BYU yesterday "broke ground" on the 38,000-square-foot, two-story Marriott Center Annex, the basketball facility which "will be connected" to the school's Marriott Center, according to Jeff Call of the DESERET NEWS. It features a "much-needed practice facility and other day-to-day services for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs." BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose said, "We’ve had visions of this for years and years.” Call notes construction is "scheduled to be completed next fall." BYU "worked with an architectural firm based in Detroit to create the concept." As per school and LDS Church policies, all money for the project "was raised before construction started" (DESERET NEWS, 12/1). In Salt Lake City, Jay Drew notes the project's cost "was not divulged." It "will be built" by Utah-based Wadman Corporation. With most of his players yesterday "watching the proceedings," Rose "got a little teary-eyed as he described how he was first told of the plans in the spring of 2011 but asked to keep it to himself and how he received a generous lead gift from primary donors Ruth and Rex Maughan." BYU AD Tom Holmoe said that more than 30 donors "made the project happen" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 12/1).
