Balfour Beatty announced Oct. 15 that Jacksonville University awarded it the contract to build the $8 million JU Basketball Performance Center that will be home to the men’s and women’s basketball program and daily operations.
Balfour Beatty said the center, at the 2800 University Blvd. N. campus, will provide a home for student-athletes, enhance the university’s ability to recruit quality individuals and allow students to be better prepared academically and athletically.
The two-story, 26,000-square-foot practice facility will feature coaching staff offices; weight room and training room facilities; and a full court and a half of playing surface to serve as the new practice venue for athletic programming.
The center will be built next to JU’s Historic Swisher Gymnasium and is set to open before the start of the 2021-22 season..
The center is designed by Quinn Evans Architects.
The news release said the building also will offer 24-hour gym access for coaches and a weight room directly off the practice floor for daily use to improve individual performance and injury prevention programs.
“This project has been a top priority for our University and athletics department for several years,” said Alex Ricker-Gilbert, athletic director at JU, in the release.
JU’s athletic teams are known as the Dolphins. Ricker-Gilbert said facilities can set programs apart from their peers.
“The Basketball Performance Center will provide a new home for our student-athletes, enhance our ability to recruit quality individuals, and will allow them to be better prepared academically and athletically.”
The news release said the location next to Swisher Gymnasium will “solve current logistical issues and create more functionality and connectivity between the court and the coaching offices.”
It said with two courts, the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs will find it easier to schedule practice time, and “it will unlock new opportunities for summer youth programming.”
“Having a space with unlimited access for their individual improvement is a significant piece in our continued growth,” said Tony Jasick, JU men’s basketball head coach, in the release.
Darnell Haney, JU women’s basketball head coach, said a new centrally located facility “will impact our programs’ culture tremendously.”
The release said JU will finance the center as part of its ASPIRE fundraising campaign. In 2018, JU secured $121 million in donations to support the school’s strategic priorities, including advancing scholarships and academics, campus and student life enhancements, athletics and financial vitality.
Founded in 1934, the private university offers more than 100 majors, minors, and programs at its 240-acre riverfront campus in Arlington.
