OU capital plan includes upgrades for softball, 8 other sports facilities

As OU’s athletic success continues to build across multiple programs, it brings with it the opportunity to build out and improve upon the facilities that house those programs.

Recently, the Oklahoma Board of Regents provided an update on OU’s capital improvements master plan affecting nine different athletic facilities. At the top of that list is the construction of a new $42 million softball stadium to be named Love’s Field, a project supported by a $12 million donation by the Love family and Loves Travel Stops.

In a press release issued by the University of Oklahoma, OU officials called the new softball facility “a fitting tribute to the record-setting success of Coach Patty Gasso and the softball program’s remarkable run of six national championships.”

The new facility will seat approximately 3,000 fans, twice the capacity of Marita Hynes Field, OU’s current softball stadium. The new state-of-the art softball facility will be located on the northeast corner of Jenkins Avenue and Imhoff Road.

Construction on the new softball stadium is set to begin this summer and expected to open for the 2024 season.

Also high on the list is another phase of improvements to Gaylord Family–Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The football stadium upgrades have been occurring over multiple phases. Uprades to the south and west side of the stadium as well as in the North end zone were completed during the past decade.

The next phase, for which there is no set timeline, will include additional concourses and seating, technology improvements, game-day operations upgrades and new press facilities. The existing press box on the west side of the stadium will be demolished and replaces by a new press facility that will expand the entire length of the west side of the field.

The remaining phase(s) of the football stadium are projected at $300 million.

Expansion of L. Dale Mitchell Park, the Sooners’ baseball complex, is also part of master capital improvements plan provided to the Board of Regents. Those improvements include upgrades to spectator seating, fan amenities, team facilities and other improvements.

The OU men’s and women’s basketball programs are not missing out on the long-range improvements plan. Upgrades for Lloyd Noble Center are proposed totaling $6 million.

Gymnastics, which is the home to multiple OU national championships by both the Sooner men’s and women’s teams over the past two decades, also is getting capital improvements attention. The Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center is looking at upgrades to the team and training facilities and other site improvements to the tune of a projected $12 million.

Improvements totaling $8 million are in line for the Gregg Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion and Headington Family Tennis Center.

Improvements estimated at $7 million are planned for the Charlie Coe Golf Training Center, and upgrades are also on the project list for the Mosier Indoor Track facility, with improvements to the track surface, venue infrastructure, team facilities and other on-site areas.

The overall facilities improvement plan also included the Bud Wilkinson/Wagner Redevelopment at the northeast corner of Lindsey and Jenkins Avenue. This project will be performed over several phases and will include the relocation of Student Athletic Academic Services and adding Varsity O-Club facilities, collaborative learning areas and the potential for a new parking structure.