College Athletics Construction Roundup: June 2015
By Steve James
Last Updated on March 28, 2023
The “College Athletics Construction Roundup” is a monthly series on the construction of intercollegiate athletics facilities. Each month we’ll provide a list of announced, in progress and recently completed athletic construction projects from around the country. You can view previous editions of the “College Athletics Construction Roundup” here.
Master Plan
UTEP will be installing artificial turf on three playing surfaces. Football facilities to receive the new turf are Glory Field, the football practice field, and the Sun Bowl. University Field, the soccer venue, will also receive new turf. All three surfaces should be installed before football begins practice in August.
Southern University began construction on its new Jaguar Park facilities. The $500,000 project is broken down into two phases. Phase 1 includes resurfacing the football field and is expected to be complete by August. Phase 2 includes a field house, concession stand and bleachers for the soccer program.
As part of a master building plan on the campus, Bryant University will build a new strength and conditioning center and indoor practice facility. The IPF will be a 78,000-square foot facility with a full 100-yard turf field.
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Football
Georgia Southern will replace the natural grass surface on Glenn Bryant Field at Paulson Stadium with a new artificial turf. The turf will be ready for the 2016 season.
Sioux Falls will install new turf at Bob Young Field. The turf will be manufactured from a soy-based synthetic grass. The installation is expected to be completed for the beginning of the 2015 football season.
Baylor announced approval for an expanded and renovated weight room in the Simpson Athletics & Academics Center. The $1.1 million project will include new space for sports nutrition and applied performance, and will feature technology upgrades.
South Carolina is planning for a football operations building. The facility would be constructed next to the indoor practice facility and would include coaches’ offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms and weight room.
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Basketball
Idaho State is in the planning stages of a new $20 million basketball stadium. The planned 4,000-seat facility would consolidate the men’s and women’s basketball programs, which are currently operating out of different facilities.
Tennessee Tech University will upgrade the seating in the Hooper Eblen Center. All lower bowl seats will be replaced with wider seats with cup holders. Bleacher seating in the upper bowl will be replaced with chair-back seating. The upgrades, to be completed before the 2015-2016 basketball season, will reduce capacity to 7,400 from 9,100.
Oklahoma will build an 18,000-square-foot addition to the Lloyd Noble Center. The $7 million strength and conditioning center will be connected to the men’s and women’s basketball practice gym, and will be available for other sports’ use.
Old Dominion will break ground on a new $8.4 million basketball practice facility. The 24,000-square foot building will include two courts, players’ lounges, locker rooms and meeting rooms for the basketball programs.
The University of Jamestown will spend $16 million on a new arena. The facility will seat roughly 2,200 people and will include locker rooms and a basketball court.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley unveiled its newly refinished court. The court is the first phase in a rebranding process. Subsequent steps will include additional graphics and signage in the field house.
Dayton will spend $4 million to upgrade the Donoher Basketball Center. The project will include technology, locker room and meeting room upgrades.
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Olympic / Other Sports
Kansas State will spend $2.1 million to construct a new soccer facility. The field will include lighting, bleacher seating and a media area. Construction should be complete by the end of July.
Stanford will upgrade the Siebel Varsity Golf Training Complex. The facility will include six green complexes, one block tee area and additional short game areas. New additions include a 3,800-square foot Clubhouse (to include coaches’ offices, locker rooms and a team lounge) and a 1,200-square foot performance studio.
South Carolina broke ground on a new outdoor track stadium. Seating capacity will be over 1,400. The facility will include support structures for storage and restroom facilities.
UNLV announced construction on a $2.75 million baseball clubhouse. The two-story building will house a weight room, batting cages, coaches’ offices, players’ lounge and locker room.
New Hampshire will install a new videoboard, end zone board and LED ring display in the Whittemore Center. The videoboard will be four-sided and center-hung over the rink and will have video and instant replay capabilities. Installation should be complete in time for the 2015-2016 season.
Cal Poly will build a two-story baseball clubhouse at Baggett Stadium. The facility will include coaches’ offices, an umpire locker room, players’ locker room, laundry facility and athletic training area. Temporary bleacher seating in the stadium will be replaced with permanent seating, raising capacity to 3,500.
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Academic & Multi-Use Facilities
Wells College will install a new artificial field by Spring 2016. The facility will include lights and a press box. The field allows teams to practice and compete closer to campus rather than travelling to neighboring schools.
North Dakota’s High Performance Center is expected to be ready by August 1. The $18 million facility features a 100-yard turf football field, an eight-lane 300-meter track and space for athletic training and strength and conditioning.
Northeastern University will spend $26 million to transform a city park into an intramural facility. The school will build two turf fields, including one that can be enclosed in the winter. While the city will maintain ownership of the park, the school’s intramurals will get usage priority over other groups.
Weber State will begin construction on a 4,000-square foot academic center. Completion is expected by the end of 2015. The facility will include a computer lab, study rooms and an athlete lounge.
Michigan approved a $168 million Olympic sports complex. The 280,000-square foot facility will house the track & field, cross country, lacrosse and women’s rowing programs. The project includes an indoor rowing tank and 2,000 –seat lacrosse stadium.
Keuka College will begin construction on a new synthetic turf field. The $1.8 million turf field will be used by the school’s lacrosse teams, soccer teams and field hockey team.
Penn’s Franklin Field will receive renovations to its track this summer. The track surrounding the field will be completely excavated and replaced. Work is expected to be complete before fall practice.
The College of Charleston will build a new athletics facility. The planned 20,000-square foot building will include a weight room, sports medicine area, locker rooms, coaches’ offices and academic spaces.
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Other Notes of Interest
With the goal of keeping the Women’s College World Series through at least 2035, Oklahoma City and the Amateur Softball Association will spend $20 million to upgrade Hall of Fame Stadium. Renovations include new locker rooms under the stadium, a new 3,000-square foot hospitality area, renovated bathrooms and concession areas. Renovations slated for 2019 include an upper deck, adding 4,200 seats to the stadium.
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