The second phase of the University of Florida’s University Athletic Association facilities plan took a major step forward Friday with the announcement of a new baseball ballpark, new stand-alone football training complex and upgrades to its softball stadium.

In total, the project is expected to cost $130 million, according to plans that were published on the university’s website.

Initially, the plans called for renovation of the baseball stadium and for the new football training complex to be built north of the Percy Beard Track. But the association said in a release that the updated plans will be better for the sports programs in the long-run.

"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.”

Improvements include:

• $11 million in renovations to the Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Construction is planned to begin this summer with completion prior to next spring’s softball season.
• $50 million to construct the new ballpark on 13.63 acres of land, located in the southwest area of campus on Hull Road near the Donald R. Dizney Stadium and the softball stadium. Construction is set to begin in the fall and should be completed before the 2020 season. Capacity is slated to be 10,000.
• A $65 million budget to build the new football training complex, which would be built at the site of the current baseball stadium. Depending on the progress of the new ballpark construction, the training complex could start construction in late 2019 or early 2020. The association aims to complete construction in 2021.

The projects will be funded through donations, bonds, and the association’s investment earnings, the association said. A $50 million bond is pending approval by Board of Governors, which is expected to decide in June. The projects have received about $13 million in donations and $10 million in investment earnings, but sources for the remaining $57 million have yet to be identified.

Walker Architects, Populous and HOK have signed on to work on the facilities’ engineering and architecture. D.E. Scorpio Corporation will manage construction on the softball stadium, and Parrish McCall Constructors will work on the football training complex. A construction manager for the new ballpark has not been announced.

 

Source: bizjournals.com

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