Community Meeting Tuesday on Exterior Design of Athletics Facility

Members of the public will have an opportunity to view plans for, and offer input on, the exterior design of the University of Wyoming’s Rochelle Athletics Center/Mick and Susie McMurry High Altitude Performance Center (RAC/HAPC) during a community meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19.

The meeting is scheduled at 5 p.m. in the Wildcatter Stadium Club and Suites on the east side of War Memorial Stadium, not far from where the new building will be constructed on the south end of the existing Rochelle Athletics Center.

Under a policy adopted recently by the UW Board of Trustees, an exterior architectural advisory committee has been appointed to guide planning for the new facility’s appearance. The board policy also calls for a community meeting to seek public input on the building’s exterior design.

Renderings of the exterior of the planned facility have been created, in consultation with the RAC/HAPC exterior architectural advisory committee, and will be available for review before and after the community meeting. The session will include a presentation on the building’s exterior design and an opportunity to ask questions about the project.

Members of the advisory committee are UW Trustee John McKinley, state Sen. Phil Nicholas, Wyoming State Bank President Gray Crum, Athletics Director Tom Burman and UW Foundation President Ben Blalock.

Part of the UW Department of Athletics strategic plan, the building will provide a combination of new and renovated spaces including an expanded academic center and sports medicine center; a new football weight room and locker room; renovated and new football meeting rooms and office space; and a training table to meet the nutritional demands of Division I student-athletes. The exterior has been designed in compliance with UW’s newly revised Historic Preservation Plan, which calls for elements to preserve UW’s classical architectural tradition.

The total project cost is $44 million. GE Johnson Construction of Jackson has been selected as the construction manager at risk. Construction is expected to begin this summer and be completed near the end of 2018.