Football beat writer. Have covered Purdue football and men's basketball since 2004, the last six seasons for Gold and Black.
More on the performance complex: Mild winter helps progress, on track in spring ($) Complex taking shape in November | Performance complex on schedule in mid-June ($) Initial stages started on new facility ($)
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Purdue is on target to open its $65-million football performance complex on Aug. 24, and, for the first time during the construction, officials opened the facility for a tour to local reporters.
Here's a look inside:
The 18,000-foot weight room — the part of the building that can be seem bumping out from Mollenkopf off Northwestern — will have state-of-the-art equipment chosen by Justin Lovett. (GoldandBlack.com)
The sports medicine area will connect directly to the weight room, allowing athletic trainers direct access to athletes for taping, etc. (GoldandBlack.com)
There are three training/rehab pools in the sports medicine area, just off the locker room. (GoldandBlack.com)
Separate from the locker room, the players will have a lounge that includes its own theater room. (GoldandBlack.com)
A long hallway — what Steve Simmerman called the "team hall" — runs the length of the facility. It'll be on the side that looks out onto the practice fields, lined with glass. (GoldandBlack.com)
Another view of the team hall. The ground floor here, which actually is the second level of the facility, will be position meeting rooms. The upper level is coaches' offices. (GoldandBlack.com)
The main entrance is off John Wooden Drive, peering into the north corner of Ross-Ade Stadium. It'll have several 16x9 TV screens and likely will be open on game days, Simmerman said. (GoldandBlack.com)
The lobby also offers a view onto the outdoor practice fields. (GoldandBlack.com)
A motion 'P' is a built-in part of the structure off the lobby. It'll be lit from both angles. (GoldandBlack.com)
This is one of the views from what will be Coach Jeff Brohm's office. The first-year head coach essentially will have a suite, which includes a room right off his office to entertain recruits and a balcony that overlooks the stadium. (GoldandBlack.com)
The team room will have 120 chairs in stadium-style seating, similar to the current setup in Mollenkopf, but each chair will have dataports. There also will be several TVs that can slide behind the wall at the front of the room. (GoldandBlack.com)
The third floor offers a wide view of the practice fields. (GoldandBlack.com)
Some of the coaches' office will include a peek — ultimately bigger much than this and with an actual window — into the indoor practice field in Mollenkopf. (GoldandBlack.com)
Much of the building will have walls of glass. Hunt Construction still is waiting on the final shipment of glass, which it should get May 1. This tinted glass looks onto the outdoor practice fields. (GoldandBlack.com)
Construction crews should have reason to be happy — a mild winter has allowed the project to be on target for the August opening. There are currently about 160 workers on the site, though nearly 600 have been part of the project so far, depending on various trades. (GoldandBlack.com)
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