In the last decade, the area in and around Jack Trice Stadium has changed considerably. This summer, it continues to evolve.

The Jacobson Athletic Building was constructed to house coaches’ offices, a weight room, a physical rehabilitation center and football locker rooms. Astroturf was replaced by grass on the football field; the press box was renovated, and numerous sky boxes were added.

This summer, lettering and logos were placed on the backside of the football stands and are visible as visitors drive down Elwood Drive.

After all this, the newest step in the beautification and renovation of the area is a new indoor training facility.

The Bergstrom Training Facility, an $8.72 million state-of-the-art complex, is still expected to be finished and fully functional in early November.

The construction, which began in December, has gone smoothly according to ISU Athletics Director Bruce Van De Velde.

“The crew was about two or three weeks ahead of schedule,” Van De Velde said, “but the recent rain slowed them down. They’re still around a week ahead, though.”

Inside the structure, there will be a 100-yard field with two 10-yard end zones. Around the field will be 10 yards of extra ground for run-off space.

“The field was designed to give the football team a place to practice indoors,” Van De Velde said. “[The] Lied Recreation Center is too small to accommodate 100 student athletes for practice.”

Although it was designed for the football team and may initially benefit them, Van De Velde said the field is for all ISU sports teams.

“The field can also be used by the soccer team and organizations that come to Iowa State like Special Olympics,” he said.

The architectural design was developed by RDG Sports of Des Moines. Representative Scott Sankey said the plan was to make the facility both functional and visually stimulating. He said his firm worked closely with Iowa State on those plans.

“Most of the other training facilities like this are very simple structures,” Sankey said. “Because of its location next to the stadium, we didn’t want to make it plain or ordinary.”

Inside the structure, artificial grass is being used instead of artificial turf. The artificial grass is made from a mixture of rubber and sand. Because it is more like regular grass, it is safer than artificial turf, Sankey said.

Artificial grass was recently installed on the University of Iowa indoor practice field. Tennessee, Colorado and Nebraska have made the switch to artificial grass on their outdoor practice fields.

“This is long, long overdue,” said head football coach Dan McCarney. “This is obviously a better surface. We’ll use it year-round, during the season and during training. It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity in the Midwest.”

Iowa State’s training facility will be one of the first university facilities in the country to use a new indirect system of lighting.

“Musco Lighting [of Oskaloosa] will install the lighting fixtures which are specially designed for indoor practice,” Van De Velde said.

Sankey said the ultimate goal is to have even lighting with no bright spots when players look up. The new lights more closely simulate natural light than regular lights.