Work has "finally begun" as part of the Univ. of North Carolina's roughly $100M sports facility project, one that has "left a big hole near the middle of campus and will force a dozen programs to adjust practice or game routines for the coming year," according to Aaron Beard of the AP. UNC AD Bubba Cunningham has "long talked about the need to build an indoor football practice facility or upgrade the aging home to the school’s soccer and lacrosse programs." The football team has "long practiced on two fields next to the field hockey stadium, and that plot of land backed up to the Fetzer Field home to the lacrosse, soccer and outdoor track programs." Now the football and field hockey facilities "are gone, clearing room" for a $35M indoor football facility and adjoining outdoor fields. A $15M field hockey stadium will be "built a quarter-mile away." Another $30M will go to "renovate Fetzer by removing the outdoor track to create a stadium solely for soccer and lacrosse." The outdoor track will "move to a new practice and competition complex a short drive from the main campus for about" $12M. Those projects, and "other smaller ones, are scheduled for completion" in fall '18. That means several teams will "play the upcoming season in alternate venues, some off campus." UNC is also planning a $10M project to "relocate video production equipment and create studio space" for the '19 arrival of the ACC Network (AP, 6/26).
