GAINESVILLE, Fla. — By the end of this year, the University Athletic Association will put the finishing touches on $107 million worth of facility upgrades.
Just in time to embark on the next nine-figure project.
The UAA Board of Directors was presented Friday with a proposal for a new capital improvement campaign that includes plans for a new stand-alone football complex, along with major renovations to the baseball and softball stadiums. The latest athletics facility and master plan overview comes on the heels of the UAA’s construction of the $17.5 million indoor football facility, a massive $25 million addition to the academic center and partnering with UF for a $64.5 million reboot of the O’Connell Center.
The estimated cost of this next mega-wave of improvements figures to be close to $100 million, meaning the UAA will have committed to facilities upgrades of roughly $207 million since January 2015.
“Obviously, it’s a very ambitious project and we’re going to depend on our fundraising efforts to help us with it,” UF athletic director Jeremy Foley said. “Really, it’s a commitment to those three programs, those three coaches. The study also includes opportunities to enhance other facilities that are very important to us, but football, baseball and softball are what we’ve put as our highest priority right now.”
- A new football facility to be constructed to the north of Percy Beard Track, along Southwest 2nd Avenue, and buttressing west end of the team’s Sanders Football Practice Fields. The project narrative calls for a large entrance and lobby, plus locker room and players’ lounge with nutrition station, strength and conditioning area, hydrotherapy and training areas, meeting and recruiting rooms, coaches’ offices, and general office and work space. The land is currently used as the throw area for the men’s and women’s track and field programs, which will be relocated. The UAA is currently exploring options for relocation. The current football offices will become administrative offices and the current weight room and training room will be renovated and used for all sports.
- A renovation of McKethan Stadium, home to the baseball team. The new look will feature shade structuring, five new rows of premium seating directly behind home plate, new club seating and an expanded press box, a new second-level concourse, plus refurbished and improved player amenities.
- A renovation of the softball complex at Seashole Pressly Stadium. Existing bleachers behind home plate will be replaced with chair back seating, with additional bleachers extended down each foul line to accommodate 750 to 1,000 more seats; expanded press box, concession and restroom areas, upgraded coaches and players’ facilities, as well as some shade structure.
- A new Gator Dining venue for all student-athletes, to be located adjacent to the new football complex; additional improvements for the track, soccer and lacrosse venues, as well as dormitory upgrades, an upgraded UAA maintenance facility and various other ancillary projects.
According to Chip Howard, Executive Associate Athletics Director for Internal Affairs, architectural studies have been completed and designs are currently in the works. The next major step would be to begin the on campus approval process and then the UAA can look at soliciting bids for the project and selecting a construction firm once funding is approved.
The construction timetable will be contingent on the funding of the project, including fundraising efforts.
“The master plan is basically a road map for the future of our facilities,” said Howard, adding the UAA surveyed coaches, trainers, maintenance personnel, nutritionists and other departmental staff before prioritizing this next wave of capital improvements. “We’ve identified needs and developed a plan by engaging user groups, but we’re still in the process of finalizing this plan. There will be some changes, no question, but we have a really good idea where we’re headed.”
To the future, that’s where.
In June, when Foley announced he would be retiring in October after 25 years on the job, he indicated he was going to propose several projects before his tenure was over.
Here they are.
“I still have a job to do at the University of Florida and wanted to begin the process of moving these projects forward in terms of funding and design,” Foley said. “Obviously, the new athletic director will lead the charge in seeing these projects through to a successful completion.”
