Excitement builds as the UNH Stadium project breaks ground

It was a gorgeous night for a groundbreaking.

More importantly, as president Mark Huddleston noted to a group of special friends of UNH on Friday night in the east end zone of Cowell Stadium, it was a beautiful event for a beautiful late May night.

The groundbreaking – really more of a donor recognition dinner and in conjunction with a UNH Foundation Board meeting – celebrated a pivotal moment in UNH athletics, a new long-awaited stadium that will serve as the home of the school’s nationally ranked football team and host a wide range of events from high school football championship games to the Special Olympics and much in between.

Huddleston, director of athletics Marty Scarano and Andy Lietz, former chair of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, addressed and thanked the crowd of donors and supporters who have helped make the stadium project a reality.

“It’s one of the most exciting things that I’ve seen in my eight years here,” Huddleston said between the speaking and dinner portions of the program. “It’s a culmination of a dream for hundreds, thousands of people. It’s just wonderful to see it come to pass.”