Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field

Quick Facts
Year Opened	2003
Capacity	40,000
Field Surface	Natural Grass

Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field is located in East Hartford and opened in 2003, as the Huskies defeated Big Ten Conference member Indiana, 34-10. Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, named for Pratt & Whitney aircraft founder Frederick Rentschler, is built on a former 75-acre airfield donated by Pratt’s parent company, United Technologies, to the State of Connecticut. The airfield opened in 1931, and saw the likes of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. There is a display on the history of the site as an airfield in the stadium.

The stadium serves as the home field of UConn Football and has hosted a wide variety of other athletic, cultural and civic events including international soccer, rugby, lacrosse and major concerts including The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and The Police. Rentschler Field is also the home of the Connecticut High School Coaches Hall of Fame, which is located on the southwest concourse.

The natural grass playing surface of Rentschler Field is 26 feet below grade at the stadium and was resodded in the summer of 2011. With 38,000 seats, Rentschler Field features stadium seating, outdoor chairback seating, fully enclosed club seats and luxury suites. The tower at Rentschler Field includes levels for suites, club seating and media/game management facilities.

There are 38 suites in the stadium and more than 600 seats in the club area, which also includes a 12,000-square foot function area, which is used by club patrons on gameday and is available for meetings and social events the remainder of the year. The outdoor seating area of Rentschler Field includes nearly 4,000 chairback seats with the rest being bleacher seating.

The media facilities have seating for 125 media members in the main press area. There are separate booths for television and radio broadcasts. That level also includes booths for coaching staffs, security, public address announcer, scoreboard operation and other gameday facilities.

The main UConn locker room is 3,750 square feet. There is also a coach’s locker room, equipment area and medical training rooms. The visiting team locker room is also spacious and has similar amenities.

The sound system at Rentschler Field has approximately 300 digital-quality speakers providing the audio. The west end of the stadium features a scoreboard that has a 24-foot by 32-foot videoboard. Rentschler Field features lighting with four towers in each corner of the stadium and a bank of lights on top of the press box.

All parking for the stadium is located within the footprint of the stadium site - which makes it unique for a college football facility. In total, there are 10,600 parking spaces at the Rentschler Field site.

The building of the facility and its management was and is the result of incredible teamwork and dedication between the state’s Office of Policy and Management, the town of East Hartford, United Technologies Corporation and the assistance from numerous public and private sector organizations. The architectural firm Ellerbe Becket designed the facility and the construction manager was Hunt/Gilbane joint venture. The result of this cooperation gives the people of Connecticut the opportunity to view college football at its highest level.

UConn received the Governor’s Leadership Award in December of 2003 for its efforts in the first year of play at Rentschler Field. The annual award is given to an individual or group that had done an outstanding job in bringing together a wide spectrum of people and resources to bear on a significant development issue in Connecticut.

Directions

From Bradley International Airport: Take I-91 South to Hartford to I-84 EAST (Exit 32 - Left Exit). Follow I-84 East to Exit 58, ROBERTS STREET/SILVER LANE. On the Exit Ramp, keep to the right and continue straight through Silver Lane into the RENTSCHLER FIELD MAIN GATE.

From the West: Take I-84 East toward HARTFORD. Follow I-84 East to Exit 58, ROBERTS STREET/SILVER LANE. On the Exit Ramp, keep to the right and continue straight through Silver Lane into the RENTSCHLER FIELD MAIN GATE.

From Campus (Storrs, CT): Take Route 44 West to I-384 West. Follow I-384 West to Manchester. Take Exit 1 SPENCER STREET. Turn left at end of exit ramp onto Spencer Street. Follow Spencer Street onto Silver Lane in East Hartford. Follow Silver Lane to RENTSCHLER FIELD EAST GATE.

From Boston: From the Mass Pike, take I-84 West toward HARTFORD to Exit 58, ROBERTS STREET/SILVER LANE. At the end of the Exit Ramp, turn left onto Roberts Street and follow to Silver Lane. Merge into one lane and continue straight through Silver Lane into the RENTSCHLER FIELD MAIN GATE.

From Providence: Take Route 6 West or Route 44 West to I-384 West. Follow I-384 West to Manchester. Take Exit 1 SPENCER STREET. Turn left at end of exit ramp onto Spencer Street. Follow Spencer Street onto Silver Lane in East Hartford. Follow Silver Lane to RENTSCHLER FIELD EAST GATE.

From New York: Take I-95 North to I-91 North toward Hartford to Route 15 North/to I-84 East/Charter Oak Bridge (Exit 29). Merge left onto Route 15. After the bridge, take Exit 91 SILVER LANE. Turn right at end of ramp onto Silver Lane. Follow Silver Lane toward the RENTSCHLER FIELD MAIN GATE. For General Parking, stay in the right lane and turn right into the RENTSCHLER FIELD MAIN GATE. For Reserved Parking, merge into the left lane and continue straight on Silver Lane to the RENTSCHLER FIELD EAST GATE.