On Friday, Auburn University’s Board of Trustees officially blessed the construction of the new “Football Performance Center.” Auburn football will finally bid adieu to the athletic complex and may move into the facility as early as July 2022 if everything goes according to plan.
Site preparations for the facility began back in September when crews cleared 12.5 acres of land encompassing the former Wilbur Hutsell Track and Field and campus tennis courts. The facility itself is 233,400 square feet and will be located at the intersection of West Samford Avenue and Wire Road.
Bids for construction of the facility open next week and building costs are currently estimated to run at $88 million. The project itself is estimated to cost $91.9 million (site preparation: $3.9 million) and per Mark Murphy of 247Sports will be, “financed by a university bond issue with debt service to be paid by athletic department funds.”
The Football Performance Center will consist of the following amenities:
- two outdoor natural turf practice fields
- weight room
- players locker room
- coaches locker room
- sports medicine and nutrition area
- team meeting rooms
- football administration offices
- equipment room
- laundry room
- deluxe lounge (I like the sound of that)
- game room (just in time for EA College Football to drop!)
- barbershop
For more photos of the facility view our gallery here.
Auburn’s project summary of the Football Performance Center states, “The Football Performance Center will provide the Auburn University football team with the essential capabilities and resources needed to successfully compete with the Southeastern Conference and with national peer programs.”
Yann Cowart, Vice President of Sports Architecture for Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood of Montgomery, is the architect responsible for designing the facility. Cowart played center at Auburn under Pat Dye from 1983-1986.
Part of Auburn’s plan in implementing the new Football Performance Center is to also construct new campus tennis courts to replace those that were demolished during site preparation. Construction on the new recreational tennis facility is currently underway next to the old CDV apartments close to the intersection of West Thach Avenue and Hemlock Drive.
The 88,000 square feet athletic complex has been home to Auburn football as well as various other sports since its inception in 1989. Once the new football facility is completed, athletic operations currently housed in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum may move to the athletic complex which could expedite the university’s decision to demolish the former home of Auburn basketball.