Costs for proposed new UTC athletic facility, McKenzie renovations rise to $22 million

This artist's rendering shows plans for the renovations to McKenzie Arena and the new Wolford Family Athletics Center at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The planned construction is now expected to cost $22 million, according to estimates approved last week by the State Building Commission. This artist's rendering shows plans for the renovations to McKenzie Arena and the new Wolford Family Athletics Center at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The planned construction is now expected to cost $22 million, according to estimates approved last week by the State Building Commission.

By Andy Sher August 10, 2019 6 min read

NASHVILLE – The long-planned project to renovate and expand the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s football and athletic training facilities with a new stand-alone building now has a new cost estimate: $22 million.

Last week, State Building Commission members approved increasing cost estimates for the project from $20 million to $22 million, the latest in a series of increases as the project evolved.

Meanwhile, state officials later this month are scheduled to select a designer expected to begin turning concepts into reality.

UTC hopes to accomplish two things with the project:

* Renovate an existing 26,300-square-foot space in the nearly 37-year-old McKenzie Arena, which in addition to being the home of Mocs basketball games also houses most of the university’s athletic teams and functions under increasingly cramped and dilapidated conditions.