Breaking Ground
The University of Washington will break ground on its new basketball performance center in June. The $60 million donor-funded training facility, which will include two 9,800-square-foot practice courts among other features, is expected to be completed in August 2025. The new home for Husky basketball will include a skywalk viewing area above the courts for recruits, fans and families to watch practices.
The University of Maryland held a ceremony in February to celebrate work beginning on an 8,500-square-foot facility for Terps baseball. The Stanley Bobb Baseball Player Development Center will have defined spaces for both pitchers and hitters in a climate-controlled environment. It will also have pitching and hitting technology that will offer increased analytics.
First Pitch
The University of Missouri’s athletic department has received a donation of $50 million toward renovations to the Mizzou Tigers’ Memorial Stadium, including the redevelopment of the North Concourse. Kansas City-based DLR Group will serve as consultant for the project, which is expected to be completed in August 2026.
The University of Northern Iowa now has permission from its Board of Regents to plan a court sports training facility for the Panthers men’s and women’s basketball programs, as well as UNI’s volleyball team. The complex will provide a dedicated practice space to programs that currently share court time at the McLeod Center and UNI’s Wellness and Recreation Center. The facility will include practice courts, locker rooms, a training room and a rehabilitation area. The university said the building will be financed by private gifts.
Plans for a new prep football stadium are underway for a Pennsylvania high school. The Clairton Bears are seeking to put an estimated 1,200 seats in the new stadium, which will replace the district’s nearly 100-year-old Neil Brown Stadium.
Maine Athletics said the department plans to renovate the Harold Alfond Sports Arena and the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center. The men’s and women’s ice hockey teams will receive new locker rooms equipped with modern lighting and the latest technology. The programs will also benefit from a new film room. Upgrades will include improved branding and structure of the tunnel leading to the arena. Connecting the two hockey facilities will be a new concourse entrance, featuring a modern origami building design to complement the highly recognizable Alfond Arena profile.
Grand Openings
The $212 million Foster Pavilion at Baylor University has replaced the Ferrell Center as the Bears’ basketball home. The 7,000-seat arena opened earlier this year after ground was broken in May 2022 and is part of a $700 million riverfront development between the university and the city of Waco.
Image courtesy of Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture
