Florida Gators football facility takes next step

University of Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin is currently making the rounds greeting boosters in an effort to raise money for proposed renovations to the athletic facilities at Florida.

The Florida Gators have plans for a $60 million dollar stand alone football facility, renovations to Alfred A. McKethan Stadium and Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The estimated total budget for the three projects is approximately $100 million dollars.

The University had previously looked at expanding the space they currently have inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but a comprehensive study determined the following:

The location of the current facilities (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium locker rooms/facilities) in relation to the practice fields is not ideal. The current space is also deficient for the expanding needs of the program.

The proposed new facility would be co-located with the practice fields solving the current issues with travel time and safety concerns with athletes crossing the road fully dressed for practice etc. Expansion of the existing space was looked at but was not really optimal for the adjacencies needed internally to the facility itself, not to mention the needed colocation to the practice fields.”

Wednesday the University put up an advertisement on its official website calling for a construction management firm. The university if looking for a firm to handle both preconstruction and construction phases for the stand-alone facility that is tentatively planned as a 135,000 foot building adjacent to the current practice fields.

The plans released Wednesday (which can be viewed in full here) include ideas for an entry lobby, locker room with players lounge, training room, hydrotherapy facility, strength and conditioning room, equipment room, team meeting room, recruiting lounge, a dining hall, as well as coaches lockers and offices.

The plans also list a timeline of how the events and process will play out. The AE selection process, which began on Wednesday, January 17 with the advertisement, should yield a short list by January 24. Interviews for firms chosen for the short list will go until February 7. At the time a firm is selected they will be subject to an approval vote before the university begins contract negotiations, schedules for Feb. 14-21. The entire project has a tentative time line of 138 weeks, or roughly over 2.5 years. The projected budget is $59,961,700, all of which the University Athletic Association will pay for.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC