Price tag, more details emerge of planned 'one-of-a-kind' Georgia track and field facility

The new Georgia track and field facility now has a price tag and a listed starting date for construction.

The 34,700 square foot project would be built on South Milledge Avenue across from the current soccer/softball complex on what is 20 acres. It would have a nine-lane, 400-meter outdoor track with an infield long jump, triple jump, and pole vault facilities.

The total project cost is $59.8 million and will be funded through gifts and donations, according to the agenda for the Tuesday meeting in Atlanta of the University Board of Regents which will be asked to authorize the project.

The track facility would have 2,500 seats and 240 parking spaces planned. Those parking spaces would also be used for soccer and softball which have a parking crunch.

The track would also include a grandstand, press box, observation deck, restrooms and concessions. A five-lane, 100-meter warmup track would go beneath the grandstands along with sports medicine and recovery suite and storage and office space.

Construction on the track project is anticipated to begin in August. It could be completed in time for the spring 2026 season.

Georgia envisions an indoor track facility and team clubhouse to be built in a second phase but no timeline or price estimates are available on that yet.

“I can tell you the fundraising’s already going very well for it so, as with most of our projects, we’re trying to stay ahead and fund raise well before we break ground,” athletic director Josh Brooks said in January.

Next to the outdoor track facility would be a throwing area and shotput arena, a five-lane warmup pad and area for temporary bleacher set up.

The main track grandstands would seat 1,800 with the throwing area holding 500 seats and shotput area 200.

There would be “significant site infrastructure improvements,” with more than 30 feet of grade change. The construction cost itself is $51.14 million with other expenses including things like architectural fees and owner and builder contingencies.

“This project will continue to elevate our track and field programs to compete in SEC and NCAA championships,” Georgia track coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said in a video message to the UGA athletic board in May 2023 before the board authorized preliminary planning for the project. “Our own dedicated space off South Milledge will provide an area for our athletes to train all year long. It will bring young people to our campus to compete in junior events, while giving us an area to host elite SEC and NCAA competition. This will be a truly one-of-a-kind facility."

Once the project is completed, the rental agreement between the Board of Regents/UGA and the UGA Athletic Association would be amended to add the associated acreage.

Georgia’s track and field programs have long used the Spec Towns Track adjacent to the Butts-Mehre complex. At least two new grass football practice fields are slated to be built at the site of the current track.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Cost, more details emerge for new Georgia track and field facility