On September 10, 2011, the University of North Texas Mean Green took the field against the University of Houston Cougars. It would mark UNT’s first home game at the newly constructed Apogee Stadium. Over 28,000 fans were in attendance that day; the game marked the third highest attendance for a UNT on-campus home game.[1]

Construction on the new stadium started in November 2009 along the side of Interstate Highway 35. Prior to the completion of Apogee Stadium, the home of UNT football had been Fouts Field since 1952. Fouts Field had cost around $1 million to build, its only amenities including two restrooms and two concession stands. The new stadium, designed by HKS Sports and Entertainment Group, cost $78 million. Its amenities include seating for more than 30,000 fans, twenty-seven bathrooms, sixteen concession stands, and the Mean Green team store.

Apogee stadium’s association with green goes beyond football, though. The new stadium’s most remarkable achievement is that it is the first collegiate stadium to receive platinum level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Apogee’s design features the use of non-toxic paints, recycled and locally manufactured construction materials, landscaping with plants and trees native to north Texas, permeable pavers to reduce stormwater runoff, and has around 10% of its energy generated by three wind turbines. UNT President V. Lane Rawlins said that the new stadium “underscores our commitment to sustainability.”[2]

Freshman quarterback Austin McNulty scored the first touchdown in the new stadium. Unfortunately, the Mean Green lost to the Cougars that day, 48-23. They finished the season 5-7, 4-4 in conference play.

— by Robert Lay, Special Collections Librarian

[1] NT Daily (Denton, TX), vol. 98, No. 11, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 13, 2011.

[2] http://news.unt.edu/news-releases/nations-first-leed-platinum-designation-collegiate-stadium-goes-unts-apogee-stadium

Photo Credits: 

[Aerial View of Fouts Field], Photograph, n.d.; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc228423/ : accessed September 25, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections, Denton, Texas.

Clark, Junebug. [Football players entering stadium], Photograph, November 9, 2013; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc307110/ : accessed September 25, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections, Denton, Texas.

Pherigo, Josh, editor. North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, September 9, 2011, Newspaper, September 9, 2011; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth209214/ark:/67531/metapth209214/ : accessed September 25, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.