstands on the east and west sides of the field, with each section having approximately 14,000 seatback-style chairs. The south endzone will have bleacher-style seating that will hold approximately 2,000 spectators. This section will likely be used for student seating.

Beyond the north endzone will be the home and visitor locker rooms, alumni suite and the equipment storage shed. The state-of-the-art two-story press box will be located across the top of the west grandstands while the state-of-the-art jumbotron will be located atop the locker rooms and alumni suite in the north endzone.

"While we love competing in the Missouri Valley Conference, we also feel that updating the football facilities will open the door for us to be included in possible expansion talks with the power conferences such as the Big Ten and the Big XII," said Dannen.

The project will cost an estimated $91 million. The remaining $9 million was used to fund this April Fools joke… Happy April Fools Day!