Red Raider Facilities Foundation provides updates on South End Zone Project

ODESSA — The Red Raider Facilities Foundation Inc. provided the Texas Texas University System Board of Regents updates on two major projects for Tech Athletics, including anticipated timelines, during the regents' meeting Thursday in Odessa.

Mark Fewin, president of Guidon Real Estate Project Solutions, used a presentation to show the regents new renderings of the interior rooms of the new Jones AT&T Stadium south end zone as well as updated exterior renderings of the end zone building and the Womble Football Center.

He said the goals for the project are to create a world-class facility that is flexible to change as the program evolves in a time frame that would only impact one football season.

"Create a front door for Texas Tech football which enhances the requirement process which is key to success in this day and age," Fewin said.

Chris Huckabee, chairman of the RRFFI, said that this is a unique approach to building two athletic facilities that allows flexibility in the construction process since the two projects are set to open in the same time frame.

"So far I would say its been a successful approach to doing work — a very unique — but I think it's been successful," Huckabee said. "I think at the end, you guys be the judge of if it's something you want to do in the future."

For context, the design and construction of buildings at any of the five component universities within the Tech System are usually handled and overseen by Billy Breedlove, vice chancellor facilities planning and construction. However, in a 2021 regent meeting, the regents authorized the formation of RRFFI to control the two projects.

Regent Cody Campbell acknowledged Huckabee's statement about how quick the turnaround time has been and stated that doing construction this way instead of the traditional way may not work for every build, but it certainly does for athletics.

Fewin said there are 20 club suites, with 18 being normal suites and two being Founder suites on the third floor.

The Founder suite will have a loft level in the east and west end of the new building to add additional seating.

Tech Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt said there will also be 44 loge boxes located in the building along with 800 new club seats.

"We feel very confident in being able to fulfill the request to be at capacity when this facility opens for the 2024 season," Hocutt said.

Working within a tight deadline

Fewin said that his goal at the very start of the project was to have it underway on the Monday after the Oklahoma versus Tech football game to wrap up the regular season in November.

"We actually started disconnecting utilities at the south end zone on Sunday," he said. "The Double T came down that following Thursday."

From the timeline presented at the meeting, the south end zone will be completed by May 2024 and the Womble Football Center is expected to be complete by September 2024.

As of right now, the end zone project is under construction and will be halfway completed by the time the 2023 football season starts.

The Womble Football Center has not started construction yet but is slated to start after the 2023 football season concludes.

Update on the old Double T scoreboard

Fewin said RRFFI has entered discussions with the City of Lubbock for the city to take ownership of the old Double T scoreboard for the Regis Street Capitol Improvement project — near Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport.

A part of the agreement is for the city to provide maintenance to the sign.

"This Double T is a brand," Fewin said. "It represents Texas Tech. Everyone associates Texas Tech with this Double T."

Funding update on the end zone project

According to Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Archives, Texas Tech Athletics had only raised around $81 million in December 2022 for the project, but a donation from the Scovell family on Feb. 21 helped pushed the funding up to $87 million.

According to the story, Tech hopes to have raised $100 million by the time the project is completed.

"We have a guiding principle that talks about honoring the past but inventing the future and that is what this project does," Hocutt said.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech regents get updates on Red Raider athletics faculties