Facilities Update

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A number of facilities at FSU are in need of an upgrade, including baseball’s Dick Howser Stadium. The facility has not been upgraded since a two-year, $12 million renovation was completed in 2004.

Tully Gymnasium, home to the Seminoles’ indoor volleyball team, was built in 1956. The building has undergone renovations over the years, including upgrades to the locker room in 2011.

In January, FSU teamed up with golf legend Jack Nicklaus to renovate The Don Veller Seminole Golf Course and Club.

And, of course, one of the biggest projects on the docket is a football-only facility.



Clemson, FSU’s Atlantic division rival in the ACC, just completed its own $55 million football-only facility.

The Seminoles currently share the Moore Athletic Center with a number of programs. FSU head football coach Jimbo Fisher has been campaigning for the new facility since Clemson’s opened at the beginning of 2017.
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Florida State University offensive linemen Chad Mavety, left, and Derrick Kelly walk through the locker room at Doak Campbell Stadium Sunday at the team's annual Media Day. (Photo: D.A. Robin/Democrat)


“I came from a place, at Duke, where they had a facility just for football,” Wilcox said.



“Notre Dame’s was built just before I got there, is a football facility. It has athletics training and strength and conditioning for other sports, but that’s the trend now. We have to try to make sure that we’re staying up with the trends.”

FSU will definitely be getting its own football-only facility to keep up with the arms race that college football has become, but there are still a number of questions that need to be answered before it gets built.

“It’s still in the concept phase,” Wilcox said.

“There’s still a lot of work that we have to do before we put a shovel in the ground. Where we’re going to put the building. What the building is going to cost. What’s going to be in the building? What we’re going to do with the current Moore Center. Does it make sense to renovate the Moore Center and move other departments out of the Moore Center and make this a football only facility?

“There’s a lot of planning and discussion that we still have to go on. We do know that that’s something that we’re going to be moving forward with. Along with some other improvements that we’re going to look to do.”

The Moore Athletic Center was recently upgraded with a new players lounge, but the building, in addition to other sports and most of the athletic department, also holds classrooms that see regular students coming in and out regularly.

So it may make more sense to give the other sports more room in the building and build a new facility strictly for football. If that happens, FSU is looking for a spot close to the stadium.

“We’re looking at a number of spots,” Wilcox said.

“I don’t want to say that there’s not a spot that we’re looking at. This area, where football really resides right here at the stadium, where the locker rooms are, where the indoor practice facility is, where the outdoor practice facility is. We’ve got to look at this whole area to find out what’s going to be the best spot.”

Of course, existing facilities like Howser Stadium - once considered among the crown jewels of college baseball stadiums – are in line for upgrades, including a new scoreboard.

The Tucker Civic Center, home to men’s and women’s basketball, underwent $17 million in facility upgrades prior to the 2014-15 season.

And, of course, FSU delivered, as promised, on its state-of-the-art players lounge for football.

The area features table tennis, an arcade, a pool table, a movie theater with leather seats, a dining area and Direct TV.

“We have plans to upgrade a number of our facilities,” Wilcox said.

“Hopefully by this time next year we’ll have a full master facilities plan that we’re going to roll out. And it’ll show basically every facility that we’re looking to make improvements to.”