CINCINNATI — The University of Cincinnati released renderings Thursday for its new indoor practice facility and performance center.
The university is set to start building an 84,000-square-foot indoor practice facility at the site of the current Sheakley Athletic Center at Corry Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue. The facility will feature a 120-yard football field, allowing UC's football program to have a year-round, all-weather home, but it also will serve as a facility for other UC programs.
Next to the indoor field, UC is building a 96,000-square-foot performance center. The center will include football program offices, a dining hall, weight room, nutrition stations, athletic training room and mental health services.
The indoor practice field is slated to open in time for the 2024 football season, while the performance center should open prior to the 2025 football season.
Here are the renderings for the facilities:
"This is awesome," said UC football coach Scott Satterfield. "This is as beautiful of an indoor facility as you're going to see throughout the country. I've been to a bunch of them. And for us to have that right here, to be able to use on a daily basis is going to be incredible for our student-athletes."
Other than the renderings, UC also announced that the athletic department and the UC Foundation will be holding a ground-breaking ceremony for the multi-million-dollar project on May 23.
"The reaction has been fantastic," said John Daniel, UC's Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director and Chief Financial Officer. "We were talking today that we've gotten texts and calls from all around the country. Just kind of blown away. I think it's befitting of an architectural school - just the look and feel this corner of the campus will now have as kind of a gateway into our athletics village."
These facilities come as UC's football program becomes a Power Five school on July 1, 2023. With UC joining the Big 12, the university said the new facilities will "elevate the Cincinnati student-athlete experience, giving Bearcats an unrivaled advantage on the playing field and on the recruiting trail."
"These new facilities are essential for us to compete for championships in the Big 12 and immediately help us level the playing field as we enter our new conference," said Director of Athletics John Cunningham.
The project's development is also thanks to the largest gift in UC Athletics history by Larry and Rhonda Sheakley. Their gift was directly responsible for the start of the project, and then more than $88 million has also been raised by the Day One Ready Campaign, which is focused on achieving success for UC as it moves into the Big 12.
"It's a tremendous honor for Rhonda and me to continue providing opportunities for University of Cincinnati student-athletes, which has been a passion of my family's for many, many years," Larry Sheakley said.
Other than this project, the Sheakley's past gifts have named the Sheakley Lawn in Varsity Village and a suite in Nippert Stadium, as well as Sheakley Athletic Complex.
"I want to thank President Pinto, our Board of Trustees and, of course, our generous donors, led by Larry and Rhonda Sheakley, for leading this project as we all work together to provide our student-athletes with the resources needed to have the best experiences on and off the field," Cunningham said. "The start of this project and the success of the Day One Campaign are crucial to our future success."
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