The Gators will soon join the ranks of the schools jumping into the nation’s facility arms race, as the school revealed several new additions that will soon be in place in Gainesville. The video below showcases the proposed facility, which includes a hologram training environment for the football team.
Florida has long suffered from a lack of ideal facilities that don’t match up to the nation’s elite football programs, but that won’t be a concern for head coach Jim McElwain and his staff for much longer. The school’s athletic association has chosen the architecture and engineering firm HOK’s $60 million proposed project to build a new 130,000 square-foot building that will house future Gator athletes.
“This football operations project will have a significant impact on the daily experience of our student-athletes and staff,” said Florida AD Scott Stricklin. “It represents a substantial commitment on behalf of Florida Athletics and Gator Boosters to ensure that our football coaches, players and staff are able to perform as efficiently as possible. And the new dining hall will benefit all 500 of our student-athletes.”
Algen Williams, the regional leader of HOK engineering firm, shared his thoughts on the planned vision for the school.
“The University of Florida has a long history of developing champions,” said Williams. “This project will create a facility that supports the university’s mission of forming well-rounded student-athletes. We look forward to using design to help tell the story and define the future of the Gators’ celebrated football program.”
Florida is expected to break ground on the new facility in December of this year with a projected completion date of June 2019 — although that timeline is not set in stone.
The UAA announced the selection of @HOKSportsRecEnt to design its stand-alone football facility & dining hall!
📰: https://t.co/MdNirY6F4w pic.twitter.com/mtzHkEBKjX
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) February 22, 2017
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
