Kenan Stadium
Photo by: Tom Stiles/SkyShots Photography
Kenan Stadium
August 26, 2020 | General
Carolina football plays its home games at Kenan Stadium, one of the most picturesque athletic venues in America. Kenan Stadium has been the home of the Tar Heels since 1927 and the thrill of playing in or attending a game there is as exhilarating now as it was when it was first constructed.
Considering its majestic setting among the Carolina pines, many observers say Kenan Stadium is the most beautiful football facility in the country. For scenery, atmosphere and charm, it cannot be surpassed.
In 2020, the field at Kenan Stadium was named Chris Smith Field at Kenan Stadium. The naming of Chris Smith Field acknowledges the incredible generosity of the Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Family and honors their son Chris, a 1987 graduate of the University.
The stadium has been expanded several times since its completion in 1927. In each instance, great care was taken to keep its fundamental beauty intact. The most recent project was completed prior to the 2019 season with the installation of synthetic grass. In 2018, a majority of the bleacher seats in the stadium were converted to Carolina Blue chairback seats. With the installation of the new seats, Kenan Stadium now has a capacity of 50,500.
In 2011, Carolina opened the Loudermilk Center for Excellence and a premium seating section named the Blue Zone. Alumnus R. Charles "Charlie" Loudermilk Sr. of Atlanta made a naming gift backed by the generosity of hundreds of other donors to fund the 150,000 square-foot facility that serves all of Carolina's 800+ student-athletes across 28 sports.
The Loudermilk Center's largest feature is the John W. Pope Student-Athlete Academic Support Center, funded through a generous gift from the John William Pope Foundation. This 29,000 square-foot facility provides classrooms for teaching and tutoring, advanced computer technology, a writing lab, reading rooms and office space. It is also home to the Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy, which offers leadership training to Carolina student-athletes, coaches and staff. Also housed in the Loudermilk Center is a strength and conditioning center for Carolina's Olympic sports programs, facilities for men's lacrosse and a visitor's locker room that can be split to host high school football championships. Other features include premium seating for fans watching football games, as well as office and operations space for the department of athletics.
The Blue Zone offers 1,836 seats in the Concourse Club/Loge just a few feet from the field, 824 seats in the Upper Club/Loge and 320 seats in 20 suites on the fifth floor. Combined, the project added 2,980 seats to the stadium's capacity. The project also tied the north and south concourses together and provides the stadium with 360-degree concourse to enhance fan movement.
Located in the west end zone, the Kenan Football Center was completed in 1997 and houses the operational needs of the Carolina football program. The football center includes the UNC locker room, weight room, training room, equipment room, players' lounge, computer labs and study areas, coaches' offices and player meeting rooms.
An additional floor was added to the Kenan Football Center after the 2008 season. The fifth floor contains additional office and recruiting space for the day-to-day operations of the football program, four pregame gathering areas, a larger video and studio facility and a state-of-the-art press conference area. The second floor was completely renovated for increased football meeting spaces, including bigger individual position meeting rooms and a larger team meeting room. The fourth-floor renovations added additional office space for football support staff.
The football center is named in honor of the late Frank H. Kenan, one of the school's most generous benefactors. Kenan was a Durham resident and chief executive officer of Kenan Transport Company in Chapel Hill. He passed away at age 83 in 1996. Kenan, a 1935 Carolina graduate, was the great-great-grandson of General James Kenan, a member of the University's founding board of trustees. An Atlanta native, Kenan had a tremendous impact on the growth of the University. He served on many campus boards, including the Board of Visitors and the Educational Foundation Board of Directors. In recent years the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, of which he was a trustee, has donated more than $100 million to schools in the state's consolidated university system, including Carolina, NC State and the N.C. School of the Arts. Among other things, the trust funds 92 William R. Kenan Jr. Professorships at 56 colleges and universities nationwide.
The premium seating box that rises above the second deck of the grandstand on the north side of the stadium is named for the John W. Pope Family. It features outdoor seating for almost 1,200 spectators and includes the Chancellor's Box on its second level.
William Rand Kenan Jr. deserves the credit for originally making the stadium a part of the University. He was born in North Carolina in 1873 and graduated from Carolina in 1894. An international industrialist, Kenan assisted in experiments that discovered calcium carbide and made monumental progress in the field of chemistry. During his business career, he was president of The Florida East Coast Railroad, The Florida East Coast Hotel Company, The West Palm Beach Water Company and the Florida East Coast Car Ferry Company. He was a director of Florida Power and Light Company and built the first power plant in Miami in the early 1900s.
Construction on the stadium began in November 1926 and was completed the following August. Complete cost of the stadium and accompanying fieldhouse was $303,000. Originally, the stadium was to be built through funds raised by alumni donations, and by June 1926, a group of nearly 40 alumni had contributed $27,926. At this time, however, a copy of the prospectus and plan of financing the stadium came into the hands of Kenan, who expressed an interest in the proposal. The pressing need for a stadium and the possibilities of the beauty, dignity and permanence it presented, moved Kenan to make the naming gift. Kenan remained very interested in Kenan Stadium throughout his lifetime, making additional gifts to construct a second deck on the stadium and to enlarge and modernize the Kenan Fieldhouse.
In the first game played there, Carolina defeated Davidson, 27-0, on November 12, 1927. The most points scored by the Tar Heels in Kenan came in 2013 when UNC beat Old Dominion 80-20.
As originally built, the stadium seated 24,000. In 1997, the Tar Heels played in front of a record crowd of 62,000 on Nov. 8, 1997, as fifth-ranked Carolina battled No. 2 Florida State.
The physical address for Kenan Stadium is 104 Stadium Drive, Chapel Hill,. NC 27514.
Considering its majestic setting among the Carolina pines, many observers say Kenan Stadium is the most beautiful football facility in the country. For scenery, atmosphere and charm, it cannot be surpassed.
In 2020, the field at Kenan Stadium was named Chris Smith Field at Kenan Stadium. The naming of Chris Smith Field acknowledges the incredible generosity of the Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Family and honors their son Chris, a 1987 graduate of the University.
The stadium has been expanded several times since its completion in 1927. In each instance, great care was taken to keep its fundamental beauty intact. The most recent project was completed prior to the 2019 season with the installation of synthetic grass. In 2018, a majority of the bleacher seats in the stadium were converted to Carolina Blue chairback seats. With the installation of the new seats, Kenan Stadium now has a capacity of 50,500.
In 2011, Carolina opened the Loudermilk Center for Excellence and a premium seating section named the Blue Zone. Alumnus R. Charles "Charlie" Loudermilk Sr. of Atlanta made a naming gift backed by the generosity of hundreds of other donors to fund the 150,000 square-foot facility that serves all of Carolina's 800+ student-athletes across 28 sports.
The Loudermilk Center's largest feature is the John W. Pope Student-Athlete Academic Support Center, funded through a generous gift from the John William Pope Foundation. This 29,000 square-foot facility provides classrooms for teaching and tutoring, advanced computer technology, a writing lab, reading rooms and office space. It is also home to the Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy, which offers leadership training to Carolina student-athletes, coaches and staff. Also housed in the Loudermilk Center is a strength and conditioning center for Carolina's Olympic sports programs, facilities for men's lacrosse and a visitor's locker room that can be split to host high school football championships. Other features include premium seating for fans watching football games, as well as office and operations space for the department of athletics.
The Blue Zone offers 1,836 seats in the Concourse Club/Loge just a few feet from the field, 824 seats in the Upper Club/Loge and 320 seats in 20 suites on the fifth floor. Combined, the project added 2,980 seats to the stadium's capacity. The project also tied the north and south concourses together and provides the stadium with 360-degree concourse to enhance fan movement.
Located in the west end zone, the Kenan Football Center was completed in 1997 and houses the operational needs of the Carolina football program. The football center includes the UNC locker room, weight room, training room, equipment room, players' lounge, computer labs and study areas, coaches' offices and player meeting rooms.
An additional floor was added to the Kenan Football Center after the 2008 season. The fifth floor contains additional office and recruiting space for the day-to-day operations of the football program, four pregame gathering areas, a larger video and studio facility and a state-of-the-art press conference area. The second floor was completely renovated for increased football meeting spaces, including bigger individual position meeting rooms and a larger team meeting room. The fourth-floor renovations added additional office space for football support staff.
The football center is named in honor of the late Frank H. Kenan, one of the school's most generous benefactors. Kenan was a Durham resident and chief executive officer of Kenan Transport Company in Chapel Hill. He passed away at age 83 in 1996. Kenan, a 1935 Carolina graduate, was the great-great-grandson of General James Kenan, a member of the University's founding board of trustees. An Atlanta native, Kenan had a tremendous impact on the growth of the University. He served on many campus boards, including the Board of Visitors and the Educational Foundation Board of Directors. In recent years the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, of which he was a trustee, has donated more than $100 million to schools in the state's consolidated university system, including Carolina, NC State and the N.C. School of the Arts. Among other things, the trust funds 92 William R. Kenan Jr. Professorships at 56 colleges and universities nationwide.
The premium seating box that rises above the second deck of the grandstand on the north side of the stadium is named for the John W. Pope Family. It features outdoor seating for almost 1,200 spectators and includes the Chancellor's Box on its second level.
William Rand Kenan Jr. deserves the credit for originally making the stadium a part of the University. He was born in North Carolina in 1873 and graduated from Carolina in 1894. An international industrialist, Kenan assisted in experiments that discovered calcium carbide and made monumental progress in the field of chemistry. During his business career, he was president of The Florida East Coast Railroad, The Florida East Coast Hotel Company, The West Palm Beach Water Company and the Florida East Coast Car Ferry Company. He was a director of Florida Power and Light Company and built the first power plant in Miami in the early 1900s.
Construction on the stadium began in November 1926 and was completed the following August. Complete cost of the stadium and accompanying fieldhouse was $303,000. Originally, the stadium was to be built through funds raised by alumni donations, and by June 1926, a group of nearly 40 alumni had contributed $27,926. At this time, however, a copy of the prospectus and plan of financing the stadium came into the hands of Kenan, who expressed an interest in the proposal. The pressing need for a stadium and the possibilities of the beauty, dignity and permanence it presented, moved Kenan to make the naming gift. Kenan remained very interested in Kenan Stadium throughout his lifetime, making additional gifts to construct a second deck on the stadium and to enlarge and modernize the Kenan Fieldhouse.
In the first game played there, Carolina defeated Davidson, 27-0, on November 12, 1927. The most points scored by the Tar Heels in Kenan came in 2013 when UNC beat Old Dominion 80-20.
As originally built, the stadium seated 24,000. In 1997, the Tar Heels played in front of a record crowd of 62,000 on Nov. 8, 1997, as fifth-ranked Carolina battled No. 2 Florida State.
The physical address for Kenan Stadium is 104 Stadium Drive, Chapel Hill,. NC 27514.