Northwestern University marks 1 year of construction for new Ryan Field facility, Wildcats football team playing at temporary site

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) — The new Ryan Field facility is slated to open September 2026 at Northwestern Univeristy.

When it makes its debut, the expectation is that it will be a space for Northwestern Wildcats and also a resource for the whole community.

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It’s been exactly a year since Northwestern University broke ground on a new Ryan Field, and it continues to take shape.

University officials marked the construction anniversary with an announcement that the arena will be a shared space with several community groups.

“We won’t have football games and large crowds most days, but you wouldn’t build something like this to not have it be an asset that is used broadly,” said Pat Ryan, Jr. with Ryan Sports Development.

While the first tenant for Ryan Field will be Northwestern athletics, university officials announced the second anchor tenant will be a conglomeration of community partners, such as Evanston Township High School athletics, the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, the Fellowship of Afro-American Men, or FAAM, and Kuumba Evanston.

READ MORE | Northwestern University breaks ground on new Ryan Field facility

“The new Ryan Field will be a place for you young people who have all this opportunity and potential will have a place to build and expand that,” said Dave Davis with Northwestern University.

The new Ryan Field is not just a stadium, but a way to strengthen ties between the university and the community.

“We’re hopeful to partner with northwestern athletics and the office of community relations to find ways to dismantle systemic barriers to youth sports,” said Chris Livatino, Evanston Township High School athletic director.

The goal is to also bring more people together around shared experiences, like movie nights on the plaza and ice skating in the winter.

“What’s happening here is creating opportunities for communal magic in ways that are going to be inspiring in ways that are going to lift up whole community,” Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said.

When completed, Ryan arena will be the first NFL-style stadium at a college.