University of North Alabama (UNA) Board of Trustees, campus administration and Bank Independent representatives recently broke ground on UNA’s Bank Independent Stadium project.
The event came just a few hours after members of the board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing and supporting Bank Independent Stadium design and overall budgetary approach, which paved the way for moving the project into its third and final phase.
The Bank Independent Stadium has a base cost of approximately $65 million. To date, total fundraising for the stadium has soared to $25 million, and officials expect to add significantly to that figure once work on the project begins.
Concurrent with construction on Bank Independent Stadium, work will also be taking place at the baseball field adjacent to the stadium and at the UNA Spring Sports Complex at Cox Creek.
The location will include a multi-purpose turf field and track that will be available for academic, athletic, intramural and community use. UNA’s football and soccer teams will use the multipurpose field during construction.
UNA Baseball will enjoy a reimagined space for the 2025 season that will include a new state-of-the-art playing surface, an all-chairback seating concourse, a video board, and an outfield wall that resembles Fenway Park’s historic “Green Monster.”
During the last 12 months, UNA has partnered with Hoar Project Management (HPM) and Davis Architects, both based in Birmingham, to begin the initial work on Bank Independent Stadium. Mammoth Sports Construction partnered with Davis Architects, and Birmingham-based Jim Cooper Construction was awarded the Phase One construction bid to include baseball construction and stadium site groundwork. Representatives from HPM, Davis, Mammoth, and Cooper were on hand for the groundbreaking.
