College expanding and renovating football facility

College expanding and renovating football facility

Courtesy GVSU

A local college is upgrading the facility connected to its football stadium.

Grand Valley State University said yesterday it has begun the two-phase expansion and renovation project at the football center at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale.

The facility will also be named the Jamie Hosford Football Center.

The project will be completed in two phases: a $2.5-million donor-funded expansion of 8,800 square feet; and a “long-overdue” remodel of the two-story structure, according to Keri Becker, GVSU director of athletics.

The goal of the fundraising campaign is to completely fund the expansion, while the final pricing and funding sources for the renovation are still being discussed, Becker said.

The expansion will include two stories: the bottom half dedicated to a lobby and rehab and training; and the top floor consisting of a large meeting room that can be split in half.

Renovations will take place in the locker room and other meeting spaces.

Becker said the goal is to re-open the facility next summer.

The architect on the project is Grand Rapids-based Integrated Architecture, and the project's contractor is Kalamazoo-based Miller-Davis Company.

The football center was built in 1979, with an addition added in 1997, and it has not kept pace with competitors, the fundraising campaign says.

Becker said facilities are critical when it comes to recruiting talented students.

"This renovation and expansion will help us attract the best student-athletes and provide them with the optimal conditions for excellence and success," she said.

The facility is being named after the 1977 alum Jamie Hosford, who died in 2014.

Hosford earned 12 varsity letters in football, wrestling, golf, baseball and track for the Lakers and is “widely considered the greatest student-athlete of all-time” at GVSU. He later spent a long career teaching and coaching for the Rockford public school system.