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The former football operations building in its current state. Photo by Ian Keel
Alex Wright - Sports Editor
sports@insideuab.com

The Blazers have not taken the field for an official football game in over a year. Despite the lack of game play, the recently reinstated program is continuing to move forward with the planning stages of the future football operations building.

In early February, the Board of Trustees approved plans for the first two stages of the design and construction of the new football facility. Now, it is approximately a year from the estimated completion date and the team’s return to competition. Here’s what you need to know about the new space:

The new 46,000-square-foot facility will be located off of University Boulevard on the south side of 6th Avenue between the George C. Wallace Building and 11th Street South, carving a new space for the born-again program.

“I think building the [football operations building] is a necessary investment whose payoff includes, among other things, increased school spirit,” said Ala’a Abuspetani, junior neuroscience major who came to UAB the year the football program was discontinued. “In my freshman year at UAB, I saw our football team rise to a level greater than ever before. And in the same year, they fell. In the wake of the dismantling of the football, bowling, and rifle programs, I personally saw a surge of school pride that I hadn’t previously witnessed at UAB. It showed that the student body as a whole wanted these programs to remain alive.”

Many details in regards to the design and amenities of the future facility are not yet confirmed or decided. A team of architects from Goodwyn Mills and Cawood have been assigned to the mission and have started the process of creating outlines for the $15.3 million project, which is funded in part by proceeds of a future UAB bond issue and, for the time being, pledges.

The timetable for the completion of the facility is unclear at the moment, but the optimistic completion date is the summer of 2017, according to AL.com.

Along with the new facility the Blazers will build a new turf practice field, giving the team an improved playing surface and a fresh start. The new practice field will join the Dowdy locker room, which was finished in August 2014, shortly before the football program was cut and cost approximately $700,000.

“Every major investment is a little risky,” Abuspetani said. “With every successful endeavor, there was a person on the front end wondering if it would be worth it. From the passionate response of the student body after the fall of the football, rifle and bowling programs, I think it’s obvious that this [project] will definitely be worth it, and it’ll go a long way in fostering the kind of spirit other universities take for granted.”