SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Ongoing renovations to the University of Rhode Island’s athletic fields are expected to accelerate later this year, with formal construction on the new outdoor track and field expected to start this summer, URI Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn recently told Providence Business News.
Additionally, Bjorn said construction on Meade Stadium, home to URI’s football and new women’s lacrosse programs, is expected to start in November at the conclusion of next football season. It’s slated to take 18 months to renovate the stadium, Bjorn said, while construction of the track will be done in about a year.
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Therefore, the football team will have to play its 2026 home schedule at an alternative site, Bjorn said, and return to Meade in the fall of 2027. He said URI is seeking a temporary home facility for football, with hopes of having “a really good plan in place” by the summer.
When asked if the new Stadium at Tidewater Landing in Pawtucket – set to open in May – is a possibility for URI football, Bjorn said it would be “a great option” depending on usage cost.
“There’s certainly great people there and it’s a great facility,” Bjorn said. “We have to figure out what makes the most financial sense [for us] and fan sense.”
Bjorn also said he hopes women’s lacrosse can be played inside Meade while construction is ongoing but said, “We’ll see.”
Both Meade Stadium and the new outdoor track are centerpieces of URI’s $82 million renovations to multiple athletic fields to upgrade aging infrastructure. The soccer and softball fields, as well as underground infrastructure at Tootell Aquatic Center, are also being upgraded.
New artificial turf was installed at the baseball field this past fall, Bjorn said. Also, design work for Meade and the track was done first, given their cost and size, he said, and initial design work for the other fields is hoped to be complete “in the near future.”
The university received $65.8 million in the state’s 2024 fiscal year budget to fund most of the initiative. In October 2023, URI launched a $20 million fundraising campaign to close the financial gap for the project.
Bjorn said URI is still fundraising the final $16 million to complete the project. Conversations between URI athletics and donors are “going well,” he said, but physical designs showing the finished project will help accelerate more enthusiasm and financial contributions.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
