HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Final preparations for MSU-Northern’s first ever football game at Tilleman Field are in their last stages as the Lights get set to take on Rocky Mountain on Saturday at 1 PM.
“We’re ready for our first home game,” Chancellor Greg Kegel says. “The field is totally ready, playable. Scoreboard, announcer stands, video. Everything that we need, we’re ready to go with.”
Per Frontier Conference protocols, no fans will be allowed in the stands. However, Kegel says they will not force people out of the area if they congregate on the hillside outside the field gates.
Kegel says security fencing and a donor wall is expected to be added before the fall to wrap up Phase 1 of construction, which has an estimated cost of around $3 million.
Northern has begun fundraising for Phase 2 of construction, which has an estimated cost of around $10 million. Plans include a multipurpose center featuring locker rooms, classrooms and a “wellness space.”
“The Phase 2 component is the significant part of this whole project. It’s the gamebreaker, the dealbreaker. Without that, we end up with just a football field. And that’s not what we need here on this campus. We need that rec center that’s a big component of Phase 2. You’ve got a facility there that will allow us to do expansion. We’ve got a lot of dated space in our Armory Gymnasium. Everything from our locker rooms to the ability for students to participate in recreational type things.”
Kegel says conceptual plans for Phase 2 has been presented to donors, and he is hoping to get that project started as soon as possible.
Kegel says a more formal grand opening of Tilleman Field will occur at their first home game this fall.
“That’s when we’ll do the big ceremony for the grand opening type thing of Tilleman Field.”
