Thursday, February 15, 2007
Visit to the home of the North Texas Mean Green
On a recent trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I had the pleasure of visiting 3 different college football stadiums. After picking up a car at DFW, my first destination was Denton, TX, home of the University of North Texas. The trip of approximately 30 miles north on I-35E went through the suburbs of Dallas until reaching Denton. The stadium was situated adjacent to the highway, allowing for easy access. Here is my review of this stadium while it is fresh in my mind. It should be said that the day was rather cold and windy, so I hope that I can objectively judge this stadium despite the less-than-idyllic conditions.
Fouts Field, University of North Texas
Visual Appeal:3
Fan Friendly: 4
Settings and Surroundings: 2
Quirks: 3
Blend of Classic and Modern: 3
Total: 15
Fouts Field is the home of the Mean Green from the University of North Texas. The stadium was constructed in 1951 and had a capacity of 20,000 until 1994, when stands were placed behind both end zones to increase capacity to 30,000. The original stands were comprised of single tiers behind each sideline. The new addition encloses the stadium nicely. A rather small and dated press box sits behind the home teams's sideline. An artificial turf field keeps the playing surface quite green, and a nice scoreboard provides fans a clear view of the action. Fouts Field provides a functional arena for the Mean Green without providing any exciting visual features.
One of the major drawbacks of Fouts Field is the fact that it is home to the Mean Green track teams as well as the football team. Hence, a running track surrounds the field and creates a significant distance between the fans and the players. It does have a rather clean appearance, though.
As mentioned, the stadium sits next to the highway on the edge of the North Texas campus. Surrounded by a parking lot on the side away from the highway, the setting may provide for some decent tailgating to those able to park in that lot. No other distinguishing features can be said about the setting.
The stadium is a rather basic design that lacks any real quirks. The presence of the endzone seats does do a nice job of surrounding the field with seats. Because of its small size, it is imagined that just about any seat in the house will give a good view of the action.
All in all, the stadium definitely feels a bit dated. The simple construction taken in the 1950's has not been changed much. The addition of seats behind the end zones blend in well, but mostly because of the lack of architectural detail in either the old or the new sections. A small section of chairbacks ranks as the "luxury" section.
While this review may seem harsh, I was actually impressed with this stadium considering the limitations that are present with schools in the Sun Belt Conference. The presence of stands around the entire field could create a festive environment for a football game in Denton.
Fouts Field, University of North Texas
Visual Appeal:3
Fan Friendly: 4
Settings and Surroundings: 2
Quirks: 3
Blend of Classic and Modern: 3
Total: 15
Fouts Field is the home of the Mean Green from the University of North Texas. The stadium was constructed in 1951 and had a capacity of 20,000 until 1994, when stands were placed behind both end zones to increase capacity to 30,000. The original stands were comprised of single tiers behind each sideline. The new addition encloses the stadium nicely. A rather small and dated press box sits behind the home teams's sideline. An artificial turf field keeps the playing surface quite green, and a nice scoreboard provides fans a clear view of the action. Fouts Field provides a functional arena for the Mean Green without providing any exciting visual features.
One of the major drawbacks of Fouts Field is the fact that it is home to the Mean Green track teams as well as the football team. Hence, a running track surrounds the field and creates a significant distance between the fans and the players. It does have a rather clean appearance, though.
As mentioned, the stadium sits next to the highway on the edge of the North Texas campus. Surrounded by a parking lot on the side away from the highway, the setting may provide for some decent tailgating to those able to park in that lot. No other distinguishing features can be said about the setting.
The stadium is a rather basic design that lacks any real quirks. The presence of the endzone seats does do a nice job of surrounding the field with seats. Because of its small size, it is imagined that just about any seat in the house will give a good view of the action.
All in all, the stadium definitely feels a bit dated. The simple construction taken in the 1950's has not been changed much. The addition of seats behind the end zones blend in well, but mostly because of the lack of architectural detail in either the old or the new sections. A small section of chairbacks ranks as the "luxury" section.
While this review may seem harsh, I was actually impressed with this stadium considering the limitations that are present with schools in the Sun Belt Conference. The presence of stands around the entire field could create a festive environment for a football game in Denton.
