ELON COLLEGE, N.C. – Groundbreaking for Rhodes Stadium is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 14 at the North Athletics Complex on the Elon College campus. Featured speaker will be Rich McGeorge, a 1971 Elon alumnus, former Miami Dolphins coach (1993-2000) and NFL standout with the Green Bay Packers (1970-78), and a member of the Elon College Sports and NAIA Halls of Fame. The event is free and open to the public.
Rhodes Stadium, a $13 million, 8,250-seat, bowl-shaped facility, is projected to be completed in time for the 2001 football season.
Groundbreaking festivities will include an all-campus tailgate party, pep band music and participation by Elon athletes, cheerleader teams and other students. President Leo M. Lambert will be joined by Athletic Director Alan White, stadium donors, trustees and Elon students, faculty and staff in a celebratory turning of the earth.
Rhodes Stadium is named in honor of the Rhodes family by Dusty and Peggy Rhodes of Gibsonville, who have contributed $2 million to the project. The stadium’s field is named McKinnon Field in honor of Bob E. McKinnon, a 1962 Elon College alumnus, and his wife, Ray, of Hickory, who have contributed $1 million.
General contractor for the stadium is Beers Construction Co. of Winston-Salem, and Ellerbe Becket of Minneapolis is project architect.
Fund raising continues for other facilities at the complex, including an expansion of the Koury Field House to provide locker room space and construction of a bell tower at the stadium’s entrance.
Elon’s football team currently plays in Burlington Memorial Stadium at Williams High School, which is several miles from campus. An on-campus stadium is a key step in the college’s transition to NCAA Division I athletics. The project is part of the $40 million Campaign for the Elon Vision, a fund drive to support the college’s ambitious strategic plan to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
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