Groundbreaking ceremony announces new fieldhouse
HANCOCK — Finlandia University will soon have a brand new locker room facility as the team prepares to take the field for the first time.
The Finlandia Lions will take to the football field for the first time this Saturday. But a football program isn’t the only thing being built at McAfee Field in Hancock.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held to announce the first phase of a $700,000 fieldhouse. The roughly 4,000 square-foot facility will include the “Terry Talo Lion’s Den” which will accommodate up to 110 student athletes.
“For our campus and our community it’s that next step we’re taking to support our programs, specifically football, and obviously for these young men who’ve entered camp a few weeks ago,” said Salani. “They’ve been working very hard, very diligent in their preparation for our first game here coming up this Saturday.”
The fieldhouse project comes on the heels of a one million dollar renovation to the Paavo Nurmi athletic center.
These improvements, along with the addition of a football program, have led to one of the largest incoming classes ever at Finlandia.
Salani said, “Through the addition of football and our other programs, we’re seeing siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, seeing friends of these kids coming to our school. So, that is a bonus, or added effect of having these new programs on our campus.”
The structure is scheduled to open in 2016.