University at Buffalo to Build $18 Million Fieldhouse
BUFFALO, N.Y. — An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on Oct. 7 for the new fieldhouse being built at the University at Buffalo (UB) in New York.
The $18 million facility is being constructed just north of the university’s current UB Stadium, and it will serve as an indoor practice facility, according to The Spectrum, the university’s student publication. Rochester, N.Y.-based LeChase Construction is serving as the general contractor, while New York-based CHA is serving as the architect.
The new 92,000-square-foot multi-use facility will house a full-size football field as well as a 6,000-foot rubber track for sprint practice, and long jump and pole vault pits. It will also feature motorized suspended softball-hitting tunnels, according to UB Now, another university publication. While there were rumors that the facility would only be used by Division I athletes and club sports, it will actually be available for all recreation programming and intramurals.
Because it’s housed indoors, the fieldhouse will help with year-round training. It will also help with future recruiting now that UB will offer competitive athletic facilities compared to other Mid-American Conference schools. “It’s a very exciting time for us to get a fieldhouse,” Football Head Coach Lance Leipold told UB Now. “This has been a topic of conversation for 15 to 20 years, and to finally have this opportunity to provide our student athletes with an offseason place where they can work on their skills is tremendous. It’s going to benefit the whole athletic department, whether it be in a practice setting, a strength-and-conditioning session or student athletes working out on their own. It’s going to benefit each team in very unique ways.”
The facility is being built with $3 million in donations from the Murchie family (and some football revenue). It will be named after the Murchies — Tunney Murchie is a former UB student athlete and played for the school’s now-retired Division I hockey team.
Construction on the fieldhouse is scheduled to be completed in spring 2019.