When it comes to the athletics campus construction projects as part of Indiana University's "For All" campaign, the next several months are going to be busy.
One of those projects nearing completion is the South Endzone enclosure which will house the Excellence Academy as well as facilities to support student athlete health and wellness. Speaking to reporters at the On The Road With The Hoosiers event at Huber's Orchard and Winery May 30, IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said that project is still on schedule to be completed by later this summer.
"It is on time and on budget," Glass said. "It will be ready this summer and it will be open for football season."
The $53 million, 66,575 square foot facility broke ground on April 27, 2017 and will include two primary levels.
The first level will be home to the Dr. Lawrence Rink Center for Sports Medicine and Technology which will include the Irsay Family Wellness Clinic, the Rehabilitation and Treatment Center and the Center for Elite Athlete Development. According to the press release from the groundbreaking, those facilities will provide "comprehensive physical and mental healthcare for IU student-athletes with physician offices, psychologist and nutritionist offices, exam rooms, diagnostic equipment, and the like; all-inclusive space and equipment to help prevent, diagnose, rehabilitate and treat injuries to student-athletes; and research and technology to apply science to the development of champion student-athletes."
The first level will also house the Hancock Hiltunen Caito Center for Leadership and Life Skills which will include the Glass Family Student-Athlete Leadership Suite and the Career Counseling Center. These facilities will offer "multi-purpose space and offices dedicated to leadership development, life skills training, service learning, and career development for students who participate in intercollegiate athletics at IU."
The Tobias Nutrition Center will reside on the second level and house one of the premier nutrition facilities and dining spaces in all of college athletics.
For Indiana football head coach Tom Allen, the nutrition center was arguably the biggest piece of the entire project. He said the program hired a new nutritionist - Director of Sports Performance Nutrition Isaac Hicks - just for that.
"There's so much more to it than just that, but that is the part we feel like was a big need for us," Allen said. "With training and how demanding we are with them physically, if you're not getting the proper nutrients back in your body, those workouts aren't as powerful as they should be in terms of improvement."
There will also be a new 42-by-91-foot scoreboard installed as well as a prominent entry plaza.
More importantly, though, the completion of the project will bring in long-overdue resources for Indiana's 24 programs.
"It will be a great amenity for our student athletes," Glass said.
Click here to view a photo gallery of the artist renderings.
Click here to see photos of the project from over the last year ($).
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