UND holds groundbreaking for Memorial Village project
Aug. 25—GRAND FORKS — With a giant hole in the ground already in place behind them, UND and community leaders took turns at the microphone Thursday during a Memorial Village groundbreaking ceremony to express appreciation for the partnerships involved.
"Coming over the Columbia bridge, driving north, will never look so good," UND athletic director Bill Chaves said. "Today we celebrate that constant pursuit of excellence with this ground-broken, I think ... groundbreaking ceremony. So on behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, our gratitude for so many that made today possible is immeasurable."
Memorial Village, a public-private partnership, is a five-story building that will sit on the former site of
Memorial Stadium, which was torn down last March.
Memorial Stadium was the UND football team's home venue from 1927 to 1999. The UND football team continued to use Memorial Stadium for the workout facility, coaching offices and locker room up until a few years ago.
The first floor of Memorial Village will consist of UND athletic offices, which will include coaching staff, athletic administration and student-athlete academic services.
The upper four stories will feature 99 market-rate apartments including 25 one bedrooms, 58 two bedrooms and 16 four bedrooms. There will be underground parking, as well as an enclosed walkway — dubbed the Hawkway — connecting it with the Fritz Pollard Jr. Athletic Center.
The Memorial Village is projected to be completed in 2024.
At the ceremony, speakers included Chaves, UND President Andrew Armacost, Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski, Memorial Village LLC partner Steve Burian and UND Alumni Association & Foundation CEO DeAnna Carlson Zink.
"This project, when you look at where we were at when we were trying to push this project, we talked about this in the middle of the pandemic," Bochenski said. "This was a time when nobody was willing to invest and nobody was wiling to take the risk. They saw a project that could move the community forward. To have that partnership speaks to Grand Forks. We put in a lot of work that wasn't always easy."
UND is hopeful the 2024 opening of Memorial Village can coincide with an addition, more commonly known as Phase II, to the Fritz Pollard Jr. Athletic Center.
Carlson Zink urged supporters at the ceremony to help push the Alumni Association to its goal for fundraising for the addition, marking a calendar goal of Oct. 1 in order to line up with the Memorial Village completion.
The addition to the Fritz Pollard Jr. Athletic Center will include locker rooms, weight room facilities and an area for the UND Sports Medicine Department.
The Memorial Village construction began in late July.
