Foley says O’Dome renovation plans close to being finalized

One of the biggest questions asked about the Florida Gators basketball program is when the Stephen C. O’Connell Center is going to be renovated.

On Wednesday athletics director Jeremy Foley talked about the plans to renovate the arena and it sounds like the plans are getting close to being finalized.

“Yeah, I think we’re getting close,” Foley said on Wednesday. “The process now is to finalize the pricing. We’re close on that. I would say once that pricing gets set and once we’re set, meaning the contract to the university and Athletic Association, here’s the pricing, we’re OK with the schedule, then we’ll let the world know.”

Florida has a budget right now of $60 million dollars set aside for the project and they are in negotiations with Brasfield & Gorrie, a construction company based out of Birmingham, Alabama.

This is a new company that the Florida Gators are in negotiations with as they try to lower the cost of the project, but Foley still believes an announcement could be coming shortly on the finalized plans.

“I would hope in the next three weeks maybe, a month or so, we can tell people this is what pricing is going to be, this is the timetable,” Foley said. “I can tell you it’s going to happen. That I can tell you.”

One thing that has been discussed in the past is that construction would start in the spring of 2016 following the Florida Gators basketball season and according to Foley that’s still the plan.

“That’s the same time frame,” Foley said. “I’m confident about that. Now that being said, until everything is signed, you don’t have a done deal, like any contract, whether it’s a personnel contract, until it’s signed you don’t have a done deal. I’m very confident where we’re headed. Very confident.”

Gator Country will continue to monitor this situation and bring you the latest on contract talks.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.