UND celebrates grand opening of Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center

‘Game changer’ facility includes new team locker rooms for certain sports, sports medicine area — and largest weight room in the Dakotas

By Alec Stocker Johnson

It was a special morning on the campus of UND on Friday, as hundreds gathered for the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center.

The facility, which is connected to the Frederick “Fritz” D. Pollard Athletic Center, now stands completed as a testament to what UND President Andrew Armacost dubbed “The Year of Community” in 2025-26.

“You now look at the aerial views and you see the ground views of what this whole complex looks like, and at the center of it is this project today to be celebrated,” Armacost said. “This year, the Year of Community, this is where we come together. Look around at all the people who came here as a community to celebrate this important space. Thank you to all who made this happen.”

Armacost was joined by UND Director of Athletics Bill Chaves and Nodak Insurance Company Chairman of the Board Eric Aasmundstad in giving remarks, while UND Alumni Association Vice President of Development Mike Mannausau provided the opening and closing remarks.

“This vision is a shared with many other alumni and friends as well, who poured their hearts and resources into making this project the reality that we’re sitting in today,” Mannausau said. “Their contributions signify more than just financial support; they symbolize a belief in the transformational power of education and athletics.”

Crowd listens to speakers at ribbon-cutting of Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center, Sept. 5, 2025. — On Sept. 5, 2025, the ribbon-cutting for the new Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center took place in the facility’s new weight room, the largest in the Dakotas. Photo by Jasmine Koenig/UND Alumni Association & Foundation.

The Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center features new team locker rooms for football, softball and men’s and women’s cross country/track & field, as well as a state-of-the-art weight room and sports medicine area. The facility also is connected to the Hyslop at Memorial Village via an all-weather indoor Hawkway.

“Simply stated, the Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center is a game changer for UND Athletics,” Chaves said. “All of our 375 student-athletes will benefit in some way, shape or form with this facility. So many people have my thanks. It took a village, it took everyone, it took the community.”

The event, which took place inside the largest weight room in the Dakotas, featured refreshments that mimicked the state-of-the-art nutrition that UND student-athletes receive in the facility, as well as guided tours of all the special amenities the building has to offer.

“It’s beautiful,” Aasmundstad said. “We’re truly as a company blessed to be part of this. This facility is North Dakota, the best of the best, and it’s just a resounding theme throughout our state.”

Mannausau closed the event with remarks, citing the importance of this completed facility standing on the former grounds of Memorial Stadium — UND’s first fundraising effort over a century ago.

“We do. We lead. We are Forever UND.”