Construction of the TCU indoor practice facility is set to commence on Sept. 5. “The multipurpose indoor practice facility will be about 336 feet long tip to tail, and about 92 feet wide,” said Ross Bailey, director of operations and sports medicine.
Due to conflicts with the football practice schedule, the construction will not begin Sept. 1 as previously planned, Bailey said.
Lisa Albert, assistant director of communications, said the construction is part of a $100-million anonymous donation for campus construction.
“The facility will cost about $7 million to complete, and with the donation, we were able to push this project to the forefront of the plans,” Albert said.
The project will take roughly eight months to complete and is expected to be finished April 2007, said athletic director Danny Morrison.
“There is an off-site work beginning September, but the actual building will be raised starting late October,” Morrison said.
The arena, composed of steel and brick, is one that will be home to more than just the Horned Frog football team.
“Almost all teams can have year-round productivity and get on the edge with other competitors in our region,” Albert said.
TCU is not the first university in Texas to utilize indoor training centers.
The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University all have indoor practice facilities, but this is the first university in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to build one, Bailey said.
Currently, there are problems facing the football program as activities on the practice field will be interrupted by the construction of the multipurpose indoor practice facility, Bailey said.
“For the eight or so months it takes for construction, the AstroTurf field will not be able to be used. But after completion it will help more than just our football team,” he said.
Bailey said campus sports, ranging from intramural sports to NCAA teams, will be able to use the facility, opening up a year-round training schedule.
The architecture of the center is part of joint project with Hahnfeld Hoffer and Stanford Associates, and Linbeck Construction. Both of the companies have been part of campus construction projects in the past.
“Hahnfeld Hoffer and Stanford helped build the Rec Center, and Linbeck is helping with the new student center and some of the dorms,” Bailey said.
The architectural style of the TCU indoor facility sets it apart from similar projects of the Dallas Cowboys and UT, Bailey said.
“We have a steel structure with a brick facade while UT uses a closed bubble, and the Cowboys use a tension fabric like a giant tent,” Bailey said.
Donor relations and the chancellor’s office are working to put a title on the multipurpose indoor practice facility, Bailey said.