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With new contractor on board, FSU moves forward with standalone football facility

On3 imageby:Ira Schoffel•01/09/24•

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Osceola takes the field with Renegade before the Cheez-It Bowl between Oklahoma and Florida State on December 29, 2022 at Camping World Stadium, in Orlando FL. (Photo by Joe Petro/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Florida State’s long-planned Dunlap Football Center, which has been on the drawing board for about seven years, is once again on track for completion before the Seminoles’ 2025 season.

Florida State athletics director Michael Alford is quick to point out that construction of the standalone football facility actually began a few months ago — with water lines being installed underground and other preliminary work done inside the existing practice facility.

Now, however, begins the major operation.

“You’re going to see cranes out there in the coming days and weeks,” said Alford, noting that a portion of the parking lot outside the Moore Athletics Center has been blocked off for the arrival of heavy machinery.

The facility, which is expected to be around 150,000 square feet when completed, is believed to cost about $138 million. Earlier this year, the Florida State Board of Trustees approved a plan that would call for more than $100 million to be financed for the project.

The facility’s full-scale construction was expected to begin shortly after the 2023 regular season, but Florida State announced in early December that Seminole Boosters and original contractor Childers Construction had agreed to part ways through a, “mutual termination and resolution agreement.”

“The process has already started to select a new construction manager to complete the project, and we anticipate an announcement by the end of the month,” the university stated in a release to Warchant at the time.

Indeed, Florida State has done exactly that. Alford confirmed that the new contractor will be Whiting-Turner, a national firm with several offices in Florida.

According to Whiting-Turner’s website, it has recently completed athletics facilities at Wake Forest, UNLV and other organizations on the college and professional level.

Alford said the Dunlap Center is still expected to be completed by the summer of 2025, which is roughly the same time Florida State’s renovations of Doak Campbell Stadium are expected to be completed. That work — which will impact seating during the 2024 fall season — will result in more seating options, additional climate-controlled club spaces, and better amenities throughout the stadium.

“It’s going to be a bit of a mess over here for the next 18 months,” Alford said.

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The Florida State football team is still going to practice on at least portions of its existing practice fields during construction, and Alford said the Seminoles plan on conducting the spring game/scrimmage inside Doak Campbell Stadium as usual.

Seating will be limited to the end zones and portions of the east stands.

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Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

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