Nevada's $32 million indoor Fieldhouse project goes before Regents for final approval

When Stephanie Rempe was hired as Nevada's athletic director in June 2022, her initial facility-improvement goal was raising money for the $28 million in projects that were in the works.

But once that was handled, constructing the long sought-after indoor Fieldhouse project took precedent.

"For sure at the top of the list for so many reasons," Rempe said of where the Fieldhouse ranked on her list of priorities.

That Fieldhouse project will get a final review from the Nevada Board of Regents this week with a presentation before the business, finance and facilities committee scheduled Thursday and a final vote coming Friday. That vote would be the Regents' final approval and move the project along to the final stage, which would be the chancellor's signature in July once the bond financing is finalized. The light at the end of the project's tunnel is approaching as long as the Regents approve the project this week.

"(SEC commissioner) Greg Sankey used to say — and he says President Clinton used to say it — problems yield to effort," Rempe said. "And this is a problem that's been a problem for 20 years, 30 years. And you put in the effort."

The project, if approved, would break ground in August with a 12-month timeline putting a completion date in summer 2026. The facility would be used by all of the Wolf Pack's teams plus the student body via intramural and club sports. But one of the biggest beneficiaries would be Wolf Pack football, which is one of the few programs in the country without an indoor facility, an acute need in Northern Nevada given the snow-filled winters, blistering summers and risk for poor air-quality days due to nearby wildfires.

The Fieldhouse project has had a number of templates over the last couple of decades, ranging from a bare-bones $7 million estimate all the way up to a Taj Mahal estimated at $70 million. The current model considered for approval is a project that could cost up to $32 million, with that price tag including new playing surfaces for Wolf Pack Park and the John Sala Intramural Field. The facility would partially be funded by a new $3.50-per-credit student fee that was approved by the Nevada Board of Regents last December. Nevada athletics is aiming to raise $5 million to $7 million to supplement that revenue stream, which was championed by university president Brian Sandoval.

The Regents will vote Friday to approve or deny the ground lease, sublease approval and authorization for the chancellor and president to execute the underlying bond financing.

Construction of the project would be financed through tax-exempt bonds, similar to university's new College of Business, which set the precedent for a lease-back arrangement. Nevada would sublease the Fieldhouse over a 30-year loan with an annual payment not to exceed $2.1 million annually. The new student fee is projected to total $1.9 million in fiscal year 2026 and grow from there.

Rempe outlined a series of improvements to the original project plan, including:

* The location of the Fieldhouse will be raised four feet so it's level with Wolf Pack Park, Nevada football's current outdoor practice location; that area is currently a parking lot and lower than the two fields it's adjacent to

* The Fieldhouse's capacity will go from a projected 300 people to 1,500 people for potential fundraisers, tailgate events and ASUN concerts; that has led to the addition of a more advanced HVAC system

* The new playing surfaces at Wolf Pack Park and John Sala Intramural Field will cost more than the estimated $4 million due to additional irrigation and surface leveling requirements

* New scoreboards will be put in place at Wolf Pack Park and John Sala Intramural Field, as well as the Fieldhouse

* A backlit Nevada sports wolf logo will adorn the south side of the building

Those changes have brought the projected estimated price tag to no more than $32 million with the majority of that money going to the 73,000-square-foot Fieldhouse, which is expected to be 110 yards of turf with a roughly 70-yard field with two end zones.

Private funds were raised to cover the cost of design and permitting with Rempe crediting Tolles Development's Tyler Lanrip, a former Wolf Pack quarterback, and Cory Hunt for completing a lot of the project's heavy lifting.

"Tyler Lantrip just said, 'We can figure this out,' and he's been committed to this," Rempe said. "I just can't emphasize enough the role that Tolles has played in this because they're the ones that created this path, this belief, this hope of, 'Hey, let us try to figure this out.' I really can't emphasize enough this hope that Tyler and Cory created."

The Fieldhouse, which would be 70 feet in height, has been the project Nevada athletics has most sought without completing in the 2000s. The facility is now on the brink of becoming a reality, that hinging on Friday's Board of Regents vote. Rempe said the facility would change that part of campus and send a signal about how serious the Wolf Pack is about athletics, adding to major recent facility improvements for a number of sports on campus.

"We were out there with the field guys several months ago and stood on Wolf Pack Park and you look around and you see this totally beat up parking lot," Rempe said. "You see everything on the west side of Wolf Pack Park and the old tower. And then you imagine this indoor facility, and they're massive. Knowing that we're going to be able to stand in that same place and look to your left and see two beautiful new fields and then this beautiful building on the right where you can walk in this massive facility, you just think about the statement it makes about the university, the commitment to athletics, the student involvement with athletics. The enormity of this thing, it's just going to be breathtaking for so many people."

You can see the full 944-page document on the Fieldhouse project that will be presented to the Nevada Board of Regents below.