USC's Building and Grounds committee approved Nov. 16 a $194 million, 15-year athletic master plan for the University that will include a 35,000-square-foot academic enrichment center.

The proposal, part of the University's overall master plan, has been in the study phase for the past year and was presented to the board by athletics director Eric Hyman. The full Board of Trustees will consider the plan at its Dec. 18 meeting.

The committee approved master site planning for the project and OK'd $800,000 for the architectural and engineering design for the plan's second phase, which will include the $11.4 million academic enrichment center and renovations to the west stands of Williams-Brice Stadium.

The first phase of the plan focuses on the new baseball stadium near the Congaree River, which the board already has approved. The second phase relates to redevelopment of the 41-acre athletics department tract known as the Roost area from Whaley Street to Rosewood Drive, the enrichment center, and other football facilities, including additions to the north end zone of the stadium.

Hyman told the committee he hopes to begin architectural design work for the academic enrichment center right away and "fast track" the project so it can be completed as soon as possible. President Sorensen said the academic center is the athletic master plan's "No. 1 priority."

Construction will be financed through athletic department funds and private philanthropy; no tuition funds will be used.

Included in the plan's second phase are 15 new components of the Roost area, including a pedestrian walkway from the Bates residence hall area leading fans to an athletic Horseshoe to include: a new indoor tennis facility, a synthetic turf field and 2,000-seat stadium for women's lacrosse set to begin in 2009, a new volleyball facility, a renovated track with nine lanes, an area for throwing events, and renovated facilities for soccer, softball, outdoor tennis, and indoor track.

The expansion of the north end zone of Williams-Brice Stadium would add 6,000 to 8,000 seats with 16 suites and 800 club seats. Also envisioned is a Gamecock Hall of Fame in the north end zone or in the Roost area.

In other business, the committee OK'd an additional $1.5 million for installation of a scrubber to clean residue from the stacks of the University's new biomass gasification plant to meet EPA regulations. Also approved were gift-naming opportunities for the University's Moore School of Business.

The committee also received a report on construction of a new $6.7 million band hall that will be reconfigured and redesigned following the discovery of a former garbage dump in an area that had been designated for the building's foundation.

Other reports brought the committee up to date on progress in the Innovista research campus, the installation of four new main electrical lines into the Columbia campus, an $8.2 million upgrade to Gambrell Hall, and a renovation and restoration of floors in the Jones Physical Sciences Center, which Rick Kelly, vice president and chief financial officer, described as "probably our largest academic classroom and undergraduate site."

11/06