OSU indoor facility won't be completed until at least April
Published: 9/19/2012 7:00 AM
Last Modified: 9/18/2012 7:30 PM
With the exterior of the Sherman E. Smith Training Center not expected to be done until early April, it's unlikely the football team will be able to use the $16-million, 92,000-square-foot facility for spring practice, which typically begins in mid-March and ends in mid-April.
"I'd say we'll be ready to go for practice in the fall of 2013," Holder said.
Construction north of Boone Pickens Stadium began in August 2011 thanks to the $20 million donation from Smith, a 1948 OSU graduate and a Tulsa oilman who died last year.
In addition to three outdoor practice fields that will cost another $3 million, the center will have full-size football and soccer fields and will be used by other sports throughout the year.
Even with the addition of new members West Virginia and TCU, OSU will remain the only school in the Big 12 without an indoor football facility -- until next fall.
"I'm not sure what else we can do now," Holder said. "If you made a list facility-wise for football, I think we've checked just about everything off that list."
OSU plans to have a grand-opening ceremony when the facility is completed. A recent "topping-out" ceremony with Smith's family and T. Boone Pickens marked the last piece of steel being put in place, complete with the traditional Christmas tree signaling the structure had reached its height.
"We just hope at the end of the day when it's all open and we get in there and use it, it's as significant as we anticipated when we undertook the project," Holder said. "We think it will make a big difference for football and all of our sports."
Written by
Kelly Hines
Sports Writer
