Don't look now but....facilities

Jerry Carino is reporting that new Athletic Director Pat Hobbs is meeting with several architectural firms today in regard to the design and construction of the multi-sport facility on the Livingston campus.  In our terms, the basketball practice facility.

The facility was part of the master plan adopted by the Board of Governors in June.  The plan was far reaching but the item that garnered the most attention was the practice facility.  Rutgers had long fallen behind other schools in the upgrading and building of facilities, well before its entry to the Big Ten.  The Big Ten, however, was a wake up call as to how far behind Rutgers had fallen.

The multi sport facility would also house practice areas for wrestling and volleyball and perhaps other sports as well.  It would be situated within/on/above a parking structure.

In addition to the practice facility, Carino reported that Hobbs is also looking at two other projects: the upgrading of the Hale Center that, according to one plan, would become the exclusive facility for football, and upgrades to Yurcak Field for soccer and lacrosse.  Work at Yurcak was something On the Banks had talked about last March in a series on facilities.

Money will be the key ingredient, and Hobbs indicated that he is on that trail, too.

"I've done a lot of outreach the last few weeks to our alumni and people who have been supportive," Hobbs said. "There's a lot of enthusiasm right now. As soon as we get into the new year, we're going to start setting up conversations with some of these folks, so they can see my passion about what we can get done here. Early in the near year you'll hear some news about some initiatives we have underway."

On the Banks will continue to update this story as it unveils itself.