MANKATO — It’s more than a new football stadium, and no taxpayer money is needed.
Minnesota State University unveiled its plans Wednesday for a new football, soccer and track and field facility.
“There’ll be no state money slab, no impact locally on property taxes,” MSU athletic director Kevin Buisman said. “This is 100% privately funded.”
Shortly after arriving at MSU in 2002, Buisman was tasked by then President Richard Davenport to come up with a master plan to have the school’s outdoor facilities match the standard of indoor facilities it uses, such as Taylor Center and the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center.
After over two decades of planning, starts and stops and nearly every obstacle imaginable cleared while raising nearly $30 million in donations, MSU and Mankato were formally introduced Wednesday to an attraction to help drive enrollment and economic impact.
But what finally got the plan off the ground was expanding the concept to being more than a football stadium. The new facility also features a new soccer/track and field complex with 3,000 seats. The new football stadium will seat 6,500 people on gamedays and up to 12,000.
Of course, with the new facility also means Blakeslee Stadium officially has an expiration date.
Since 1962, Blakeslee Stadium has been a staple of Mankato. From 1966-2017 it served as the training camp site for the Minnesota Vikings. It’s been the home-field advantage for current NFL players like Vikings wide receiver and MSU alum Adam Thielen and Detroit Lions Shane Zylstra.
“It’s been part of my legacy and a lot of people’s memories of Minnesota State,” Buisman said. “It’s served us well over the years. But it’s a facility whose time has come.”
The signature natural grass of Blakeslee will not carry over to the new facility. The switch to turf is happening, but it also opens the doors for many possibilities.
Thanks to the turf field, the threat of wear and tear is eliminated. The Kato Jug game, played between Mankato West and Mankato East High School football teams, may be moved if inclement weather falls on a Friday night and MSU hosts a game the next day.
“There’s just a little bit of a lack of versatility in Blakeslee Stadium,” Buisman said. “The potential of the new facility will be unrivaled in terms of its versatility and the ability to host a much broader array of events.”
Buisman made it clear he still wants the Jug Game to be held at the new stadium. But he doesn’t want to stop there.
Thanks to the turf fields MSU’s new facility will be able to host high school playoff action for both football and soccer. It also has the opportunity to host more track events, maybe even the Division II NCAA Championships. Even a weekly Friday night high school football game is in the realm of possibility.
“It’ll take a lot more wear and tear,” Buisman said. “We saw maybe 10 events max at Blakeslee a year. We feel like we can (host) up to 115 events a year in the new facility.”
And after 23 years, Buisman will have to wait two more years for construction to begin. MSU hopes to break ground on in 2027.
“To see it come to fruition is really uplifting,” Buisman said. “It’ll be something that motivates my work until we open the doors on that new facility. I’m super excited about it.”