UWF football to get stadium upgrades thanks to large donation as part of capital campaign

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The University of West Florida football stadium is getting an upgrade.

Pen Air Field, which officially started hosting games in the fall of 2022 – minus one game in 2021 – will be transformed into Darrell Gooden Stadium with a brand new look. The new stadium is part of UWF’s $90 million “Here for Good capital campaign,” which entered its public phase with an announcement from UWF President Martha Saunders during a gala at UWF’s Field House on Thursday.

The stadium is being upgraded thanks to, what UWF called, “a transformative gift” of $9 million from Darrell and Debbie Gooden, which is the largest gift from a living donor in the history of UWF, the college said in a press release.

The stadium will likely be ready for the 2028 season, Gooden said, and the school will break ground in about a year and a half, he estimated.

Darrell Gooden is a UWF alum and Pensacola native, who studied accounting in college.

“I am thrilled and honored to be able to give this donation on the ‘Capital Campaign Launch’ and towards the new football stadium to be built on campus,” Gooden said in a release from the school. “Today is a fun and great time to be an Argo with the new football program and now our very own stadium. It is an honor to have the new stadium and field named after me, and I also would like to thank all the numerous people that have worked so hard in getting football to this point! Again, I am very blessed today to be able to give this gift to the University to give back what they have given me.”

The University of West Florida football team is getting a new stadium thanks to a large donation from Debbie and Darrell Gooden. Here’s a rendering of what the new football stadium is projected to look like.

The new stadium, which should have about 7,500 seats, according to renderings provided by the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/uwf-football-stadium-upgrades-thanks-000007353.html

Author : Pensacola News Journal

Publish date : 2024-04-12 00:00:07

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