The formal groundbreaking for Georgia’s indoor athletic facility was held yesterday afternoon on the old turf practice field adjacent to the construction site.
 
 

 
 
With construction well under way all around the ceremony, the official groundbreaking for the University of Georgia Indoor Athletic Facility was held Tuesday outside Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.
 
 
Participants in the ceremony included UGA President Jere W. Morehead, J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity, head football coach Kirby Smart, and three-time national track and field champion Kendell Williams.
 
 
Fundraising efforts for the $30 million facility are well underway with signed pledges already in hand for over $17 million. The new building is scheduled for completion in January, 2017, and will include a 100-yard football practice field, 65-meter track runway and jumping pits, and a netting system that will provide indoor practice areas for other teams during inclement weather.
 
 
The new facility will be connected to the Butts-Mehre building addition and stretch north and south along the edge of Rutherford Street. Full dimensions of the football practice field will be 140 yards long and 80 yards wide. When completed, the Woodruff practice field complex will include the new indoor facility with artificial turf and two grass practice fields in the same location as the current artificial turf fields.
 
 
During construction this spring and fall, the football team will practice at a location off S. Milledge Avenue near the UGA soccer-softball complex. The temporary practice area is currently part of the UGA club sports complex and will feature two full-length natural grass fields and one full-length artificial turf field. When the indoor facility is completed, the Athletic Association will return the significantly upgraded complex to the UGA club sports program.
 
 
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