Montana breaking ground on $10.2-million indoor facility

MISSOULA – The University of Montana will break ground in April on a new on-campus, state-of-the-art indoor practice facility.

In addition to serving student-athletes of every sport, the Grizzly indoor practice facility will provide recreational opportunities to all UM students and members of the Missoula community.

“The need for an indoor athletic facility in Missoula is long overdue,” said UM Athletic Director Kent Haslam. “This facility will benefit every Grizzly student-athlete for years to come, as well as provide new opportunities for athletes of all ages in our community to use a safe, indoor space to practice, play and compete during the winter months.”

The $10.2 million indoor practice facility will be located on the south end of the River Bowl fields and is completely privately funded, meaning no student tuition or Montana taxpayer dollars are being spent on the project.

The 110,000-square-foot Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility will be covered with an inflatable roof that will be the first of its kind in the Big Sky Conference. In total, the facility will include a regulation-size synthetic football field, four 150-yard sprint lanes for track athletes and two long-jump pits, two pole vault bars and a hammer, javelin, discus and shot-put area for field athletes. The facility also will house winter practices for Grizzly soccer and softball teams.

As part of the project, UM also will construct a permanent structure that will connect to the indoor practice facility to house a lobby, restrooms, storage rooms and mechanical space.

Large-scale work will begin on April 17. The estimated completion of the facility is this fall.

During the duration of construction, parking lots M and M-1 adjacent to the River Bowl fields will be partially impacted.

Grizzly Athletics will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the indoor practice facility in the near future.