Moretz Stadium
Helen and Leonard Moretz Stadium is an 8,500-seat stadium located in Hickory, North Carolina. It serves as home to the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears of the South Atlantic Conference. Moretz Stadium is the fourth oldest stadium in continuous use in NCAA Division II and one of the oldest in the country, built in 1924.
The Stadium currently serves as the home field for the L-R football and men's and women's lacrosse teams and also houses the University's spring commencement exercises. The Lenoir-Rhyne baseball team also used the facility as its home field until a baseball-specific ground was built across the street.
In 1960, it was the site for the NAIA National Semifinal football game, which Lenoir-Rhyne won on its way to its only national championship in school history. Moretz Stadium was also home of a 1962 NAIA National Semifinal game and a NCAA Division II Semifinal game in 2013. The stadium has hosted four NCAA Playoff games in its history, all of which came in either 2012 or 2013.
A July 2019 assessment discovered problems with the structural integrity of the home stand, as a result of the findings the university has decided to tear down the stand and replace it with a temporary stand for the 2019 season. The school will build a permanent replacement in 2020. [1]