K-State Athletics Director Gene Taylor unveiled today a new facility master plan that proposes $210 million of new construction and enhancements that will benefit all 16 Wildcat athletic programs. This 10 to 15-year facilities vision will be completed in a fashion that is fiscally responsible, and similar to the approach on previous facility projects such as the Ice Basketball Center, West Stadium Center, Vanier Family Football Complex, and others, more details on individual projects will be announced later this year during fundraising campaigns.
“With the assistance of architect consultant HOK, our staff has been working on this plan for quite for some time and we are pleased to share our vision for the future of K-State Athletics and our facility infrastructure,” Taylor said. “With the assistance of Tom Waggoner and Ron Ganz from HOK and Senior Associate AD Jeremy Niederwerder, who helped lead this process, we interviewed every sport’s coaching staff and all department support units to determine our facility needs that will benefit all of our programs. Our goal is to provide our teams the best facilities they need to compete for championships while doing so in a manner that makes sense for K-State, both financially and practically.”
In addition to the $20 million baseball/soccer project and the $4 million overhaul of the RV Christian Track, which are all currently in progress and increases the total in enhancements to $230 million, the new master plan includes the following future projects:
South Endzone project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium ($29 million).
New volleyball arena ($17.5 million).
New Olympic Performance Training Facility ($13 million).
New Football Indoor Facility and Outdoor Practice Field ($24.5 million).
Bramlage Coliseum renovation ($85 million).
New Indoor Track and Field Facility ($12 million).
Brandeberry Indoor Complex Renovation ($4.5 million).
Men’s and Women’s Golf Complex at Colbert Hills ($4.5 million).
New Indoor Tennis Facility ($14.5 million).
New Soccer Practice Pavilion ($5.5 million).
The south endzone project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium will include a new club/suite premium seating area, expanded Legends Room event space, upgraded restrooms and concessions and new video boards in the southeast and southwest corners of the stadium.
The new volleyball competition arena will have retractable seating for up to 3,500 fans and also house new locker rooms, staff offices, training spaces and a team theatre. Adjacent to this facility would be the new Olympic Performance Training Facility which would house spaces for a strength and conditioning center, sports medicine, locker rooms, team rooms, equipment and nutrition areas and storage for Olympic sport teams.
On the east side of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the new indoor football practice facility would include a 200’ x 400’ practice field with 65’ roof clearance and accessibility to the Vanier Complex and football stadium. Additional features would include a limestone exterior to match stadium and campus architecture, an enhanced east concourse as well as a new outdoor practice field.
With the addition of the new football indoor facility, the location of the current indoor would be renovated as a practice and competition facility for indoor track and field, including a new track surface, enhanced lobby and team spaces and an upgraded exterior façade.
The Bramlage Coliseum enhancements would see a new grand west-side entry plaza to the arena, as well as a mid-level concourse and sideline club area with tiered chairback seating. New amenities would also include a potential hall of fame and expanded team store, while additional department office space could be added to the configuration.
Other facility additions include a potential new golf clubhouse to house locker rooms, coaches offices and multiple hitting bays. The indoor tennis center would have six playing courts with spectator seating and locker rooms and offices, while the potential for a new soccer practice pavilion would provide a covered practice facility for women’s soccer and other sports.
“We are excited about the future of K-State Athletics and anxious to begin meeting with prospective donors to determine our next steps. Once that has been determined, we will move forward with announcing and providing more details on our first priority of this master plan.”
To view photos of the facility master plan, as well as a list of FAQ’s and a video from Taylor, visit www.k-statesports.com/masterplan.
FAQ for Facilities Master Plan
How was this plan developed?
With the assistance of architect consultant HOK, we interviewed every sport’s coaching staff and all department support units to determine our most pressing facility needs. After thorough design workshops with HOK and our senior athletics staff, we developed the plan you see today throughout the last several months.
Which project is first?
It is important to remember that this is a 10-15-year facilities vision that encompasses all our sports programs. We will develop plans for our next facility campaign relatively quickly and announce those in greater detail later this year. We are already visiting with potential leadership donors to determine their interest in supporting individual projects from this plan. We will release further details and images of each individual facility as we get into the public portion of those fundraising campaigns.
When will you start construction on the first project?
Timing of construction will be determined by how quickly we can raise the necessary funds for each individual project. Most, if not all, of the funding to deliver the facilities included in this plan will be through philanthropic dollars raised by the Ahearn Fund from leadership donors.
How will you prioritize the timeline for these projects?
Our goal is to deliver all the improvements over a total 10 to 15-year timeframe. Our ability to accomplish this goal will be driven primarily by donor contributions, but also be impacted in future years by specific cost estimates as each facility is designed in greater detail.
Does the department plan to take on any new debt for any of these projects, or will they need to be 100% funded through donations?
A key component to our strategic goals as a department is to manage our resources responsibly and operate with sound fiscal judgment. Funding will be generated primarily through philanthropic gifts from the K-State Family, with the potential to supplement funding plans through operating revenues depending on the annual financial performance of the department.
Do the planned Olympic Performance Facility/Volleyball Arena/Indoor Track mean you will no longer play in Ahearn Field House? Was a renovation of Ahearn explored as part of this facilities plan?
Remaining competitive in these sports in Big 12 play is a significant priority. We explored throughout the planning process the feasibility of improving our teams’ conditions by renovating Ahearn Field House. To provide our student-athletes in Volleyball and Track the best possible competitive environment, and to do so in a fiscally responsible manner, we have determined it is in our long-term best interest to provide spaces within the rest of the K-State Athletics campus.
For the Indoor Practice Facility, how are you planning to manage parking displacement?
We are proud to have some of the best parking options in college athletics. When we make progress on detailed architectural design for the Football Indoor facility, we will determine exactly how many parking spaces would be affected. Our Ahearn Fund, Facilities, and Fan Experience staff will develop a plan that minimizes the impact on individual donors and families and will communicate these adjustments in a timely and transparent manner, allowing fans sufficient time to contemplate their options.
How many parking spaces are lost?
The preliminary estimate based on the concepts in the Master Plan is approximately 400 spots displaced from the east parking lot.
Will the Athletics Department acquire any auxiliary lots to relocate donors into?
We will evaluate the full existing parking plan and explore all options to limit the total impact on fans attending K-State Football games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Where does Cat Town move to after the Volleyball Arena and Olympic Training Facility are constructed?
The long-term plan for group pre-game hospitality includes utilizing the west entry pavilion to the renovated Bramlage Coliseum. Our staff will identify adequate spaces to continue providing our traditional pre-game group hospitality tents once detailed design work on the Volleyball Arena and Olympic Training facility begins.
When will you release more details on individual elements, like interior renderings, etc.? What specifically will happen inside of Bramlage Coliseum?
As has been our approach on previous facility projects like the Ice Basketball Center, Intercollegiate Rowing Center, Mike Goss Tennis Stadium, West Stadium Center, Vanier Family Football Complex, and others, we will share more detail with K-State fans on these individual projects during fundraising campaigns. We expect to identify our next project(s) soon and share more detail as design work continues for the identified buildings later this year.
Will you add more seating to BSFS in future construction projects?
We do not intend to add seating capacity to Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The potential South End Zone project includes installation of two additional video boards which would remove the temporary bleachers behind sections 10, 11, 18 and 19. A similar amount of seating would be added as part of a premium seating area attached to an expanded Legends Room club space.
