BOCA RATON – FAU is aiming at a January 20 groundbreaking ceremony for the Schmidt Athletic Center.
That date is about a week and a half prior to National Signing Day and the ceremony will provide another selling point to football recruits, demonstrating that the program is forging ahead with the project.
Earlier this month FAU selected HKS Architects to design the $50 million 96,000 square foot complex, which will be located on the vacant land adjacent to the football stadium on the press box side.
FAU is currently in the process of selecting the builder for the project. A timetable for the Schmidt Athletic Complex has yet to be announced.
The first phase of the Schmidt complex will include football offices, a weight room, a sports medicine center and an academic support center. It will not include the planned indoor football practice facility, which is scheduled for Phase II.
As part of the project, FAU will also upgrade the stadium’s home football locker room, allowing it to be utilized as the full time locker room. FAU currently operates out of the locker room and football offices across campus in the Oxley Center. The current stadium locker room only has room for about 80 players. The upgrade will make room for about 120.
FAU first announced its intention to build the new athletic facility in December of 2014, beginning with a $16 million gift from the Schmidt Foundation.
National Signing Day is Feb. 1.
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