President Vaughn announced in a global email on Monday March 26, 2012 that the University of Tampa will be building a student intramural and athletic field and stadium on the north side of Kennedy Boulevard, on the west side of campus.
Plans are currently in the final stages and the new addition to UT is expected to be completed by December 2012. According to the plans discussed in the email, the complex will have a multi-purpose field, a 1,450-seat stadium, two spectator berms, restrooms, a concession area, parking, team meeting rooms and a support building.
The facility will be named the Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex as it is being funded in part by the Naimoli family. According to an article on the school website, “Vince Naimoli, chairman and founding partner of the Tampa Bay Rays, is a chairman emeritus of the UT Board of Trustees and in 1999 established UT’s Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy. The Naimoli family’s support has also funded improvements at UT’s tennis and softball complexes, now called, respectively, the Naimoli and Young Family Tennis Complex and the Naimoli Family Softball Stadium, as well as endowed scholarships for a male and female student athlete.”
The athletic and intramurals complex will be roughly bordered by Kennedy Boulevard to the south, North A Street to the north and Delaware Avenue to the east. UT will clear several UT-owned properties fronting Kennedy Boulevard in order to begin construction. They will eventually build academic buildings where the current intramural field on campus is.
When describing the field, Vaughn said, “The field is planned to be artificial turf. A custom fence, similar to the one along UT’s current campus bordering Kennedy Boulevard, will be erected, as will a high net to keep athletic balls from disrupting traffic. The new facility would be consistent with UT’s design and use standards that have already taken place on campus and on Kennedy Boulevard, and would provide an appealing entry into Tampa’s downtown.”
Although the field will be used by many intramurals and other sports, it will also be home to the men and women’s lacrosse teams. The men’s lacrosse team will be playing their first season this spring while the women’s lacrosse team will be hiring a coach this coming fall and will be playing during the 2013-2014 school year.
According to Vaughn’s email, “The addition of lacrosse teams and the demand for intramurals, as well as the increasing need for academic and athletic space, necessitates the development.”
Shivani Kanji can be reached at minaret.news@gmail.com.