Ceremonial bulldozers and campus community mark the start of site work for the new fieldhouse west of Wolf Pack Park.
West of Wolf Pack Park (university campus), August 21, 2025
Final financing closed and a groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of site work for a new 72,000‑square‑foot fieldhouse west of Wolf Pack Park. Ceremonial bulldozers, students, athletes and campus leaders attended as organizers said fences will be installed and dirt‑moving will begin shortly. The facility is a pre‑engineered metal building with roughly 70‑yard indoor turf plus end zones, rolling garage doors for indoor‑outdoor use, and 70‑foot apex/60‑foot clear height. Funded through a public‑private partnership and a per‑credit student fee, the fieldhouse will serve all varsity programs, intramurals and student life with a flexible layout and fast construction timeline.
Financial close for the new fieldhouse was completed early Tuesday morning, clearing the way for site work to begin as soon as next week. A ceremonial groundbreaking took place Tuesday afternoon on a parking lot west of Wolf Pack Park, where two large bulldozers served as symbols of the start but were not used for active excavation at the event.
The project will construct a 72,000-square-foot pre-engineered metal facility on a surface lot that now holds roughly 200 parking spaces. Fencing that will affect football and soccer activities is scheduled to go up on Sept. 2, and crews are expected to install those perimeter controls before heavier earthmoving begins.
The fieldhouse is a prefabricated, pre-engineered metal building that will arrive in pieces and be assembled on site much like an erector set. Once the steel delivery arrives, the frame is expected to take shape within weeks. The structure will measure about 70 feet at its apex and provide a 60-foot clear interior height, with an indoor playing surface roughly 70 yards long plus end zones. Rolling garage doors will link the interior turf to adjacent outdoor practice areas, enabling indoor-outdoor operability.
Construction scheduling is compressed compared with typical large builds. From the point the metal building begins to be erected, the developer estimates about 12 months to finish the structure itself, with overall project completion targeted for summer 2026. That timing falls around 18 months after a per-credit student fee was approved to fund most of the cost. A more specific date for when the structure will be raised depends on off-site fabrication and shipment timing; current estimates point to early next year for major vertical work once materials arrive.
Before the metal building is set, crews will perform substantial dirt work. The parking lot sits several feet below the grade of Wolf Pack Park, so the first major task is to raise the lot to match the park surface. That fill operation — including removing existing asphalt and building up the footprint — will be the primary activity in the weeks ahead, followed by a pause while the fabricated building is delivered and assembled.
The project uses a public-private partnership model in which a private developer assumes much of the upfront cost and development risk, then leases the finished facility back to the university. A majority of the budget is funded through a student fee approved by the institution’s board that charges $3.50 per credit. That fee, combined with private capital, supports the quick delivery timeline and the prefabrication approach chosen for the fieldhouse.
Because the construction site sits adjacent to Wolf Pack Park, existing practice schedules for football and soccer will be disrupted. Expect a busier schedule inside the main stadium turf this fall and coordination with campus recreation to share alternate fields. The university plans to use other on-campus turf areas, including an intramural field east of Wolf Pack Park, to help absorb practice needs while the project progresses. Officials characterize practice scheduling through construction as a work in progress and plan to finalize arrangements as site fencing and early work proceed.
When complete, the fieldhouse will support all 17 of the university’s sports programs and will be available for intramurals, marching band practice, and other student-life activities. The interior is being built as a flexible space with turf, netting, a lobby, and sport-specific amenities that allow the area to be reconfigured for multiple uses and future needs.
The development team describes the project as unique for its firm, including the need to assemble a 60-foot clear span and the rapid delivery schedule. Site fencing and early earthwork will begin right away; vertical assembly timing depends on the off-site fabrication schedule. If everything proceeds on the current timeline, the football program hopes to use the fieldhouse for fall camp next season.
Students, athletes, alumni, and faculty attended the ceremonial ground-breaking event. Organizers say site fences will appear on Sept. 2, site work will start the following week, and updates on the building delivery and erection schedule will be shared as they become available.
Final financing closed early Tuesday morning. With that administrative step complete, site fences will be installed on Sept. 2 and initial earthwork is expected to begin the following week.
On a parking lot west of the current practice area known as Wolf Pack Park. The lot holds about 200 spaces now and will be raised to match adjacent field grades before the building arrives.
The interior will total about 72,000 square feet, with an indoor turf surface near 70 yards plus end zones, a 60-foot clear height, a 70-foot apex, rolling garage doors for indoor-outdoor access, a lobby, and auxiliary sport-specific elements like netting.
Practice schedules will be adjusted. The primary impact will be adjacent areas of Wolf Pack Park, requiring more use of the main stadium turf and other campus fields, including intramural surfaces, during construction.
The project aims for completion in summer 2026, assuming the off-site fabrication and delivery proceed on schedule.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Size | 72,000 square feet |
| Building type | Pre-engineered metal building |
| Interior clearance | 60-foot clear with 70-foot apex |
| Indoor field | ~70 yards plus end zones; turf surface with rolling garage doors to outdoors |
| Site | ~200-space parking lot west of Wolf Pack Park; will be raised to park grade |
| Funding model | Public-private partnership plus a student per-credit fee |
| Fencing and initial work | Perimeter fences to be installed Sept. 2; earthwork to start the following week |
| Expected completion | Summer 2026 |
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