At the northeastern corner of historic Bobby Dodd Stadium, a 115,000-square-foot sports facility project is moving forward that’s expected to boost Georgia Tech’s wobbling football program and other athletic teams.

This week, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved Georgia Tech athletics’ plan to build a modernized Student-Athlete Performance Center that’s described by project backers as state-of-the-art and a boon to recruiting.

It will rise in the footprint of the current Edge/Rice Center, Tech’s athletics headquarters, with a modified design versus what was initially envisioned three years ago.  

The most recent designs for the student-athlete performance center. Georgia Tech Athletics

The performance center will house areas for athlete strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition, academic support, and Tech athletics’ Total Person Program. Other facets will include expanded space specifically for Georgia Tech football, to include a football-only players’ lounge, meeting spaces, and strength-and-conditioning facilities.

Another component will be premium seating offered to Ramblin’ Wreck football fans and people attending other big events held at the stadium.

Athletics staff currently housed at the Edge/Rice Center will be moved to other buildings on campus (the Wardlaw Center and McCamish Pavilion Annex) to allow the performance center to be devoted exclusively to student athletes, officials said.

Front Office Sports reports the facility will cost $82 million.

The almost Brutalist appearance of the northeast section of historic Bobby Dodd Stadium on Georgia Tech's campus today. Google Maps

Todd Stansbury, Georgia Tech’s director of athletics, called the modernized center a transformative addition and the crown jewel the Athletics Initiative 2020, a fundraising campaign that’s footing the bill.

“[It] will allow us to recruit and develop [athletes] that will represent Georgia Tech at the highest level athletically and academically,” said Stansbury in a media release.

The most recent designs for the student-athlete performance center. Georgia Tech Athletics

Following the Board of Regents’ approval, Georgia Tech officials say the project’s final design process will immediately begin. Construction is expected to coincide with normal operations at the stadium, which debuted in a smaller form in 1913.

The performance center project is expected to be complete in 2025.

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