$15 million UAB football facility, turf field get greenlight from Board of Trustees

[augolf1716 21,091]

Good for them been a long time since I've been to B'ham so I have no idea where this is located.

http://www.al.com/sp...all_facili.html

The UA System Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead Friday to a $15 million turf field and football operations facility.

The proposal was approved Thursday by a committee and sent to the full board for a vote. It covers stages one and two of the design and construction plan.

The new, 46,000-square-foot facility includes locker rooms, administrative offices, weight rooms and more. It will be located on the south side of 6th Avenue between the George C. Wallace Building and 11th Street South.

UAB Athletic Director Mark Ingram said he and other officials are working with architects and the facilities team to work out design details and have continued to raise money through pledges.

Ideally, the facility will be finished by summer 2017, in time for the team's first season after its reinstatement. That goal is optimistic but doable, Ingram said.

"Do the stars need to align a little bit? Yes, but so far they are," he said. "We feel great about the design efforts... People are making pledges."

New buildings in the UA system typically go through one stage during each board meeting. Two stages were compressed, and the final two stages could be approved at the board's next meeting in June.

The schedule is being compressed significantly in order to meet that ambitious goal for the facility's completion. But, Ingram said, there is a difference between doing something quickly but efficiently and being rushed.

"That's been what the board's commitment has done for us," he said. "It's allowed us to get those approvals quicker than we normally might. This commitment from the board and our university administration - all the leadership involved here - is what is allowing us to make such great progress."

The approval of a new football facility has been lauded as yet another step forward for the football program, which signed a top Conference USA class in February and will resume competition in 2017. Those players, along with others who signed with UAB in December, know about the program's mission.

"They're all very aware of what we're trying to do, and they believe in us," Ingram said. "We're not going to let them down."

"It's just confirmation of where we've already been headed," UAB head football coach Bill Clark said Thursday. "It's a process that you go through at the university level to get buildings built, and for them to put phase one and phase two together is a big deal because it really just speeds the process up."

The approved stages outline the project scope, budget – which totals $15.3 million – and authority to negotiate an owner/architect agreement with Goodwyn Mills and Cawood. The project will be funded by proceeds of a future UAB bond issue, and pledges made in the meantime will ultimately repay those expenses

[Malcolm_FleX48 1,869]

Just like Coach Clark to get them started on the CFB arms race.

[penguin149 390]

Good for UAB!

Maybe PB Jr. is concerned with too much snooping around in his craphole of mess. Wouldn't authorize new facilities/stadium a few years ago, then cuts the program entirely, only to reverse that decision once the entire program had been disassembled. Now that UAB is not a threat to the almighty Tahd...let 'em spend some money.

I believe UAB football will be irrelevant for the next decade or more (a la SMU).

[WarTim 3,456]

Sad but true.

[AU64 10,122]

Its a start but also its a pittance considering how much UAT and the rest of the state schools spend on football. Guess this means they continue to play all their home games in Legion Field with all the disadvantages that involves. The need a home field with appropriate seating capacity and better access.

[penguin149 390]

Right AU64. Just look at Western Kentucky. ..their stadium seats about 32,000 and is mostly filled each week. UAB does not need a 60,000+ seat stadium.