In Boulder, Sarah Kuta reported Colorado is "tacking on an additional" $13M to the cost of the school's planned athletic facilities upgrades because of "poor soil conditions and high labor costs." Total "anticipated cost of the project" is now $156M, and the agenda for today's meeting of the CU Board of Regents showed that the additional funds will "come from the athletic department" (Boulder DAILY CAMERA, 8/3).
ROCK, CHALK, GRID IRON: In K.C., Rustin Dodd noted nearly six weeks after construction crews began "ripping the track out of Kansas’ Memorial Stadium, the final pieces of a $500,000 renovation are being set in place." Crews this week began "laying down new turf alongside the sidelines and in the north bowl." In the coming days, a "new decorative fence will be installed behind the south end zone, replacing a previous chain-link fence" (KANSASCITY.com, 8/4).
DOG DAYS ARE OVER: In Connecticut, William Paxton noted UConn's $40M basketball training facility next to Gampel Pavilion "is open, but there is still some work to be done." UConn AD Warde Manuel said, "We [hope] that when school comes the student-athletes will be able to get in to the facility ... and we can get the coaches in there in September. We have some more work to do, but the building looks great (CONNECTICUT POST, 8/5).
DAWG DAYS ARE DONE: Georgia AD Greg McGarity yesterday said that the school "still has plans to build a full-fledged indoor practice facility for football in the future and it will be discussed at the next athletic board meeting in September." But McGarity said that there is "still no timetable and no legwork has been done." The cost had been estimated at about $15M, but McGarity said that the "price tag isn't yet known" (ONLINEATHENS.com, 8/6).
MEET VIRGINIA: In Norfolk, Harry Minium reported some residents concerned about Old Dominion's "intent to build a larger football stadium and add more student housing, classrooms and parking want the city to pay for a study on how those plans might affect their community." ODU "could add 1.3 million square feet of building space, on-campus housing for 4,570 students and 3,590 parking spaces" (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 8/4).
