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SALT LAKE CITY — On the heels of the recently completed renovation of the south end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium, the football program is looking to get another major upgrade to its facilities on campus.
On Tuesday, the University of Utah board of trustees voted unanimously to move forward with the bonding for a $61.8 million project to construct a new football indoor facility next to the already constructed Spence and Cleon Eccles Football Facility and the Spence Eccles Field House.
The vote Tuesday was not an official stamp of approval for the project, but merely the first step to ensure the university can secure funds to start the project that is still early in the planning and exploration phase. After a brief presentation from Athletic Director Mark Harlan, the board voted to "move forward to obtain bonding from the Legislature."
The bonding of the new facility will now move to the Legislature, which is currently in session until March 4. If approved, the project is set to begin in the spring of 2022, with a tentative completion date for the fall of 2024.
The construction project is necessary, the university said in a proposal to the board, to meet all the "training needs" of the football program, particularly the after-hour needs of student-athletes to workout in an indoor facility.
The current indoor field that was constructed in 2004 shares space with county recreational sports and other athletic programs of the university. The county has access to the building at 6 p.m. each day for recreational sports, leaving no options to student-athletes after that time. The current indoor facility will remain, with the same arrangement with the county.
"When you talk about player development in football, player development in other sports, this will be a welcomed addition for that," Harlan said in the meeting. "And also, quite candidly, recruiting and the ability to show recruits in not only football but in the other sports our commitment to them to develop as player."
Proposed plans for the new indoor facility include a full-size practice field, a lobby and a space dedicated for sports medicine. The climate controlled facility will also feature 90-foot ceilings (30 feet higher than the current building) to ensure enough space for punting a football and two 20-foot by 40-foot video boards.
Already established buildings in the area — library storage/archives, plumbing building and facilities salt storage building — will be demolished and relocated as part of the project, which will also include a relocation of a nearby detention pond and the construction of a new drainage system.
The relocation and demolition cost of the already established buildings are estimated at a combined $16.9 million, with the proposed cost of the new indoor facility just short of $30 million. An additional $15 million will be reserved for "other project costs" that include "design documents, information technology, furniture and equipment, test and inspection," as well as other items.
The university said the project will be funded through a revenue bond. The bond will be repaid through donations and university funds, according to the proposal. All operating costs will come from the athletic department's revenues.
The University of Utah's board of trustees will vote later today on a $61.8M plan to construct a new football indoor facility.https://t.co/6jvZLOOVfqpic.twitter.com/1DxGw4Qikt
— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) February 1, 2022
Harlan said the funding is "philanthropically driven in all regards, and we're prepared as an organization to go out do everything we can get to get it done." He said he's been in talks with former players in the NFL and "conversations with them have been positive." He said many want to give back and could be a resource to help fund costs associated with the facility construction.
In January, Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff petitioned the university presidents to invest more resources into the football programs. Though not a petition to just inject more money into the various football programs around the league, Kliavkoff wants to create an environment where the top recruits in the country, particularly those in the West, stay in the Pac-12.
"The commissioner has been very clear and very consistent on the fact that we all need to look inward in our football programs and do everything we can to improve results," Harlan told KSL.com in a recent interview. "He's also made it very clear that that should not affect the great success of the other sports that are sponsored in the Pac-12, in the Conference of Champions. So we're all on board with that vision.
"I think there's not an athletic director at the 12 schools that don't, every day, think about how they can enhance their football programs to put them in the best position."
While not necessarily a direct result to Kliavkoff's pitch to enhance the football program's, the new indoor facility is the latest project to keep the university competitive with athletic programs around the country.
