Building up for the big league Universities seek Division I edge with expanded athletics facilities

BY KAYLA PRASEK

As the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota have fully completed their transitions to Division I athletics, all four started making a push toward upgrading their athletic facilities to be D-I caliber. Within the next year, all of them will complete major athletic projects, ranging from a football stadium to basketball arenas and human performance facilities. Each school hopes the addition of these facilities will give them the edge over other D-I universities competitively and in recruiting.

UND Athletics High Performance Center

In Grand Forks, UND is nearing completion of the $19.5 million first phase of its Athletics High Performance Center. Designed by Grand Forks-based ICON Architectural Group, the 156,000-square-foot facility will feature an indoor football practice facility and 300-meter eight-lane track. It will also include separate lineman workout and field events areas, along with videotaping tower locations for performance recording, a warm-up track and an observation area. Construction of the facility, which is being handled by general contractor ICS Inc. of Grand Forks, began in September 2013 and is expected to be complete this month. Phase two of the project will include lockers, coaches’ offices, an academic center and sports medicine and athletic training center. Phase two is estimated to cost $15 million, but still needs to gain approval from the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education and the state legislature before a private fundraising drive can begin. Permanent seating also will be installed, depending on private funding.

NDSU Sanford Health Athletic Complex

In Fargo, NDSU is about halfway through its renovation and extension of the former Bison Sports Arena into the Sanford Health Athletic Complex. The $41 million project is expected to be next October. The project, designed by Fargobased TL Stroh Architects & Interiors, will feature the Scheels Center, a 5,700-seat basketball arena. The two-court Nodak Mutual Insurance Company Basketball Training Facility will be added to the southwest corner of the existing structure, while the west-side addition will house human performance facilities, including strength training, sports medicine and rehabilitation areas. The facility will also have a student-athlete academic center, along with new athletic department offices, equipment facilities and team meeting facilities. Construction of the facility, which began in April 2014, is being led by general contractor Gast Construction of Fargo. The Shelly Ellig Indoor Track and Field Facility, which is also part of the project, opened in December 2012.

(continued on page 44)

USD Sports Performance Enhancement Complex

The University of South Dakota in Vermillion is expecting its $73 million Sports Performance Enhancement Complex to be fully enclosed by Nov. 1, with work currently finishing to connect the facility to the existing DakotaDome. The showpiece of the three-part complex, designed by Sioux Fallsbased Architecture Inc., is an 118,000-square-foot facility featuring a 6,000-seat basketball/volleyball arena, two full-sized practice courts and locker rooms. The second part is the outdoor track and soccer complex, which will feature a nine-lane, 400-meter outdoor track and areas for field events, two soccer fields and bleacher seating for up to 2,000. The third part is the 59,000-square-foot science, health and research lab, which will provide a centralized location for USD’s occupational therapy, physical therapy, kinesiology and sports sciences and sports medicine programs as well as collaborative spaces and state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratory and clinical spaces. It will also feature a 7,500-square-foot strength and conditioning room, hydrotherapy room, sports medicine training room, physical therapy and rehab center and biomechanics lab. The academic laboratory will serve as the connector to the DakotaDome. Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction is leading construction, which began in May 2014 and is scheduled to be complete early next summer.