The University of North Florida received an $8 million gift from the Kernan R. Hodges estate to upgrade Hodges Stadium, home to the UNF soccer and track and field teams.
“We are thankful for this transformational gift from the Hodges family that will help UNF recruit future Ospreys, strengthen community connections and enhance campus life,” UNF interim President Angela Garcia Falconetti said in a March 12 news release.
The 9,400-seat Hodges Stadium houses a lighted field, nine-lane international track, the Browning Athletic Training and Education Center and UNF Athletics Department offices.
The facility opened in January 2004 and was named Hodges Stadium after a gift of $2 million from George and Kernan Hodges in October 2006.
The latest gift from the Hodges family has helped UNF add national broadcast level lighting and a digital video board to the stadium. The gift, along with $6 million allocated from the city of Jacksonville in 2025, is also supporting additional upgrades including renovations to the restrooms, locker rooms, press box and infrastructure improvements.
The Hodges estate presented an $8 million gift to The Bolles School in February to provide for perpetual maintenance of the George H. Hodges Field at the school’s campus in San Jose.
UNF said Hodges Stadium and the Visit Jax Track have attracted major amateur and collegiate sporting events to Jacksonville, bringing more than 200,000 hotel room nights booked and $160 million in total economic impact since 2012.