DES MOINES, Iowa — On Thursday, the Des Moines Public School District and Drake University officially opened Mediacom Stadium, which will be home to many athletic programs for both institutions.
The stadium's inaugural high school football game will be between Roosevelt and Waukee, with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony beforehand.
The stadium seats 4,000 people and will serve as the home field for four DMPS high school football programs: Roosevelt, Hoover, Lincoln and North. East High School will continue to use Williams Stadium as per an agreement with Grand View University.
However, the stadium will be the home turf for all five schools’ soccer programs.
It will also be used for other DMPS high school activities, like marching band, as needed.
For Drake University, Mediacom Stadium will be the on-campus home field for Bulldog's men's and women's soccer teams.
Jared Barnett, head coach of the Roosevelt football team, said the new stadium means a lot to him and his players.
"I really do think it's fantastic. It's great for the community, it's great for DMPS and it really shows not only our football players, but all DMPS football players, that we deserve nice things too and we can have these types of facilities," Barnett said.
Players said they are excited about the stadium as well.
“The experience is great, it's a great way to capitalize on my high school career,” Roosevelt football senior Lesther Phanfil said. “It's just another stadium, to be honest. I'm just excited for the opportunity to play, but I think it's great for the city to have its own stadium."
Each school's existing natural grass fields will continued to be used for practice and other activity purposes.
After Thursday night's Waukee vs. Roosevelt game, three more football games will take place at the stadium to conclude the regular high school season.
Bulldog men's soccer played their inaugural game on the field Tuesday night, beating the University of St. Thomas.
According to the district, the total project cost was $24 million.
DMPS provided $15 million, while Drake provided the rest of the funding. Drake will also provide daily operations and maintenance of the stadium at no cost to DMPS.