North Texas Daily

The demolition of Fouts Field has been delayed until Fall 2018 and will be torn down after the new Track and Field complex is finished, a UNT spokesperson said. The $14 million project includes the demolition, addition of parking spots and new bus transfer station.

Fouts Field, located on Eagle Drive, is scheduled to be torn down in September or October of 2018, Traci Jones, assistant landscape architect for UNT systems, said. The project consists of tearing down Fouts Field, adding approximately 1,100 more parking spaces and a new bus transfer system once the stadium is demolished, UNT System Spokesperson Paul Corliss said. “We can’t demolish [Fouts Field] until they move to the new facility next fall of next year,” Jones said.

A portion of Fouts Field was torn down in late 2013. Jones and Corliss both said once the demolition occurs, concrete slabs from the site will be saved and made into plaques honoring the history of sports at the stadium.

The new track and field complex will be built at Eagle Point, south of the Waranch Tennis Complex on 1499 S Bonnie Brae St., said Jared Mosley, associate vice president and chief operator of UNT athletics department.

The facility is budgeted at $5.6 million and consists of an NCAA regulation running track and other field sport facilities with seating, concession stands, locker rooms, coaches and officials area and restrooms, according to UNT Systems website. 

Fouts Field first opened in 1952 and was originally named Eagle Stadium, but was changed in honor of coach, athletic director and founder of the track and field program Theron J. Fouts, who retired in 1954, according to the Mean Green Interactive Athletics Map (MGIAM). Fouts helped North Texas win national honors in football, basketball, golf and track and field programs. His overall record was 23-14-2 as a football coach and athletic director. 

Fouts Field was originally for both football and track and field activities. After Apogee Stadium was built in 2011, the North Texas football program moved out of Fouts.

When Fouts was first built it sat 20,000, but 10,000 seats were added in the end zone areas before the summer of 1994, according to Mean Green Sports. The stadium can now seat nearly 30,500, making it one of the largest track-only stadiums in the country, according to the MGIAM.

Track and Field athlete and kinesiology junior Bria Williams is excited about the new track and field complex and the addition of more parking spots on campus.

“The track at Fouts was old and it caused a lot of issues for some of the runners practicing on it,” Williams said. “I heard that they plan to make Fouts Field into a parking lot, which is good, because as we all know the parking situation at UNT isn’t the greatest.”

Featured Image: Fouts Field currently functions as a practice field for track and field. After being torn down, there will be a new track and field complex near Apogee Stadium. Madison Gore