DENTON -- North Texas Athletics will begin construction in October on a new soccer and track & field stadium which will be located near the Waranch Tennis Complex in the Mean Green Village.

The project is scheduled to be completed in early August 2018. Brown, Reynolds and Watford Architects have been hired to design the complex. The general contractor will be Pogue Construction, which has completed multiple projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the Greek Life Center on UNT campus and Allen High School football's Eagle Stadium, a $54 million facility.

"We are excited to announce the soccer, track and field stadium has been fully approved and will be under construction soon," North Texas Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said. "The completed stadium will be one of the best in the region and our conference. It will vastly improve the experience for our fans and our student-athletes. We anxiously look forward to its completion."

The new facility will be home to the Mean Green soccer and track and field teams, and will have a 14,000-square foot field house to go along with a sand-based soccer field and eight-lane track. The new facility will be able to host Conference USA championships as well as attract prominent programs from across the country. There will be permanent seating for approximately 1,500 people, including some with covered seating--along with some chair-back seats, new coaches' offices, locker rooms, a team-meeting area and a student-athlete lounge.

"This shows our administration is serious about women's soccer," head soccer coach John Hedlund said. "Having outstanding facilities helps to sell the university, the athletics department and obviously our individual sports programs. A new stadium will give us a beautiful venue to play in and a place where potential recruits will want to come and be a part of continuing to build the UNT soccer program."

Mean Green soccer has had 22-straight winning seasons, with 12 conference titles and seven runner-up finishes. Since 2006, North Texas has played its home games at the Mean Green Soccer Stadium on Bonnie Brae Street, where it has been dominate with a 90-13-6 mark in 10 seasons.

"This new facility will dramatically change the face of our program," head track and field coach Carl Sheffield said. "From the ability to train properly, host high-level competitions and help us to attract elite student-athletes, we will be able to compete at a higher level. This will help in the overall development of our athletes, and that is exciting for us as coaches."

The North Texas track and field teams have called Fouts Field home since 1952. The Mean Green have hosted multiple meets, but the last home meet was in 2014.

The track and soccer complex will be the first major construction project under the leadership of Baker, who was hired in August 2016. It will also be the initial project leading into the announcement of a 20-year master plan later this fall, which will include several capital campaign initiatives.