Gators announce plans for a $65 million dollar stand alone football facility

On Friday the Florida Gators announced plans and a new budget to build a stand-alone football facility. The Florida Board of Trustees met Friday morning to decide and vote on providing funding for three separate projects that also include renovations to Katie Seashole Pressly softball stadium and a brand new baseball stadium. The estimated budget for the three projects is $130 million dollars, $75 million of which the UAA says it has already identified.

The estimated budget for the football stand-alone facility is $65 million with construction starting based on availability of the site. In order to build a football training complex the right way Florida’s UAA determined they would need to utilize the land where McKethan Stadium currently sits. Florida’s baseball team will play the 2018 and 2019 seasons at McKethan while the new stadium is being built, so construction on the football training facility will be on hold until then as Dan Mullen, Scott Stricklin and the UAA continue to work on plans and details for the space with a goal to have it completed by 2021.

“We want to invest wisely in our infrastructure to enhance our student-athlete and fan experiences,” Athletics Director Scott Stricklin said. “And we want to make sure that we are making the best long-term decisions to create championship experiences with integrity for all of those that touch our programs. Our athletic department is consistently among the top five in the nation, and it is our intent that all three of these facilities mirror that.

The building will be funded in two ways: philanthropic support as well as UAA investment earnings and it will serve as the daily home for the football team, coaches and training staff.

The facility will be built in the collegiate gothic building style seen throughout the University of Florida. It will include a prominent and visible entrance, team locker room, weight room, coaches offices and player areas and an enhanced medicine and rehabilitation facility with hydrotherapy.

The UAA has tapped HOK as the architect and design firm and Parrish-McCall as the construction managers. Populous is a global architecture and design firm. They designed new Yankee Stadium, the arenas for the London Olympics and more than 2,500 projects over the last 35 years.

 

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