With the official opening yesterday of the Univ. of Maryland's new indoor football facility, Cole Field House went from "iconic to eye-popping," according to Don Markus of the Baltimore SUN. A large crowd came away "awestruck after seeing the beginnings of how the 61-year-old building will be turned into a state-of-the-art facility that combines football with medical research and business development." The proposed $155M project will "eventually include a weight room, new offices and two outdoor practice fields for the football team as well as the more than 40,000 square feet dedicated to the Center for Sports Medicine, Health and Human Performance, an orthopedic treatment center and the school’s Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship." The money for the project has "come from some 140 'major' donors" (Baltimore SUN, 8/3). In DC, Roman Stubbs notes yesterday commemorated the "completion of the first phase" of the project. Maryland is the last Big Ten football program to have an indoor facility. The next phase will include the Center of Sports Medicine, Health and Human Performance; a clinical treatment center; and "space for the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship." That portion of the project is "expected to be finished within the next three years." Maryland President Wallace Loh said that the project, which began construction in December '15 and has been buoyed by a $25M pledge from Under Armour Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank, has "raised roughly two-thirds" of its $90M fundraising goal (WASHINGTON POST, 8/3).
: SB NATION's Joe Piechowski noted UCLA's new Wasserman Football Center on Tuesday had its official opening in a ceremony that "included a ribbon cutting" by Chancellor Gene Block, AD Dan Guerrero, Wasserman Foundation President & CEO Casey Wasserman and coach Jim Mora (
SBNATION.com, 8/2). The Wasserman Football Center, designed by ZGF Architects and constructed by PCL Construction of L.A., spans approximately 75,000 square feet of space that encompasses the Troy Aikman Strength and Conditioning Center, the Jim and Carol Collins Head Football Coach's Office, locker rooms, training and treatment room, nutrition center, hydrotherapy pools and meeting spaces such as the Terry and Andrea Donahue Team Auditorium. Other amenities include a barbershop, players' lounge, recruiting lounge and terrace (
UCLA).
