The University at Buffalo football program just got better: the long dreamt field house is officially being built.
The UB football program has been vying for a field house since the university joined Division-1 athletics in 1998 and through fundraising and philanthropy, the $18 million-dollar project will be underway after approval from the state Division of the Budget. The timeline for the project starts in late July when construction bids are issued and the university hopes to begin building sometime during the fall semester.
The plan of action to fund the field house starts with $6 million out of pocket through fundraising that was a long-term goal for the university and $10 million on loan that was approved in November of 2014 by the UB Foundation Board of Directors. No state funds will be used, according to NBC Sports.
The design of the field house has been underway since August 2016 when UB brought CHA Consulting Inc on board to start developing the 90,000-square foot project. The field house will be built on UB’s North Campus behind Alumni Arena and will occupy the spot that is currently a parking lot.
For the UB football program, a field house seems to be essential if they are looking to improve. Stringing together numerous losing seasons, not having had a winning season since 2013, they are at a competitive disadvantage without having a field house. UB was the lone school in the Mid-American Conference to not have a field house.
University officials chose to not hold a news conference in regard to the field house, a decision made plausibly because of the issue of abruptly cutting four sports teams in April.
Jeremy Torres is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at jeremy.torres@ubspectrum.com
