The University of Georgia Athletic Association’s board of directors voted Friday to spend $400,000 to determine the design and location of an indoor practice facility for football and other sports.
The lack of such a facility has been a hot topic around UGA football for years, often raised by fans and occasionally by coaches, players and recruits. Friday’s action officially moved the needle toward the possibility of building such a facility.
The board voted unanimously in favor of spending $400,000 from reserve funds to hire architects “to determine not only the conceptual design of the facility, but … also (to) help determine the most feasible location.” The facility “will serve all outdoor sports as a secondary location for practice in the event of inclement weather,” according to the motion passed by the board.
UGA athletic director Greg McGarity cautioned in an interview later that “many, many” steps remain before “any decisions are made” to proceed with construction. But he said, “We’re going to get the process started and get this thing moving.”
McGarity said two general locations will be examined for the facility: the area that includes the football team’s outdoor practice fields near the Butts-Mehre building and the area near the softball and soccer facilities off South Milledge Avenue. He all but ruled out the possibility of relocating the track-and-field facility to make room near Butts-Mehre, saying that likely would quadruple the cost.
The indoor practice facility would be approximately 75-100 feet high, 70 yards wide and 140 yards long. Georgia doesn’t have a cost estimate, but McGarity noted several schools have spent about $15 million on such projects.
He said funds would have to be raised from private donations and “from what I’ve been told” a lot of people have expressed interest in contributing.
The facility would benefit other sports in addition to football, McGarity said, particularly track, baseball, softball and soccer.
“It’s extremely important,” said Chris Conley, a wide receiver on the football team and a student-athlete representative on the Athletic Association board. “In order to compete with the best, you have to have the best facilities. And you can’t waste days (to inclement weather) when you play football at this level.”
