By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will take the next step in its plan to build an 80,000-square foot football operations center when it asks the Board of Trustees for approval of its financing plan for the project this week.
Arkansas’ plan, which it announced would provide as much as $35 million for construction Saturday afternoon, entails issuing as much as $25 million in bonds.
The request for bond financing is part of an overall bond proposal being presented by the university during Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting in Little Rock.
“With the tremendous success of our football program, the lead challenge grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and the response of many of our supporters, I am confident that we are able to take the next step in the process of building the football center,” Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a press release. “We have made significant progress toward our fundraising goal and the next step includes proposing a financing plan that will allow us to move forward in the process. By utilizing this financing plan, we will be able to maintain the overall progress of the project while continuing to raise funds needed for the completion of the football center.”
Long announced last October, when the Razorbacks unveiled their plans for the project, Arkansas had secured a $10 million challenge grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and had $2 million more in donations earmarked for the project. He said the rest of the money for the project would mostly be secured through private donations.
An Arkansas spokesperson said Saturday that asking the Board of Trustees for the ability to issue bonds for the facility is not an indication the program was having trouble securing private funds. Instead, it’s a way to speed up the process of beginning construction on the project, which Arkansas hopes to complete in two years.
Arkansas said fundraising is going well, although the exact amount secured for the project was not known.
Bonds have been used for other Arkansas athletic projects like the construction and renovations of Razorback Stadium, Bud Walton Arena, Bogle Park and Baum Stadium.
Plans for the football center — which Long roughly estimated to cost between $24 and $35 million when it was announced in October — include a new locker room, team meeting rooms, athletic training room, equipment room, a student-athlete lounge and study area, coaches’ offices, a recruiting reception area and a football museum. The proposed football center would be constructed south of Razorback Stadium, while the current practice fields will be relocated to the south side of the Walker Pavilion.
Arkansas also said in its press release that, pending approval from the Board of Trustees on the financing plan, a construction timeline will be developed for the project.
