UConn's Memorial Stadium Comes Down After Nearly 60 Years

As the ’s , UConn officials say that they are more than half-way to their goal of raising $30-$35 million for the construction of a new basketball practice facility set to take its place.

Stefanie Dion Jones, of UConn Communications, said Friday that the university has raised nearly $20 million dollars in private donations to fund the UConn Basketball Development Center.

Back in December 2011, toward the facility – the largest single private gift ever to the Division of Athletics – and donations continue to climb.

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Plans for the new 70,000 square-foot state-of-the-art basketball facility include practice gyms, locker rooms, coaches’ offices and areas dedicated to player development.

More than 150 former Husky football players gathered at the site earlier last month to say farewell to the stadium before demolition of the structures surrounding Memorial Field began on May 22.

UConn played football at Memorial Stadium for nearly 50 years (1953-2002) until Rentschler Field, opened in East Hartford in 2003.

The university’s transition to Division-1 athletics facilitated the move from its approximately 16,000-seat stadium to Rentschler’s nearly 40,000-seat accommodations.

Although primarily used for football, Dion Jones said that Memorial Field was also used for other sports and recreational purposes – perhaps most notably for serving as the host site for the first-ever NCAA Division-1 Men’s Soccer Final Four.

Demolition of the stadium will continue through the end of June – though the field itself will remain untouched until construction of the university’s new basketball facility begins, Dion Jones said.

UConn is again looking to Populous - the architectural design firm responsible for The Burton Family Football Complex and Mark R. Shenkman Training Center - in the designing and planning stages of its newest sports facility, .