Vanderbilt announces significant upgrades to athletic facilities

Vanderbilt’s athletic facilities are getting a huge facelift. Commodores Athletics announced an extensive renovation plan on Friday.

Among the plans are a new basketball facility at the north end of the football stadium, replacing the south end zone seating bowl in Vanderbilt Stadium and a 175% expansion of the McGugin Center. A new indoor football practice facility is also in the works.

All told, the project will be about $300 million, according to Vanderbilt Athletics.

The Vision.

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— Vanderbilt Athletics (@vucommodores) November 12, 2021

“Vandy United represents our vision for what is possible for Vanderbilt Athletics, as well as our commitment to bring that vision to life,” said Vanderbilt vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director Candice Lee in a statement. “After months of hard work to create and refine designs that reflect and honor who we are as a university, these initial renderings are another important step in our journey. Much work remains to transform renderings into reality, but it is easier today to see where we are headed.”

Inside the Vanderbilt athletics renovations

The new basketball facility, located in the north end zone of Vanderbilt Stadium, will be a 90,000 square-foot building. It’ll have a new videoboard for the football stadium and more premium seating for football games. The visiting football team’s locker room will also be located in the facility.

Vanderbilt Stadium’s south end zone is also getting an extensive remodel. The entire seating bowl will be replaced, and a 130,000 square-foot building will go in. The concourse is going to be double the size and a new videoboard will be put in, as well.

McGugin Center, the main athletics building, is also expanding. A new academic center — double the size of the current one — is in the plans, as is a bigger training room. The building will expand by more than 175% and feature a bigger Olympic sports weight room and locker rooms.

Finally, a new indoor football practice facility is in the works. It’ll be more than 100,000 square feet with 120 yards of artificial football turf.

The renovations are part of the Vandy United initiative. It’ll cost about $300 million, $100 million will come from Vanderbilt. Another $100 million is coming in from donor gifts, and the university is “reaching out to Commodore Nation to help support the future of Vanderbilt Athletics” for the other $100 million.

Groundbreaking is tentatively planned for Fall 2022. Parmer Field House will be torn down before the project can start, according to the press release.