The school purchased an old warehouse about a half-mile from campus, which will become the centerpiece of a Football Championship Subdivision program that is scheduled to begin in 2010 with Bill Curry as coach.
For now, the area behind the building resembles a trash dump, littered with bricks, rocks, twisted metal, ripped-up pieces of lumber - even a discarded shoe.
"Use your imagination," athletic director Mary McElroy told about 100 boosters and supporters who turned out for the ceremonial groundbreaking.
The school plans to keep the shell of the warehouse, renovating and expanding it to include offices, meeting rooms and a weight-training complex. Outside the building, land will be cleared to make room for a 100-yard artificial turf field and a 50-yard grass field. The Panthers will play their home games at the 70,000-seat Georgia Dome, about two miles away.
"It's got potential not only to be effective and utilitarian, which is most important, but also to be attractive," Curry said. "It will certainly be unique. No school in America will have something this close to the state capitol and this close to the university that is this appealing."
Most appealing to the 66-year-old coach is the closeness to campus. He figured the school would have to purchase a site farther away from downtown, likely requiring a lengthy bus ride each day just to get to practice.
"It's just a heck of a good setup," Curry said. "I just assumed a half-hour bus ride each way."
The school paid $6.6 million for the site and plans to spend another $5.6 million on renovations and building the two fields. Of course, the pace of construction will largely rely on fundraising efforts while the country is struggling to pull out of a financial meltdown.
"How quickly we get going will depend on how quickly we raise the money," Curry told the crowd. "I know this is a tough economy, but please dig deep."
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/11/215415