Joe did indeed talk.
New facility separate from stadium?
“What we’re trying to consider is the ever-evolving world of athletics. It’s not trying to build something like everybody else at that moment. It’s what the program is going to need going forward. Obviously we have a great setup at the moment but things are changing. And there’s even been legislation that evolved in the area of nutrition. It’s different and putting all of us in a position to think differently and think ahead. We’re always of a proactive mindset. That’s what we’re doing with this.
“With the architect coming on board now, we can really be specific on considering all the elements of the site, how things would set up, what it would take and then be able to get into the components of the facility, the schematic design of how we bring all that together. This has been part of our effort to be really aggressive in thinking about the resources that matter most to our program and it’s a big step to show that we’re serious about it.”
Westside?
"Yee of little faith! We haven’t forgotten that. No, no no. I have to leave something on the bone for you to come back and ask about. No, that's big. That's a big part of our thinking. We're just not at a stage to announce anything yet. But it was intended to be phase two. But we've chipped away at parts of phase two since we completed the south end zone. But the biggest part of that phase is the west side. So we've been meeting with the architect continuously to try and evaluate what that needs to be and how that's going to take place and the timing. It's as big of an engineering challenge as it is to go out and raise the money for it. Like in any one of these projects we talked about there, they all have to be privately funded. So we make them happen when we can raise the money."
Timeline for this project?
"It's moving at a rapid pace. Getting the architect on board is a key element to finalizing not only the timetable will be, but defining the actual scope of the project. Once you do that, there's the ultimate cost. We've done some very, very preliminary work to understand what that might be. Having this architect is the big first step, if you will, to be able to determine and define all of that."
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