NEW TRAINING CENTER FEATURES• Amphitheater style team meeting room• Dining hall and players’ lounge• 7,000-square-foot locker room with custom-built locker with electrical outlets• 22,000-square-foot multilevel weight room• State-of-the-art video delivery system• Hall of Fame area and Peyton Manning room
KNOXVILLE — Excuse the University of Tennessee football team if it’s had to battle occasional moments of distraction during preseason camp this month.
There’s a black padded wall just a few feet from the sideline on one of the Volunteers’ 100-yard practice field, loud beeping of dump trucks and cement trucks in reverse and the sound of jackhammer or saws. All that doesn’t include the giant crane that swings its long arm directly over Haslam Field a few times each practice.
It’s all for good reason, though.
UT began building is sparkling new 152,000-square foot football training center in May, and the temporary inconvenience pales in comparison to what the outcome will be when the $46-48 million project, funded solely through private gifts, is completed next summer.