A sellout crowd filled the east stands in Meade Stadium at the 2024 season opener game against Holy Cross on Aug. 30. URI beat Holy Cross 20-17 in a thriller that came down to the final seconds. The east stands will be replaced as part of the comprehensive renovations to the URI Athletic Complex.
With the start of the fall semester, URI’s comprehensive upgrade to its athletic facilities is rolling out.
As the summer of 2024 drew to a close, the first visible signs of comprehensive renovations to the URI athletic complex could be found at Bill Beck Field, home to URI’s baseball program.
The turf on the field was pulled up in mid-August for resurfacing. The first of several projects scheduled over the next few years, the baseball field facelift is slated to be completed this fall.
“These projects have been discussed and in the works for a long time, so it is very exciting to see shovels in the ground, so to speak,” says URI’s director of athletics, Thorr Bjorn. “While it has been a long time coming, we know this is just the beginning of significant work ahead.”
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s 2024 state budget included $65.8 million in Rhode Island Capital Plan funding targeted for URI athletic facility upgrades. Paid out over the next two budget years, the funding will enable the University to revitalize Meade Stadium (football), the Tootell Aquatic Center, Bill Beck Field, the URI softball complex fields, and the URI soccer complex.
The initiative also will fund the construction of a new outdoor track-and-field facility. Bjorn says Populous—the architecture firm awarded the design and build for all the athletic facilities work—is expected to break ground on the outdoor track in spring 2025.
“Between the baseball field being resurfaced and the installation of the track in the spring, the hard work of so many people around the state is coming to fruition,” Bjorn says. “When you see vision truly start to become reality, it reinvigorates everyone involved. There were significant goals in place to improve our facilities, not just for the student-athletes, but for the surrounding community and the entire state. It is taking shape, and it’s an exciting time to be a part of Rhode Island athletics.”
In addition to the $65.8 million in funding from the state, URI and the athletic department aim to raise an additional $20 million over a five-year period to fund all of the projects.
The most significant of the projects is the Meade Stadium renovation, which will involve tearing down and replacing the east stands. Home to URI’s football and women’s lacrosse programs, Meade has seen recent upgrades, including a $4.1 million project to install FieldTurf and lights, as well as the installation of a $1 million video board. The projects were separately funded through private donations, but they serve as a primer for the roughly $42 million project on the east stands. Still in the design stages, that project is set to begin after the 2025 football season.
—Shane Donaldson ’99
PHOTO: CONNOR CALDON