The new Roadrunner Athletic Center of Excellence marks first step in long-term plan for UTSA athletic program
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Wednesday August 4, 2021 will find its way into the pantheon of important dates in UTSA Athletic history. It was the day that UTSA opened the Roadrunner Athletic Center of Excellence or RACE building. The RACE building immediately put UTSA in the upper echelon of Group of Five schools in terms of practice facilities.
"What a glorious, awesome, amazing day," UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said during the program prior to the ribbon cutting. "Athletics is the front porch for our university in our community. This facility is the equivalent of a power five facility, right here on our campus."
As far as facilities go, it is as though the Roadrunners have traded in a Wright Flyer I for a Space X rocket.
"This is a big moment that we have all been waiting for," UTSA Softball player Riley Grunberg said. "It is an exciting time to be a Roadrunner. Better facilities lead to better opportunities and that will allow our athletes to reach new heights and even more achievements."
All it took for the RACE Building to come into existence was $41.5 million split between the Roadrunner Foundation, philanthropic commitments, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County.
"I'm honored to be here today to celebrate with UTSA," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. "This project increases our community connectivity and provides community access for regional and national destination sports."
After Populous came up with the design of the building the next step was constructing it. Joeris Construction took 17 months from the groundbreaking in March 2020 to level off Rattlesnake Hill and turn the highest point on the main campus into a 10 acre site to fit the RACE Building and two practice football fields.
Roadrunner Foundation owns the RACE Building, renting the land on which it is located from the university. Once the building is paid off it will be donated to the University.
"The Roadrunner Foundation exists to support the mission of UTSA through athletics," Roadrunner Foundation President Gene Dawson said.
The RACE Building will also be able to be used by the city and county to hold camps and other events.
"As a councilman it gave me great pride to represent UTSA," Nirenberg said. "I'm excited to work with President Eighmy on an incredible vision that exceeds any of our imagination about where UTSA could go. When UTSA becomes Tier 1 San Antonio becomes Tier 1."
94,773 square feet of possibility
There are two entrances to the RACE Building at the Northwest Corner and the Northeast corner. The Northwest entrance is the main entrance, also known as the Dawson Family Hall of Champions. Immediately the visitor is drawn to a large "Come and Take It" display that is lit in white against a blue and orange back ground. The orange sections include photos of former great Roadrunner athletes.
A pair of double doors lead into the football domain of the RACE building. The 7,500 square foot locker room is in the middle of the RACE building and includes a players lounge and a barbershop. A pair of doors lead from the locker room to the two practice fields, one of artificial turf and the other natural grass.
"I walked in here and I could do nothing but smile," UTSA Safety Rashad Wisdom said. "We are very appreciative of this building and the people who helped it happen. Pictures don't do it justice. You have to see it in person."
The First floor also includes a large weight room with two-story tall windows allowing in natural light and a sports medicine center. At the east end of the RACE first floor is a large student lounge.
A set of stairs next to a display of the UTSA football uniforms leads to the second floor where there is a lot going on.
It is a long road the athletic program has traveled to get to the RACE Building atop Rattlesnake Hill.
When UTSA Football began 10 years ago the coaches offices were double-wide trailers north of the McKinney Humanities building. The other sports coaches offices were either tucked into the Convocation Center or in the PE building north of the Convocation Center. The football team practiced at Dub Farris Stadium and the same goalpost pads were used at Dub Farris and the Alamodome.
Now the coaches have an entire floor of office space as well as meeting rooms for each position. Half of the second floor of the RACE building is devoted to office space, not just for the football coaches but for the coaching staffs of all sports at UTSA as well as Lisa Campos and the athletic department staff.
The second floor also includes 7,000 square feet of academic space with classrooms, 10 private tutoring rooms and a study area that looks out onto the intramural fields, north side dormitories and the hills of oak and cedar beyond.
In the past UTSA facilities were such that coaches didn't want to show them to recruits on visits.
"I wish had pictures of each room of where these kids have come from," UTSA Head Football Coach Jeff Traylor said. "They have never complained and never made excuses."
Now UTSA has a facility that everyone can be proud of whether they are a coach, player, recruit or fan.
It is quite a phase one of the Roadrunner Foundation's goals for UTSA.
There is more to come for UTSA Athletics
The RACE building is just the beginning of a new age for UTSA Athletics. The two practice fields take up 180,700 square feet. The artificial surface will eventually be covered by a $5 million structure.
Even if the covered field is only "covered" on the renderings at present, the eventual covering will serve as an example of ongoing progress that began with the RACE building.
"When you look across this campus they know how to build things," Dawson said. "This is a finished building, but to the Foundation this is only the beginning. Our next priority is an $8 million (training) facility for women's soccer and track & field at Park West."
In addition to improvements at Park West, the Roadrunner Foundation has had schematics done on a $25 million training facility that would be used by volleyball, men's and women's basketball. That training facility would be built to the west of the RACE building and be linked to the RACE building by a bridge.
Dawson also announced the foundation is in preliminary talks on a $25 million dollar baseball and softball complex below the RACE building.
"$65 million may seem impossible, but we're going to do it in the next five years," Dawson said. "Four years ago $40 million for the RACE building seemed impossible but we made it happen."
Those things will come, and possibly sooner than later. For the football team, work on the 2021 season commences a day after the grand opening. The goals are high for the Roadrunners in 2021.
"Someone is going to win a championship at UTSA. Someone is going to be the first group to ever do it," Traylor said after introducing members of the 2021 team during the program prior to the opening.. "It might as well be them."
The use of the RACE building for camps will allow the young kids of San Antonio a chance to see what a future at UTSA might look like.
"We have the newest facility of anyone in the conference," Wisdom said. "If you're from (San Antonio), how can you say no to UTSA with all the opportunities that are here."
A new era has begun at UTSA. With the opening of the RACE building, the Roadrunners appear to be headed to a bright future.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
