College stadium improvements target better fan experience

ORANGE CITY, Iowa — From improved aesthetics at the entrance to upgraded facilities for fans, Northwestern College's football and track facility — to be re-dedicated in the name of the school's longtime hall of fame coach — will receive a major facelift over the next year. And Carl A. Nelson & Company is leading the $10.9 million stadium construction project, which is scheduled for completion in time for the 2027 football season.

Founded in 1882, Northwestern has enrollment of more than 1,600 students, of which about 60% take part in the college's more than 20 intercollegiate athletic programs. The college offers more than 130 academic programs, ranging from certificates to pre-professional degrees and master's degrees; along with Christian faith formation and a community focus, with the majority of students living in on-campus housing.

In addition to hosting NAIA football and track as the home of the Northwestern College Red Raiders, De Valois Stadium and Korver Field, as currently named, also are home ground for Orange City's public and Christian high schools and middle schools.

The need for improvements at the stadium was driven by several factors:

• A turf field and hard-surface track that both are nearing the end of their lives;
• The game-day challenge of lengthy lines for restrooms and concessions;
• Demolition of a nearby dormitory that exposed the underside of the stadium to wider view, and an attractive new plaza leading to it that creates a visual dissonance with the rest of campus.

The decision to go ahead with improvements was made by the Northwestern College leadership in 2025, said Vice President of Finance and Operations, Kent Wiersema, and followed completion of a feasibility study led by stadium designer Ampere, from Kansas City, Missouri. Following a selection process in the spring, Carl A. Nelson & Company was awarded a CM at-Risk contract for pre-construction and construction.

Vice President of Athletics Tony Hoops said the upgrades will help to prevent situations such as one he remembers of a player's mother missing her son's first catch while she stood in line for the restroom. In addition to the improved visuals, concessions and restrooms, replacing the turf and resealing the track with the addition of new aprons for sprint events, the project will include the installation of a video board and construction of a premium seating section with suite-like accommodations for fans.

"What I really wanted to do with this project as the AD was, "How do we make our facility be a pretty nice high school stadium into a college stadium?'" Hoops said. "That VIP experience is really where it's at."

The VIP section will fill in an empty space north of the existing bleachers, increasing present seating capacity of about 2,500 seats by 300 to 400. Related modifications inside the auxiliary building that currently houses restrooms, locker rooms and concessions, meanwhile, will contribute to what Hoops said he hopes will be an overall boost to recruitment by bringing stadium quality in-line with other campus athletic facilities.  

Larry "Bub" Korver, for whom the stadium will be named, won 212 games during 28 years at the helm of Raiders football, from 1967 to 1994, against 77 losses and 6 ties. That includes five appearances in the NAIA national championship game, and two national titles. In addition to being a member of the Northwestern College and NAIA halls of fame, Korver was inducted in 2025 into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame. The stadium project will support Korver's ongoing legacy of success at the school, which has made three more appearances in the NAIA title game in the past six seasons, and won it in 2022.

Korver, who still lives in the community and regularly attends games and practices, took part in an October 2 groundbreaking ceremony in Colenbrander Plaza outside the stadium.

Representatives of Northwestern College and the project team including Carl A. Nelson & Company participate in an Oct. 2, 2026, groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of improvements at Korver Stadium. Northwestern College photo