Aberdeen, SD (2021)
AIA SD Merit Award in Architecture
Together with our friends at DLR Group, we designed the Northern State University Regional Sports Complex with the end game in mind.
The $38M NSU Regional Sports Complex is home to a competition football stadium and softball field: Dacotah Bank Stadium and Koehler Hall of Fame Field, respectively. An addition to the existing basketball arena (the Barnett Center) was also part of the project. We even convinced the University to vacate 15th Street between the stadium and arena, which tied the complex together nicely and helped improve the gameday atmosphere.
The new facilities have put the proverbial ball in motion for NSU. Better athletic facilities attract better recruits, which (hopefully) means more winning -> more donors/funding -> better learning facilities -> improved academic outcomes -> more student applications -> higher enrollment. It’s a whole circle-of-life, Hakuna-Matata, arrivederci thing.
Actually, I’m not sure about the arrivederci part. But we’re working with NSU on a handful of projects now, so maybe it checks out.