Location | 2401 Hudson Road Cedar Falls, Iowa, 50614 United States |
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Owner | University of Northern Iowa |
Operator | University of Northern Iowa |
Capacity | 16,324 (Football) |
Surface | Mondoturf |
Construction | |
Broke ground | July 26, 1974 |
Built | 1974-1976 |
Opened | February 7, 1976 |
Construction cost |
$7.5 million ($31.6 million in 2017 dollars) |
Architect | Thorson-Brom-Broshar-Snyder Architects |
Structural engineer | Geiger-Berger Associates |
General contractor | John G. Miller Construction Company |
Tenants | |
Northern Iowa Panthers Football (1976–present) IHSAA Football Playoffs (1976-present) UNI Panthers Men's Basketball (1976–2006) UNI Panthers Women's Basketball (1978–2006) UNI Panthers Wrestling (1976–2006) UNI Panthers Volleyball (1978–2006) |
UNI-Dome (pronounced "YOU-nih-dome") is a multi-purpose stadium, on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. It opened in 1976, as the home of the UNI Panthers basketball and football teams. The facility's capacity for football is 16,324. For basketball, its official capacity is 16,000; however, it has seated as many as 22,000 for events such as the 1990 Mid-Continent Conference men’s basketball tournament and the 1997 NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships. It has been the home of the Iowa State High School football championships, since 1976 and has hosted junior college football bowl games, wrestling, track and field, softball, concerts and conventions.
In 1994, the air-supported roof collapsed in a snowstorm. Since this had occurred on numerous occasions before, it was replaced by a more permanent metal roof. On November 18, 2006, the McLeod Center opened for basketball, volleyball, and wrestling. The McLeod Center is directly south of the UNI-Dome and connected by a covered walkway. The UNI-Dome attendance record for football is 17,190, which was set on October 17, 2009, during a Panthers homecoming game against the Missouri Valley rival Southern Illinois.
The UNI-Dome's roof was most recently renovated in late summer 2010 due to damages during a high wind storm. The cost of the renovation was close to $4 million. The storm knocked down trees, power lines and roofs all over Cedar Falls. The University of Northern Iowa campus lost 20% of its 100+-year-old trees that cover the campus.
The UNI-Dome received a new HD video board for the start of the 2008 football season. The board replaced an aging, and many times malfunctioning video board. Much of the cost of the new video board was donated by the Iowa High School Athletic Association, which hosts their state football semifinals and finals in the UNI-Dome each year for all classes. Northern Iowan article