Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Kansas baseball team inched its way closer to having facilities comparable to the top teams in the Big 12 Conference with the construction of the McCarthy Family Clubhouse.
The clubhouse opened Jan. 14 and is located behind the home team dugout on the first base side of Hoglund Ballpark.
Lane Super from Lynn Electric sets up speakers in a plasma TV in the KU Baseball team's new McCarthy Family Clubhouse. The team moved into the new clubhouse at the beginning of the semester.
The main features of the $2 million clubhouse include new locker rooms for the home team, a game-day training room, a study area with computers and a printer, a cardio room and a deck that overlooks the field. The players’ lounge, equipped with couches and flat-screen TVs, is already a favorite among the athletes.
Before the McCarthy Family Clubhouse, the baseball team used locker rooms in the Wagnon Student Athlete Center, adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse.
In 2006, the baseball team benefited from the addition of an $850,000 indoor facility located next to right field at Hoglund Ballpark, all paid for by alumni. Once the indoor project was finished, the clubhouse was the next item on Coach Ritch Price’s list.
Price found donors who contributed more than $1 million to make the building a reality. The clubhouse is named after alumnus Kent McCarthy and his family, but each room in the building is named after a different donor.
Senior outfielder Nick Faunce said it was extraordinary to see the evolution of the baseball facilities in his time at the University.
“To see the progression and that the donors are investing in us — it’s special that those people are making those kind of sacrifices,” Faunce said.
He said the facility would be a huge recruiting tool with its luxury and multiple uses.
Because the clubhouse was near Allen Fieldhouse, Price said, he wanted it have the same standards.
“We wanted a building aesthetically that was gorgeous and didn’t take anything away from the Fieldhouse,” Price said. “We were going to build it first class, or we weren’t going to build it at all.”
Price said the Big 12 Conference was second to none in state-of-the-art facilities.
The University of Texas recently spent $35 million to renovate its stadium. In 2007, the University of Nebraska’s Hawks Field won the Baseball Field of the Year award in the university division, an award given by the Sports Turf Managers Association.
“The facilities were crucial for us to be able to get the best players in the state to stay home and turn down Arkansas, Nebraska, Wichita State — that have phenomenal facilities as well,” Price said.
There will be a dedication for the clubhouse before the May 16 game against rival Kansas State. Tours of the facility will be available for the general public at a later date.
— — Edited by Susan Melgren
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Comments
Kansas baseball joins the club
"Facilities" specificly means bathrooms. I hope they got more than top of the line bathrooms.
Kansas baseball joins the club
Try again Abita.
Facility - something designed, built, installed, etc., to serve a specific function affording a convenience or service: transportation facilities; educational facilities; a new research facility.
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