The ISU football program has plans to upgrade its training facilities in a major way with a brand new, state-of-the-art football complex.

The State of Iowa Board of Regents recently approved plans to construct a new football training facility adjacent to the Bergstrom Practice Facility. 

According to the university athletic department, the structure will be a $20.6 million project, with construction beginning this summer and ending by autumn of 2012, in time for the 2012-2013 season.

The facility will house many of the day-to-day functions for the football program and will allow for moving certain activities from Jacobson Athletic and Olsen Buildings, as well as from Bergstrom Indoor, to the new complex.

Plans currently call for new locker rooms, a team auditorium, meeting rooms, a film study area, a sports medicine room and a weight room, among other amenities.

According to Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard, the primary goals of the proposed facility are to improve efficiency of daily football operations, promote success of student-athletes and enhance Iowa State’s appeal to recruits.

The 60,000-square-foot, two-story complex will be built along the entire east side of the Bergstrom Indoor Facility.

According to current plans, there will also be a tunnel running from the new complex to the Jack Trice Stadium playing field.