Facilities & Directions

Robert E. Barnes Field
(Barnes Field)

It is appropriate that the Golden Bears play at Robert E. Barnes Field. Few people have meant more to Concordia’s campus than this Bloomington native.

With its cozy dimensions, Barnes Field is a hitter's paradise. It is reminiscent of the field on which alumni helped build the Concordia legacy. Just as cars parked in Gangelhoff Center's parking lot are targets for right field moonshots, homers on the old field would have been launched at present-day Interstate-94.

Present day Barnes Field features a  view of the Concordia Dome at Sea Foam Stadium just a block and a half away in the left center field backdrop, while Gangelhoff Center's south wall and slanted roof are home run targets. In the spring of 2010, Concordia baseball coach Mark "Lunch" McKenzie named the 24-foot left field fence "Wiesy's Wall" in honor of his longtime friend and bench coach, Jim Wiesner, for his lifetime of service to the game of baseball.

Concordia’s baseball field was named for Barnes in 1997, just five years after being part of the inaugural Concordia Athletics Hall of Fame class of 1992.

Bob Barnes served as athletics director at Concordia from 1947-82. He attended Bloomington High School and played football for the University of Minnesota in 1942. After a military stint, Barnes returned to Minnesota and got his degree in 1946. The following year, he was hired at Concordia. During his time at Concordia, he coached football, basketball, golf, tennis, track and field and even filled in as baseball coach in 1970, guiding the Comets to a 14-2 record and an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship.

His tenure as athletics director saw the school win a total of 56 conference championships, including 11 baseball titles. His basketball teams won eight conference titles in a 25-year period. He presided over Concordia’s transition from a junior college to a four year collegiate athletic program while serving as a head coach at the same time. During that same era, he also taught ­physical education.

His ground-breaking leadership and service to Concordia provided the structure and organization necessary for the University’s later transition to NCAA Division II membership.

Although retired, he is a fixture at Golden Bear athletic events and can be found in the stands at the field that bears his name this spring, as well as numerous other athletic events throughout the academic year.

His continued support for Concordia athletics, combined with his years of service, leadership and success, culminated in the fall of 2010 when he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Concordia Hall of Fame event.

Sea Foam Stadium went from a vision of the athletic department to a reality when Mr. Phil Fandrei’s generous donation of $5 million on behalf of Sea Foam Sales Co. moved the project forward. Upon Mr. Fandrei’s gift, the University was able to successfully fundraise the entire cost of Sea Foam Stadium on behalf of benefactor donations.

The stadium is a  year-round, multi-purpose facility that the football, women's soccer and men's & women's track & field team call their official home. Meanwhile, virtually every student-athlete at Concordia has the opportunity to train at the facility year-round with the inflation of the Concordia Dome, a large bubble, over the field's Sprinturf artificial surface.

Sea Foam Stadium's capacity calls for 2,500 bleacher seats on the home sideline where the restrooms, concession stands and press box are located, while additional temporary bleachers are brought in each fall on the visitor sideline on the east end of the stadium.

With a listed capacity of 3,500-plus, the stadium's open design allows for a large number of standing room only spectators or expanded portable bleachers depending on the event needs.

Construction began with the demolotion of existing buildings in early March, 2009 and progressed rapidly over the summer months.

The artificial surface, Sprinturf, was placed in late June while the bleachers were being constructed.

The bleachers were completed at the end of July, 2009 as the CU logo was placed on the 50 yard line and goal posts were installed. An anonymous $2 million gift was received and funding was nearly complete by the end of summer.

Around the same time, the press box was lifted into place and another major  donation was received, as Richard and Lorraine Carlander’s gift to the University of $250,000 helped construct Carlander Field for CU softball while securing the naming rights to Carlander Family Concourse at the stadium.

The football team began practicing at the new stadium that fall during preseason camp after a few early practices at their former home, Griffin Stadium.

With phase one of the construction essentially complete, the University looks forward to future expansion of the stadium which may include locker rooms, a weight room, a three level building with office space, hospitality and seating on what is currently the visitor’s side of the field.

Directions to Concordia University Campus
Campus Map

Traveling West on Interstate 94:
Exit on Hamline Avenue. Turn left (south) on Hamline; go past Concordia Avenue and the campus is on your left hand side. Visitor parking is available in the lot on your left or on the streets within and around the campus.

Traveling East on Interstate 94:
Exit on Snelling Avenue. Continue straight on the frontage road (Concordia Avenue) until Hamline Avenue. Turn right (south) on Hamline. Visitor parking is available in the lot on your left or on the streets within and around the campus.

From the Airport:
Take I-494 East to I-35E N toward St. Paul. Exit onto Ayd Mill Road. Take the Hamline Avenue exit and turn right onto Hamline Avenue. The campus will be on your right side just past Marshall Avenue. Visitor parking is available next to the theatre or on the streets within and around the campus.

From the Amtrak Station:
Turn left (south) onto Cleveland Avenue to University Avenue. Travel right (east) on University Avenue to Hamline Avenue. Go past Concordia Avenue and the campus is on your left hand side. Visitor parking is available in the lot on your left or on the streets within and around the campus.