Southwestern University designing new football stadium

Southwestern University is in the design phase for its new football stadium, which is expected to be ready for the school’s 2024 season.

The new stadium will bring football back to the Southwestern campus for the first time in more than 70 years, after the school re-established the team in 2013. Since then, the SU Pirates have been playing home games at Georgetown ISD’s Birkelbach Field. The facility will also serve as a mixed-use stadium, available to SU’s soccer and lacrosse teams as well as the surrounding community.

Paul Secord, Southwestern’s vice president for university relations and strategic initiatives, said 36% of the student body is made up of varsity athletes, “so it is a major part of our identity.”

“These scholar athletes want to play high-level competition; they want to win and continue their passion,” he said. “They’re also here to learn and prepare for their careers, whether that’s in the business sector, going on to medical school, going on to law school, teaching, etc. We offer those students the opportunity to do all of those things.”

Construction of the stadium, which will be located on the university’s existing practice field, is expected to wrap up in time for the 2024 football season. Secord said the expected cost is around $15 million.

“It will make it easier for our students to attend games, and it will open the campus even further to our Georgetown-area fans who love cheering on the Pirates,” he said. “Now they can come do it on our campus instead of going to Birkelbach Field, so it engages the community and brings them onto our campus.”