As PantherU reported this morning, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has proposed a basketball practice facility for the Athletic Department.
In a report released, the two story facility would be placed where a surface lot currently sits east of the Klotsche Center. A pedestrian bridge would connect the second floor of the facility to the Klotsche. The report states that construction is not scheduled to begin until the proposal is approved by the state, which will hopefully happen in July 2015, the biennial approval process for state projects.
The ground level of the building will feature athletics facilities, coaches offices, team facilities, and shared facilities space. The space will be divided into three areas. The western edge of the space will be the strength and conditioning area and a mechanical space. The middle area will be the players computer study, the mens’ locker room, and a coaches’ locker room. The eastern edge will be coaches’ office space.
The second level is predominantly the actual practice court. The regulation NCAA sized court will similar to the pavilion arena and also feature a scoreboard, filming balcony, training table and a scorers table. The western wall will be glass wall to a hallway viewing area that shines in natural light. The second floor will also feature the womens’ locker room area which is a tremendous upgrade for the team.
Previously the womens team’s locker room was on the ground floor of the Klotsche, where the team plays their home games. This meant players had to go up and down the stairs to go between their locker room and the court. Now the players will instead travel across the climate controlled pedestrian bridge.
Overall the building will cost about $11 million, all of which is coming out of the $25 athletics facilities section of the student segregated fee. Additional fundraising will be used to add additional amenities.
The segregated fee comes from a vote passed in 2010 to raise funds for on-campus arena and practice facility. The report does address that an on-campus arena is not feasible at this time due to finances, but does mention that the space south of the Klotsche near the Norris Health Center would be a space for it.
The moving of basketball to their own facility clears up a lot of space in the Klotsche and benefits other teams as well. Now two premium locker room spaces exist for other teams to expand into, which is useful for recruiting. Additionally, both teams now don’t need the pavilion space to practice which adds more opportunities for other sports to use the space to practice, such as volleyball and club sports.
The practice facility is also its own helpful recruiting tool for the basketball programs. The proposal includes design for state of the art locker rooms and players lounges similar to programs such as USC . Kentucky, and Florida.
While the plan is not approved yet, it’s a promising sign for the future of UWM Mens and Womens basketball. Combined with their branding at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena downtown, the Panthers are looking to expand their program to new heights.
