New renderings and plans for the University of Wisconsin football team's indoor practice facility show evolving details of the $285 million project.
Work to replace the Camp Randall Sports Center — more commonly known as the Shell — and the McClain Center is scheduled to begin later this year. Wisconsin officials are planning to give an informational presentation about the project to the Joint Campus Area Committee on Thursday.
Documents for that meeting revealed the proposed phasing for demolition of existing structures and construction of new ones, plus the addition of new elements compared to previous plans.
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A two-level plaza between the practice facility and Monroe Street is designated to take over a triangular piece of land that's now part of Camp Randall Memorial Park. Plans show the lower level as tenant space with Monroe Street frontage and the upper as an outdoor area.
The part of the project on the triangle is identified in plans as the Camp Randall Veterans Memorial Plaza. University officials had to incorporate a way to honor Wisconsin veterans after the state Legislature approved allowing the triangle to be used in the project.
"It's a 365-day-a-year gathering place, whether it be football game days or whether it be for someone to come out and eat their lunch," Wisconsin senior associate athletic director Jason King said.
Updated plans also show a mezzanine level for a 300-meter indoor track around the perimeter of the field in the indoor practice facility. The Badgers track and field teams are slated to lose their indoor practice and competition space with demolition of the Shell.
Wisconsin officials have been studying locations for a potential new indoor track facility, but King said the mezzanine level is the path forward at this point.
"It's a really unique design, something that we're excited about," King said. "We think that there's multiple uses for it — obviously for the track team but also potentially football. I think we really are intrigued and think it could be a real positive."
Preliminary renderings show large windows on the east and south sides of the practice facility to bring in natural light.
The project includes three elements:
• The indoor practice facility where the Shell now stands. New offices for coaches overlook the field.
• A training facility to replace the McClain Center. That part also features the football locker room, weight room, team meeting spaces and a dining hall.
• The triangle addition with an elevated plaza above an indoor space that King said hasn't yet been programmed. Earlier documents showed Wisconsin officials wanted to relocate the Bucky's Locker Room location at the stadium from underneath Kellner Hall to get it closer to the street, but King said the Monroe Street frontage likely won't be used for that.
Construction is planned in phases, some of which overlap. The football team is scheduled to move into temporary facilities before its current locker room and training spaces underneath the McClain Center are deconstructed, and documents show the team spaces will be in transition for all of the 2026 season.
Demolition of the Shell, a three-month process, is scheduled to start in August, according to the presentation document. Construction of the indoor practice facility in its place is projected to run from November 2024 to March 2026.
A move-out from the McClain Center and into temporary facilities is on the books for after the 2025 football season, with demolition planned for early 2026.
Construction on the triangle addition between Monroe Street and the indoor facility is planned to begin near the end of 2025. Work on the triangle and the training facility will continue after the indoor practice space is fully functional in early 2026.
The preliminary end date for construction on the training facility is listed as Sept. 1, 2027. Work will continue after that point to renovate vacated spaces in the stadium and remove temporary team facilities.
The newest set of plans shows a level of parking underneath the practice and training facilities.
The project is the most expensive construction job ever undertaken by the Wisconsin athletic department, fulfilling a long-held desire by multiple football coaching staffs to have a full-size indoor field and centralize training facilities.
The McClain Center, which was constructed on the north side of the Shell, was put into use for football practices in 1988 and formally completed in 1989 at a total cost of $9.5 million. But its field is 20 yards shorter than regulation and its roof gets in the way of kicks. Football officials also have complained about a haphazard layout for support facilities and used new indoor practice hubs at rival schools in their argument for a new structure.
All of that is addressed in the upcoming project. Wisconsin launched a $75 million fundraising campaign last October with a $20 million donation from Mary and Ted Kellner. Football ticket prices are being raised and minimum donation levels are changing for 2024 to help pay for the work.
Most of the $285.163 million cost of the project is planned to be covered by athletics program revenue funds. There's $120 million in program revenue supported borrowing in the proposal.