This is a new project that follows the construction of the $22 million, 95,000 square football Guglielemo Center finished last year:
http://und.cstv.com/facilities/gugathleticscenter.html
ND won't build a new basketball arena but will give it a facelift, among other athletic projects.
From the South Bend Tribune:
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May 18. 2006 6:59AM
Joyce ready for a facelift
But ND is mum on when work will actually begin.
TOM NOIE
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- Standing sentry on the south end of the Notre Dame campus, the structure silently ages as seasons slide from fall to winter, spring to summer.
From its antiquated scoreboards to a seating area that has seen better days, the Joyce Center's tired south dome quietly waits for an overdue makeover after 38 years of service.
On Tuesday, Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White shared a peek at blueprints of the university's $100 million master plan to upgrade campus athletic facilities, crafted after 18 months of study and survey with HNTB Architecture, Inc.
No timeline, at least publicly, exists for what likely is next in line and, to many fans, most important -- the basketball arena.
"I have one, but I can't talk about it," said White of the timeline, fearful that doing so would again stall a process delayed for nearly three years because of the after-affects of Sept. 11, 2001. "If you do an awful lot of specific conversing about it, it's not helpful, for a lot of different reasons.
"We're close on all these projects. We've made great progress."
Plans to put Notre Dame's basketball facilities among the Big East elite have stayed relatively the same through coach Mike Brey's first six seasons in South Bend.
The university aims to spend $25 million on the south dome of a building that cost $8.6 million to complete in 1968. All seats will be upgraded to chair-backs and drop capacity to around 10,000. A new south entrance will include a retail store, Varsity Club room and ticket offices. The second level houses a 4,000-5,000 square-foot club room with seats that open into a tightened bowl.
"The project we're most excited about is Joyce South," White said. "It's going to represent a pretty significant facelift."
One that, even without an adjacent practice facility or new glass-and-steel structure situated somewhere between campus and downtown, White believes can help the Irish basketball programs compete with the nation's elite for tomorrow's talent. At first glance, an improved Joyce Center may not be on par with, say, what Duke did for its fabled hoops home, Cameron Indoor Stadium.
White believes it can be better.
"This is going to be Cameron Indoor plus, plus, plus," he said. "The kind of place we are, we're going to do ourselves well by doing this project."
While some schools (Pittsburgh) have moved into buildings that cost well over $100 million as others prepare to (Virginia) or plan to (Oregon), Notre Dame basketball finally will shake free from the 20th century with a belief that less is more.
"We can get this down and have the same impact," White said. "With all the needs on this campus, we're not spending $160 million on a basketball facility any time soon."
Never?
"I'll be on the other side of the lawn before that would happen," White said.
While south dome work likely is the next project awaiting the green light once all funds raised through private donations are secure, it's not the only one. Notre Dame's plan also includes:
Late-summer completion of a 10,000-square foot indoor golf practice facility north of campus.
A north dome addendum that will house coaches' offices, locker rooms and a club area for hockey. Capacity for the Joyce Fieldhouse, also with all chair-back seats, will bump to around 4,000. Projected cost is $15 million.
Expanding the current two-lane access road that runs along the back of the Joyce Center to four lanes, necessitating the demolition of Moose Krause Stadium currently utilized by the lacrosse and track and field teams.
Placement of three football practice fields -- one artificial turf and two natural grass -- adjacent to the Guglielmino Center.
A men's and women's soccer-only facility with seating for around 2,000 on the south end of what now is Moose Krause Stadium. That would include a building complete with locker rooms, lounge and rest rooms. A similar structure and field would sit just east of the new soccer stadium for men's and women's lacrosse.
Relocating the softball field from near Ivy Road to southeast of Eck Stadium. The track and field venue also would move to the south of the baseball stadium.
Additional practice areas for lacrosse and soccer along Ivy Road.
Moving the tennis courts from their current spot next to the Guglielmino Center to land that presently holds the softball field.
"We have benefaction for almost every project to some degree short of one," said White. "This isn't pie in the sky. These things will happen because people love this place and want it to happen."
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbc...NDSports03
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ND to spend $100 million on athletic facilities
