GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the latest step toward the Gators' $60 million stand-alone football facility becoming a reality, the University of Florida placed an advertisement Wednesday on its official website for a construction management firm.
According to the post, the contract for construction services includes pre-construction and construction phases of the projected 135,000 square-foot building that will serve as the primary meeting and training headquarters for the UF football team.
Wednesday's advertisement comes on the heels of the preliminary plans being
released on UF's official website last month.
Chip Howard, UF's executive associate athletics director for external affairs, said to expect more releases such as this throughout 2017 as the University Athletic Association gears toward what is currently a $100 million facility plan that includes the construction of a stand-alone football facility and major upgrades to McKethan Stadium, home to UF's baseball team, and Seashole Pressly Stadium, which houses UF's softball team.
"It's part of a university process," Howard said. "These are the procedures we follow in the first steps of a major project."
UF advertised for the design firms for the project in December and will be accepting detailed applications Thursday. With this new advertisement, UF will be accepting comprehensive applications from construction firms for the next four weeks. The deadline is Feb. 15.
The pre-construction phase includes the demolition of a small storage building and preparing the grounds for the construction of a three-story building along 2nd Avenue adjacent to the team's existing practice fields.
According to the plans released in December, the school envisions breaking ground on the facility in December 2017 with a final inspection in June 2019. The three-story building will include locker rooms, a hydrotherapy room, a players lounge, meeting rooms, training rooms, coaches offices, a lobby and dining hall to serve UF's roster of 500-plus student-athletes.
The design concepts and projected construction dates currently in the public domain could change according to Howard.
"The only thing that's out there previously is just a study,'' Howard said. "For the scope of the project, that's what we envision. What may change is the timeline. It was a very conservative timeline that we put onto the university procedure. That all remains to be determined based on who you hire as an architect and who you hire as a construction management firm."
Howard said that since the stand-alone football facility will take the most time to build, its initial plans were released first. The baseball and softball projects won't take as long and the plans for those projects should be released publicly at some point in the coming months.
The Gators released a master plan to upgrade facilities in early September. Since then, Florida opened the Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center to rave reviews following a $64.5 million renovation.
In addition, Athletic Director
Scott Stricklin replaced
Jeremy Foley on Nov. 1 and is conducting a spring speaking tour around the state with boosters to inform them of the new projects and what they can do to help as UF transitions into a new era.
"We continue to move ahead with our various facility projects,'' Stricklin said. "It is important that our student-athletes and coaches have the support and facilities that they need to be successful."
Howard has been at UF for more than 25 years. He's seen major projects such as the expansion of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and the construction of the team's indoor practice facility come and go with success.
When the next round of upgrades is complete, Florida's football program will have a home like it's never had before. Until then, 2017 is going to be a busy year as the project gets off the ground.
"The bottom line is that it's a big building and it's a long project,'' Howard said. "It will be really nice. It's just going to take some time."
