New soccer stadium under way on PU campus

Construction begins on $8.4 million project

   Princeton University has begun construction of a new, state-of-the-art soccer stadium, made possible through a recent $8.4 million fundraising effort by alumni and friends of Princeton soccer.
   The new facility, slated to open for the 2008 season, will be named Roberts Stadium in honor of Thomas S. Roberts, a member of the class of 1985 and a former record-holding goalkeeper on the men’s soccer team. He and his wife, Kristen, were the leading donors to the project.
   The stadium is located between Washington Road and Elm Drive on a 99-acre site near dormitories that has been used for soccer games. It was approved by the Princeton Regional Planning Board in February.
   "We are grateful to the friends of Princeton soccer for their generosity that will allow us to build a splendid new stadium, worthy of our soccer players and the great tradition they represent in Princeton athletics," said President Shirley M. Tilghman in a statement.
   The new facility, designed by Anderson Architects of New York, will feature a three-sided stadium, a playing field with a natural grass surface and an adjacent practice field with an artificial surface. The practice field, to be called Plummer Field, has been separately funded by an anonymous donor.
   Three free-standing pavilions will house a ticket office, press box, concession stand, team rooms, restrooms and other facilities.
   The stadium will have a 3,000-person capacity, and the playing field will be lighted for night games. The new complex is part of the university’s overall campus planning initiative to create pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods within the campus community.
   The new playing field will be named in memory of 1990 Princeton graduate Robert Hauter Myslik, a soccer player, teacher and former assistant Princeton soccer coach who was killed in an automobile accident in 2003. Soccer has met with some success at Princeton. The women’s team appeared in six straight NCAA tournaments from 1999 to 2004, and won four of five Ivy League titles from 2000 to 2004. The men’s team, which has won six Ivy League Championships, has seen 13 players achieve All-America status.
   During a Planning Board hearing in February, University Architect Jon Hlafter said the university expects no increase in athletes, spectators or tournaments at the new facility. The board’s approval included several variances regarding lighting and signage, as well as several waivers for the lack of loading space, lighting pole heights and the use of florescent lighting. The stadium will be several hundred feet from nearby roadways, university officials said at the hearing, and therefore larger signs would not be overwhelming. Lighting will be in compliance with NCAA standards and techniques will be used to reduce the impact on surrounding properties, officials said.