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Nebraska unveils plans for $155M athletic training facility
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska's football team is getting a new, state-of-the-art athletic facility intended to boost recruiting and improve the Huskers' standing nationally, university officials announced Friday.
Crews will break ground on the $155 million facility next summer, with an expected completion date of 2022. The building will connect to Memorial Stadium. At 350,000-square feet, it will be the largest facility of its kind in the nation.
"I think this is evidence that the University of Nebraska is committed to making sure we do everything we can to compete at the highest level," Husker football coach Scott Frost said at the announcement Friday, one day before Nebraska was set to host the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Nebraska athletics director Bill Moos said the "Go Big" expansion project is part of a broader effort to "create the future" and restore the team's reputation as a football powerhouse after several disappointing seasons.
The last major facility construction for the football program was completed in 2006, with the opening of the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex. University officials said every other Big Ten school has opened new football facilities since then or is in the planning stages of constructing one.
Nebraska's facility will provide the football program with a new locker room, strength and conditioning center, athletic medicine facility, equipment room, meeting rooms, coaches' offices, and an additional outdoor practice facility. It also will include the training table and academic support facilities for all of the university's student athletes.
Chancellor Ronnie Green said officials expect to raise $100 million for the project from private donors, while the rest will come from university trust funds and bond financing.
Moos said Husker officials have already raised 35% to 40% of what they need from donors.
The facility will occupy the space where the Ed Weir Track and Field Stadium is currently located, just off Memorial Stadium's northeast corner. University officials plan to construct a new outdoor track stadium north of the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
