Nov. 12--Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips joked last week that with the school's $260 million lakefront facility finally on the cusp of being built, he can die a happy man.
The plan has been in the works for so long (since 2011) and the obstacles so great (environment, politics, money-raising) that some wondered if the grandiose plan would ever come to fruition.
Well, it will. Ground will be broken Friday to mark the occasion.
Phillips called the facility "historic and transformative" and said "reaching this moment has been the ultimate team effort."
Football coach Pat Fitzgerald has strongly advocated for the facility from the beginning, saying: "It's an opportunity to really change our program ... This will get us out of the 1980s, facility-wise, and on the cutting edge."
The Lakefront Athletics and Recreation Complex will contain a multi-purpose indoor field for football practice, Olympic sports practices and competitions and non-sporting events such as Dance Marathon and University convocations. The complex also will contain academic support services, nutrition facilities for more than 500 student-athletes and locker rooms for several teams.
Football players will no longer have to go a mile from campus to talk to a coach or get in a workout. And the views of Lake Michigan should dazzle recruits.
Northwestern's basketball programs also will benefit eventually, thanks to the football program moving its Sunday-Friday operations from the area near Ryan Field and Welsh-Ryan Arena. Officials are likely to build a new or improved practice facility after the lakefront facility opens in about two years.
Donations will cover all or most of the $260 million cost.
Asked about having to keep up with NU's free-spending Big Ten brethren, Phillips put it like this: "We all have choices. The University of Chicago is a tremendous institution. Back in the '40s, they decided to leave the Big Ten. Northwestern is one of 65 (Power 5) schools. There is a price for staying at that level of competition, and it's something we embrace.
"It's part of the normal activity in higher education on a college campus. It's no different than the Kellogg (School of Management) hub being built and the beautiful School of Music that just opened. It is absolutely necessary. That's one of several that we have to do over a period of time. I'm really excited about it. Our student-athletes deserve it. And our students deserve it."
