Oklahoma in the Early Phases of Building a New $175 Million Football Facility
No one knows exactly when Oklahoma will be competing in the Southeastern Conference, but when that day comes, the Oklahoma football team expects to have another new facility in its arsenal.
The university has begun the process of selecting an architect for a new $175 million football operations facility to be located beyond the northeast corner of Lindsey Street and Jenkins Avenue.
Jeffrey Schmitt, Associate Vice President for Architectural and Engineering Services, initiated the process in an Aug. 22 letter to undisclosed project candidates. AllSooners obtained a copy of the letter Schmitt sent to architectural firms.
“It is anticipated the that the project will develop new state-of-the-art facilities for functions consistent with those required to support Oklahoma Football training, practice, preparation and performance,” Schmitt wrote in the letter. “The project will also address existing athletic facilities currently operating at the adjacent location, initially conceptualized to be to the east of (Oklahoma Memorial) Stadium.
"Funding will come from university capital gifts and other private sources."
The project is not part of the school’s $300 million budget for the stadium master plan, which was adjusted and approved by the OU Board of Regents in May.
Nor will it affect the ongoing facilities projects for basketball, softball or baseball.
OU issued a statement from its athletics media relations office.
“Adding to facilities projects for baseball, basketball, golf, gymnastics, softball, tennis and track and field that were outlined as part of the revised Campus Master Plan of Capital Improvement Projects during the May 2022 Board of Regents meeting, the OU Athletics Department has initiated the process of selecting an architectural firm to provide planning and professional services for new football operations facilities and other sport facilities adjacent to Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium," the statement said.
“Many aspects of the project still need to be explored and refined in the process of engaging architectural experts who will evaluate opportunities and develop unique solutions and timelines for what the project could become, just as the Athletics Department has done with other projects of this scale. The initiation of this process does nothing to alter the plans or timelines of OU's other athletics facilities projects.”
Former Sooner offensive lineman Gabe Ikard, who co-hosts a successful podcast as well as SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s "Big 12 Today" show, posted a series of tweets Wednesday about the pending project.
Ikard said the Barry Switzer Center — the football team’s newest facility, where players and coaches currently meet, train, enjoy locker or office space and have access to athletic training resources and world-class nutrition — could be repurposed as a “Student-Athlete Success Center” for all OU student-athletes. The Switzer Center has been renovated or relocated three times since 2000, with the most recent overhaul completed in 2019 — at a price tag of $160 million — as part of enclosing the south end zone of the stadium.
That south end zone project was originally approved at a cost of $370 million, although planned improvements to the west side of the stadium, including a third deck, additional luxury suites and a new press box, were put on the back burner while the south end zone was completed.
A March 2021 report by 247 Sports ranked the Switzer Center as the 10th-best facility in all of college football, boasting “one of the nation's most futuristic pads with an ambience second to none in the Big 12.”
But now that OU is moving to the SEC — the official target date is the 2025-26 school year, but that seems flexible to 2024 or even 2023 — being the best in the Big 12 is no longer sufficient.
Five of the nine schools ranked ahead of Oklahoma on that list are from the SEC or, in Texas’ case, heading there: Texas, LSU, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Alabama. The list was published before recent improvements at Georgia.
As the project is in the initial planning and exploratory phase, it’s unclear what purpose the Everest Training Center could serve with a sprawling new complex. Completed in 2002 at a cost-efficient $9 million, it could be incorporated into the new facility, repurposed for other sports or just torn down.
Also, OU’s John Jacobs Track would seem likely headed for a relocation, with that real estate being put towards football. Several surface parking lots in that immediate vicinity on the east side of Jenkins also could be in jeopardy as the area gets an extreme makeover.
In May, OU detailed some of its future plans for athletics facilities spending.
“OU’s plan includes a range of endeavors, some of which — including athletics projects — have been on the docket for many years,” the school said in a statement. “As it does every year, this year’s plan reflects the university’s long-term planning and inflation-adjusted project costs.”
