The landscape of the Florida Gators home at the University of Florida is getting ready for a major facelift.
Twelve months in the making, the University of Florida’s Athletic Association (UAA) presented a plan on Thursday to the University Athletic Association board that would drastically change the landscape of the Gainesville campus as well as the lives of its student-athletes.
The plan to create a stand-alone football facility along with major renovations to both McKethan Stadium and Kate Seashole Pressly Stadium, were presented to the board (as an initial proposal, not a vote). Athletic Director Jeremy Foley and Executive Associate Athletic Director for Internal Affairs Chip Howard have spearheaded the renovations, which would cost an early estimate of $100 million dollars.
“We’ve been working on this 12 months,” Foley said. “You asked about is it my parting deal; we’ve been working on a master plan for 12 months. We’ve told you that, we’ve told our coaches that, Chip’s has been working his tail off on it. And it’s finally come in and we have made a priority.”
The biggest endeavor will be the stand-alone facility for football. The football-only facility would be located just beyond the two current practice fields, which means some maneuvering with the current track and field layout, as well as the adjacent parking lot, would be necessary. It is a vision that head football coach Jim McElwain brought to the forefront; McElwain’s vision for what the Florida Gators need now to be able to operate optimally, as well as what the team and program will need as it continues to grow in the future.
“Coach Mac will tell you, it’s not even for his time. There’s going to be a football coach after Mac, you know, hopefully no time soon. But I mean, that’s going to happen,” said Foley. “It’s just to fulfill the vision of what he thinks that we’ll need to be successful now and in the future. We don’t have enough room to do what we want to do, you know. We don’t have enough room for what we want to do. So that’s his vision.”
That vision includes a building that will be entirely self-sufficient for the football team, coaches and staff. It would include a brand new weight room, locker room, meeting rooms, a team room, a recruiting lounge and a wet room with hot/cold tubs.
When this process began the UAA initially looked to the South end zone, “We hadn’t had a noticeable renovation down there since ’97 or ’98, so it was in need of a renovation expansion,” Howard pointed out.
Clemson is currently spending an estimated $55 million to build a stand-alone football facility. It’s too early now to put exact figures on what each of the three projects would cost, which led to the estimated $100 million.
“I think it’s going to have all of the elements that you would want in a facility,” Howard said. “And as Jeremy said, the bells and whistles, we’re going to design and build what we need, not necessarily what everybody else has.”
When Florida broke ground to build the Heavener complex to be the “front door” to the football stadium, Howard took on the endeavor of making sure that the building met stringent LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards. The Heavener complex earned a platinum LEED certification, the first platinum-certified athletic facility in the world.
“It’s lighting. It’s sinks. It’s water. It’s urinals. It’s all those types of things, to make it energy efficient, it’s sustainability,” explained Foley.
The UAA has a LEED expert in Bahar Armaghani, who will work closely throughout the design and construction process, with the goal to earn another platinum-certification for the new stand-alone football facility.
The Thursday proposal is just the beginning of a long journey.
“We’ve got to find the money. That’s a pretty big start,” Foley said. “Then once you get the process, the design itself takes six months.”
Once the UAA reaches an earmark total they will put out a request for proposal (RFP).
“After the program’s written, we put it on the street,” said Howard. “People would send in – we’ll put in an RFP out, to send in their information. We choose a certain number of them to come in and interview here on campus. We’ll interview them and then make a choice.”
At that point plans would be made, renderings would be drawn up and blueprints can be sketched out.
The UAA has spent in excess of $107 million dollars over the last seven years with renovations to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center and Hawkins Center taking center stage along with the creation of the indoor practice facility for football. The UAA along with Gators Boosters are trying to create new avenues for Gator Nation to help contribute to the fundraising process, something Florida has never tried before.
“Gator Boosters are working on it right now, where everyone can contribute. Not everybody’s got $10 million dollars they can give you, ok? Someone’s got $1,000 bucks and they want to help? We really haven’t done much of that,” Foley said. “It’s not a Go Fund Me but you know what I’m saying, kind of like that. We’re going to take advantage of that. I think a lot of people in Gator Nation that want to help.”
Foley and Howard don’t expect to fundraise the total sum and the UAA will take on some debt for the new construction. Currently the UAA has approximately $91 million dollars in debt, hovering right around the $100 million dollars Foley says he’s comfortable with holding at any time. Of course, Florida is currently searching for a new Athletic Director whom may or may not share the same views on carrying debt.
“The new guy could have a new philosophy, and obviously that is his call,” said Foley. “But I do think there will be some debt funded here and obviously it is going to depend on some fund-raising efforts, as well, which we have a history of doing well. We have a great booster group here. Every facility we’ve built here since I’ve been around has probably been a combination in both.”
Ultimately where the money will come from is a drop in the bucket at this point. The plans will still need to be voted on by the University of Florida Board of Trustees. Even though the UAA will foot the bill and design the buildings, they’re still property of the university. With no conceivable reason as to why the proposal would get shot down the Florida Gators will pull up next to the rest of the football programs that have been engaged in a Cold War-like arms race over facilities.
“At the end of the day, obviously these things are going to help us recruit, help us be successful. At the end of the day, it’s going to go back to what it always does: coaching, recruiting. These facilities will enhance that, but it’s not the end-all, be-all. If you have good coaches, you’re going to get good athletes, and we’ve shown that time and time again around here.”