The University of Wisconsin is getting a pretty pricey upgrade to 3 of their facilities: Camp Randall Stadium, the Kohl Center, and the UW Field House. The updates on the Field House will benefit the volleyball program, as that’s where they play their home games.
The main focus of these upgrades is to add premium seating for fans, more academic, competition, and wellness amenities, as well as expanding offices for coaches and administrators.
According to UWbadgers.com, the athletic department stated that these plans are just an outline and nothing is set in stone yet. The UW Athletics Facilities Master Plan took months to develop and it will take even longer to begin.
The Field House is in for a few updates, which will benefit the volleyball team, such as new windows and air conditioning and a whole new exterior design and premium seating. The estimated cost of this upgrade is set at $8 million. The facility opened in 1930 as a home to Wisconsin’s basketball team, and now houses wrestling and volleyball. The facility already received a new wood floor in 2013 that made the court more volleyball-specific.
The UW Fieldhouse currently has 12,000 seats (though an NCAA boxing match of 15,200 is the facility’s record attendance), and lists its official volleyball capacity at 6,012. Wisconsin ranked 3rd nationally last season with an average home attendance of 5,927 fans.
Jason King, the senior associate athletic director for capital projects, stated that Camp Randall would be upgraded first due to how many renovations they will be doing.
Camp Randall first opened back in 1917 and is the 4th oldest stadium among the Football Bowl Subdivision schools in the nation. Camp Randall is due for a major upgrade and the estimated cost is between $40-$50 million.
The new master plan is going to be funded from UW athletic events, donated gifts to the athletic department and bonding. No taxpayer money will go towards construction plans.
The last master plan was written up back in 2007 and 9 of the 12 items have been completed and with this new master plan the athletic department is ready to continue the momentum into a better future for the university.
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