Indiana
Northwestern’s ‘imperfect’ pop-up stadium will make for scenic Indiana football game
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana football will be in for a unique experience when it heads to Evanston to play Northwestern in October.
The Hoosiers played at Ryan Field the last time they visited their Big Ten rival in 2016, but all that’s left of the venue is rubble.
Northwestern demolished the stadium over a four month-span starting in February as they started the process of an $800 million redevelopment project. That left the Wildcats in search of a temporary home until the 2026 season when construction will be completed on the new 35,000-seat venue.
Those new digs will be a temporary structure — a ”Lakeside pop up” as coach David Braun called it on Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days — built around its on-campus soccer/lacrosse stadium that sits right off the shores of Lake Michigan.
They will play five of their home games including the one against Indiana on Oct. 5 at the facility. The program’s other two games (Ohio State and Iillinois) will be played at Wrigley Field.
More: IU’s Curt Cignetti took shot at Purdue football. Boilermakers kept receipts.
“There have been so many moving parts,” Braun said. “So many experts in their space that have been involved in those conversations to make it best for Northwestern, best for the Big Ten and best for everyone involved.”
Northwestern considered a variety of options from playing its home games at Soldier Field to using the Chicago Fire’s former home, SeatGeek Stadium. Braun threw his support behind the temporary stadium after his interim tag was removed at the end of the 2023 season.
“I spoke with great conviction that I felt it was in the best interests of our student-athletes, best interests of our program and the best interests of our students on campus for our game day environment,” Braun said. “To be honest with you, this is the best case scenario to bridge the gap to the new Ryan Field.”
It will be a much smaller venue with a capacity of just 15,000, but Braun’s experience coaching a North Dakota State football program that plays at the vaunted Fargodome (18,700 fans) makes him think it could be an advantage.
“We got an opportunity to give our allotment to our other Big Ten opponent, but the rest of that pop up should be purple,” Braun said.
More: Why Rutgers coach Greg Schiano anticipates bright future for Indiana football
That doesn’t mean there won’t be any drawbacks including the weather. Braun didn’t know what the locker room situation would be for the visiting team, but campus staff is working through all those logistical hurdles.
There will be coaching boxes overlooking the field for both Northwestern and the visiting teams to have assistants view the game from a higher vantage point.
“It’s going to be really unique and I think it’s going to be something that everyone that’s a part of it will remember, it will be imperfect though,” Braun said.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
RIPLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — A statewide Silver Alert has been issued for two young children in Indiana.
Police in Ripley County, southeast of Indianapolis, are looing for the children who may be siblings.
The first child is 3-year-old Aaliyah Buckingham.
She was last seen wearing a pink cat shirt and tie-dye shorts.
The younger child is 1-year-old Shane Buckingham, last seen in a red shirt and diaper.
Police think both are with 45-year-old Timothy Buckingham, who was last seen driving a brown GMC truck.
Timothy is described as a 6′ 3″ white man weighing 225 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
Photo of Timothy Buckingham provided by Indiana State Police
Police have not confirmed the relationship of the three, or why the children are believed to be in danger.
Anyone who sees the three are asked to contact the nearest police department.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A firefighter for the Indianapolis Fire Department was sent to the hospital Wednesday after battling a fire at a vacant house.
According to a Facebook post made by IFD, the fire happened around 10:15 a.m. at a house on Bluff Rd. IFD says that there were several complications, including limited access to fire hydrants and “interior hoarder conditions” that IFD says was due to squatters.
The injured firefighter received “slight injury,” the Facebook post said.
It took over an hour and a half to get the fire under control, according to IFD, and another hour to put out all the remaining hot spots in the building.
According to IFD, the cause of the fire is currently unknown. Their Fire Investigations Unit is working on figuring out what caused the fire.
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