The University of Rhode Island’s Meade Stadium is in line for a $4.1 million upgrade, much of which will be funded by two URI alumni.

The school announced Wednesday that two alumni have each committed $1 million to enhance the home of URI Rams football. The university will contribute $1.1 million through an auxiliary fund.

The project includes the installation of synthetic turf and stadium lighting, improvements meant to accelerate the growth of the football program and expand the facility’s use. The anticipated timeline for installation is fall 2020.

“I am excited for what this project will mean for URI football and the University as a whole,” said James P. Clappin, Class of 1980, executive vice president of Corning Glass Technologies and one of the two alumni who made the gifts. “We have an opportunity to motivate today’s student-athletes and put URI on the map in a way that it hasn’t been previously. It was important for me to make this investment in the future of the program.”

Meade Stadium was built in 1928 and named after John E. “Jack” Meade ’15, a local politician and devoted alumnus who was said to have never missed a home game until his death in 1972.

“These two gifts will be transformative for URI football and athletics,” said URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn. “They are the largest gifts in the history of URI football. I am grateful to the Clappin family as well as the other family, who wishes to remain anonymous. These are the types of commitments that build successful programs and will move URI Football forward like never before.”

The remaining $1 million of the project’s cost is still to be raised, according to a school spokesman.

 

Source: providencejournal.com

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