The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE BUSINESS OF MICHIGAN ATHLETICS The Big Dig Is On At South Campus Venue Michigan's golf course clubhouse project isn't the only, or even the biggest, facilities endeavor the U-M athletic department has going on at this point. Several other efforts are underway and look to be completed in the next year or so. Ongoing projects include the following: • A new outdoor track, indoor track, performance center and lacrosse sta- dium will be included in the Athletics South Competition and Performance Project. The $168-million effort will cover 280,000 square feet on the South Athletic Campus and is set for completion by the end of 2017. The indoor track will accommodate 2,000 spectators, while the outdoor track has space for 500. The lacrosse stadium has room for 2,000 fans, and the performance center allows specialized space for each U-M varsity sport, including the University's first indoor rowing tank. There will be shared facil- ity space and equipment for all teams, including strength and conditioning, athletic medicine, meeting space and locker rooms. • The ice plant at Yost Ice Arena has been replaced. Michigan began putting the ice in for hockey the first week of September. The original ice plant was installed in the 1970s, and had Michigan scouring the nation for parts to keep it going, prior to the introduction of a modern system. The $3.2-million project ensures Michigan won't have any worries about keeping the surface for hockey in top condition for the foreseeable future. • Michigan has completed work on a maintenance and operations build- ing, off State Street, south of the field hockey facility. This project takes care of many needs not often considered by the average fan, costing $6 million for 18,000 square feet of space. "We have our maintenance team moved into that building," noted Rob Rademacher, senior associate athletic director. "Right now, we have a bunch of storage units throughout town because we have a lot of equipment and apparel. We created quite a bit of storage in this building to get us out of those things and have a place on campus for all of that stuff. "Laundry, and shipping and receiving will also be moved to there. Again, it's a nice investment in the work that we do behind the scenes to keep the place running. The guys that will be in there every day are really excited about their new home." The Athletics South Competition and Performance Project will certainly draw the most attention, Rademacher noted. "That will be a huge bonus and a huge addition for us, and for those stu- dent-athletes," he said. "Once it's completed, over half of our student-athletes will be on that part of campus.