Purdue football master plan evolving

Keep in mind, Morgan Burke hasn’t received approval from the board of trustees and a financial plan hasn’t been put together.

That is not stopping Purdue’s athletic director from moving ahead with renovation plans to the Mollenkopf Athletic Center and eventually Ross-Ade Stadium’s South End Zone.

It’s part of the Football Performance Master Plan, which includes the composition of the coaching staff, enhancing recruiting and sports performance along with technology and facilities.

The facility piece is expected to become finalized by the end of the year, assuming president Mitch Daniels and the board of trustees approves the project. Until then, no firm timetable on when the facility upgrades will be completed. It’s too early to determine costs but expect a major capital campaign to begin shortly after receiving board approval.

“It’s similar to the Mackey Complex Project where we did six or seven projects,” Burke said during an interview Wednesday. “I don’t know if it will be six or seven, but it will be some sequence of projects. We have to live in these places while you’re doing the work.”

Actually, the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin following the 2015 season.

In July 2014, the board approved repairing and replacing concrete in the southwest and southeast corners of the stadium seating bowl. The cost is nearly $2.7 million and will come from athletic department reserves.

But the attention quickly turns to upgrading Mollenkopf, a change from the original plan.

“That’s different from where we were 15 months ago,” Burke said. “I don’t think we realized how much of a problem we had until Populous came in last summer and looked at the locker room. I thought it was something we could do out of major maintenance. They came back and said we can do something but you have about one third of the space you need. You’re going to put a lot of good money into a bad project.”

The football team’s locker room, which is in the basement of Brees Student-Athlete Academic Center and was built in 1982, lacks sufficient space. The auxiliary, instructional and weight training space inside Mollenkopf is inadequate.

Burke said expansion of Mollenkopf will take place at the north end, connecting the building to the Bimel Practice Complex.

“I think that’s where we’re headed. That’s the current thinking,” Burke said.

The new structure would include a new locker room, sports medicine area, equipment room, instructional space, team meeting rooms, coaches offices and provide access to the two outdoor practice fields.

Mollenkopf currently has one weight room, but Burke said the space isn’t sufficient to handle the entire football team at once.

“We can’t take the entire team in there and work them out together at one time,” he said. “You’ve got kids wasting 30-40 minutes; it’s inefficient use of time. We need more space. It will help football but it will help other sports.”

Athletes, not just football players, spend a majority of their time in locker rooms, team meetings and lounge areas compared to the practice field. Modernizing those facilities is designed to help recruiting and ultimately team performance.

“They do have an impact on both the development of your current roster and the recruitment of new athletes,” Burke said.

As far as the south end zone, Burke said Populous, a firm specializing in the design of sports facilities, is currently reviewing 5,000 responses to a survey sent out to season ticket holders and John Purdue Club members.

“The team performance will have a lot to do with selling premium space,” Burke said of the south end zone. “This one (Mollenkopf), you need to help him where he is right now. (South End Zone) is a combination of how quickly you get the interest and the people coming back to the venue.”

Audio and visual enhancements (video and ribbon boards) and the addition of permanent lights in Ross-Stadium remain part of future upgrades.

This year, cellular service in and around the stadium is expected to improve. Purdue has installed an antenna system on the flag poles atop of the stadium and a new cellular tower was constructed north of the practice facility.