The Univ. of Utah unveiled the $32M Spence & Cleone Eccles Football Center on Thursday, and the “ribbon-cutting ceremony of the 152,211-square foot facility proved to be quite a grand opening as the university prepares for its third season of competition in the Pac-12,” according to Dirk Facer of the DESERET NEWS. The center, which will be used "by all of the university’s sports teams and more than 400 student-athletes, is a state-of-the-art facility with a variety of amenities.” Features include a “large sports medicine area with hydrotherapy technology, a cafeteria with 250 seats, a 6,500-square foot football locker room, 47,000-square feet of meeting rooms, offices and team auditoriums, group study areas, a hydration station and a player lounge.” There also is “a Hall of Fame, a press room, a production studio, equipment storage and management, an area to get a haircut and an event plaza” (DESERET NEWS, 8/16). In Salt Lake City, Lya Wodraska notes the two-level observation deck “overlooks the practice fields and the Salt Lake Valley.” The “gem of the facility” is the training room. The facility is “just a chunk” of the $64.2M the school has invested in upgrades as part of the move to the Pac-12. The university has set aside $24M for a basketball facility, $4.2M for a new softball complex, $2.5M for track upgrades and $1.5M for an outdoor tennis facility (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 8/16).
