Tech to build $8.5M basketball practice facility

Georgia Tech will hold a groundbreaking Thursday for an $8.5 million basketball practice facility that should open in time for preseason workouts.

The 20,000-square-foot building, which will connect to Alexander Memorial Coliseum’s southeast side, will include one full-size court, a 24-seat theater for video instruction and a weight room.

Currently, the men’s and women’s teams share the Coliseum floor for practices. To coordinate with class schedules, the teams have practiced as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m.

“It will relieve congestion in terms of practice times and take some pressure off in terms of academic schedules,” men’s basketball coach Paul Hewitt said. “It also is a nice piece to show kids when they come on recruiting visits. I can’t think of an ACC or SEC school that did not build one or is not in the process of building one.”

Funding came from private donations. With Stephen Zelnak, a 1969 Tech grad, giving the lead gift of $3.75 million, the facility will be called the Zelnak Center.

In 2007, Georgia opened a $30 million practice facility six times the size of Tech’s planned building. It includes separate oversize gyms, a big gymnastics area, a weight room, a sprint track and much more.

One of Tech’s earlier plans called for a $15 million facility. But associate athletics director Wayne Hogan said the Zelnak Center is just what Tech needs.

“With the times we’re in, we wanted to get it done efficiently and effectively to help our basketball programs, and we came up with a design that takes care of that,” Hogan said. “It comes down to what’s going to help us win games, get better and not what’s going to wow people.”

Heery International designed the facility, and Gay Construction is the contractor. The groundbreaking ceremony will start at 2 p.m.

Hogan said construction will begin within a few weeks, with completion scheduled for October.