The University System of Maryland Board of Regents on Friday approved plans nearly unanimously to convert Cole Field House into a $155 million indoor football practice facility and academic center.
Design of the plans will begin in May, with construction starting next December. The project, which was approved last month by the board's finance committee and which will be funded largely through private donations, is expected to be completed by June 2018. The state is expected to contribute about $25 million in funding, with another $25 million drawn from revenue earned in the Big Ten Conference.
There was little opposition at the Hagerstown meeting to reconfiguring Cole Field House, the Terps' basketball home until the 2002-03 season, with just one regent voting against the measure. The building now is used for intramural sports and other student recreational activities. Under the approved plans, Cole would be gutted, but its name and front facade would remain.
Under Armour founder and Maryland graduate Kevin Plank has donated $25 million to the project, with another $15 million reportedly also secured.
An indoor practice facility is seen as critical to the Terps football team's chances of success in the Big Ten. The university is the only one in the conference without such a facility.