See it: Plans for Nutter Field House renovation, new field Kroger turf and track facility

For a few hours Friday afternoon, Kentucky’s Nutter Field House was the center of the football world.

The publicity gained from top NFL Draft prospect Will Levis working out during the Wildcats’ program was an undoubted boost for the program’s national exposure, but it also shined a spotlight on the one glaring facility issue remaining for Mark Stoops’ team.

“We better have some guys step up, because I’d like to have the same coverage next year when our facility here is completely done and renovated,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. “I think it will help us all.”

With the indoor track season finished, spring football practice is the final hurdle before a $5 million renovation to the indoor practice field can begin.

Construction has already started on the $20 million Jim Green Indoor Track and Field Center at the site of the former Cliff Hagan baseball stadium. Building a new indoor track facility allows UK to eliminate the track from Nutter Field House.

With no track, the football practice field can finally be expanded to full size.

“We’ve been fortunate with the weather this year, but just to be able to function and have the room and the space, it’s going to help us,” Stoops said. “Obviously, cosmetically it will look a lot better and nicer, and we’re really excited about that.”

The shortcomings of the field house’s current setup were apparent during Levis’ throwing session.

Multiple times Barion Brown, Dane Key, Tayvion Robinson and Chris Rodriguez had to pull up quickly after catching a pass near the sideline as they ran onto the track. For Levis to showcase his goal-line passes, pylons had to be set at the 10-yard line to simulate a full-sized end zone.

According to a feasibility study of the project obtained by Herald-Leader through the state’s open records law, plans for the renovation includes new artificial turf, five new overhead doors, new nets for field goal practice as well as hitting and pitching when the baseball and softball teams use the facility and new windows featuring glare reduction and impact resistance. New paint, graphics and LED lighting are among the cosmetic enhancements. Plumbing will be added for the construction of a permanent hydration station that will eliminate the need for water coolers to be brought to the facility during practice.

While the field house renovation is still a few weeks away from beginning, installation of a new artificial turf at Kroger Field has already begun. There will be no spring game this year due to the turf replacement in the stadium.

UK contracted Hellas Construction for the turf installation in both facilities at a total cost of $1.8 million. The target completion date for the Kroger Field turf installation is May 15. The field house turf installation is planned to be finished by July 28.

According to a rendering of the new Kroger Field turf provided to the Herald-Leader through the state’s open records law, the much-maligned checkerboard pattern in the end zones has been eliminated on the new field.

You can see renderings of the plans for the Nutter Field House renovation, Kroger Field turf replacement and Jim Green Indoor Track and Field Center below.

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