A year after a groundbreaking, work progresses on a new University of Louisville soccer stadium, Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium, set for a Aug. 29 opening.
Both the men’s and women’s Cardinal soccer squads will play at the new 5,300-capacity, $18.5-million University of Louisville soccer stadium that also includes a 15,500-square-foot training center.
The natural turf field will be surrounded by chairback seating for 2,300 in the main grandstand, bleacher seating for 900 in the east end zone and two berms, which can accommodate 2,100. In addition to the pitch, the complex surrounding the area is fully loaded to ensure Louisville’s student-athletes enjoy their experiences. The building features separate team locker rooms for the men and women in addition to their opponents, along with coaches’ locker rooms. When they are not in competition or training, the men’s and women’s teams have the ability to spend time in their own lounge areas located in their respective locker rooms.
The design is patterned off professional stadiums; for instance, the views from each angle of the field were modeled after those found at Sporting Park, home of MLS’s Sporting KC. The concourse runs around the playing field and is anchored by a main concession stand.
A second level on the grandstand includes a press box, donor suite, television suite, rooms for home and visiting radio, and an operations room. From the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Starting this season, the Cardinals will also be playing in arguably the best league — the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“We’re so excited for both of those reasons,” said men’s coach Ken Lolla. “It will be a landmark season, and one we also encourage people to come out and be a part of … not just that first game, but the season.”
For now the field, which sits off Floyd Street near Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, is just a mess of dirt and gravel shaded by a massive white canopy. The 2,300-seat main grandstand has a mixture of red seats, plus black ones that spell out “Louisville.”
Renderings courtesy University of Louisville.