West End Zone Dedication Scheduled for Friday

ATHENS ---- Dedication ceremonies for the West End Zone project at Sanford Stadium will be held this Friday, August 31, over 16 months after construction work began in April of 2017.

Participants in the ceremony will include UGA President Jere W. Morehead; J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity; head football coach Kirby Smart; and sophomore offensive lineman Andrew Thomas. The aforementioned participants will join the UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors, USG Board of Regents and the UGA Foundation chair in a ribbon cutting that will conclude the ceremony.

The $63 million project provides new and improved space that includes a new locker room for the Bulldogs, room to host and entertain prospective student-athletes on game day, as well as a larger video board and a new entry plaza for game day fans.

''We are thrilled to officially dedicate the new west end zone project, which will create a new game-day experience for our current and future student-athletes, as well as our fans attending the game this Saturday '' McGarity said. ''This facility is unique to Georgia and to Sanford Stadium. We are especially grateful to the members of the Magill Society who have helped generate the gifts necessary to make this project a success.''

The Georgia football team previously occupied a dressing room at the opposite (east) end of Sanford Stadium, and the Bulldogs used it only as a staging room for pre-game, halftime and post-game activities. Their new dressing room at the west end offers fully-equipped locker and shower facilities, nearly doubling the amount of available square footage.

Directly above the new locker room is a hospitality lounge, covering over 10,500 square feet, used exclusively for hosting prospects and their guests on game days. The lounge is the first of its kind at Sanford Stadium for the Georgia football program.

''We're very excited to open our new West End Zone facility,'' Smart said. ''I certainly think it's a first-class facility, best in the country when it comes to hosting student-athletes and prospective student athletes on game day events. Sanford Stadium is one of our feature showpieces, so to be able to enjoy that environment and have a great place to host them on game day, that's a great advantage. Downstairs our locker room will give our players a tremendous place to be able to get ready for a game.''

The new plaza — replacing all existing entrances into the stadium's west end — will offer fans a dramatically improved game-day experience.

Some details of the overall project include:
• Architect: HOK Architects
• General Contractor: DPR Construction of Atlanta, Ga.
• Construction Began: April, 2017
• Completed and occupied: August, 2018
• Approximate Cost: $63 million
• Locker room square footage — Previous: 2,774; New: 5,400
• Recruiting hospitality lounge square footage: 10,574
• New upper plaza square footage: 11,539
• Expanded and enhanced concession and restroom facilities
• Video board size — Previous: 75' x 46'; New: 100' x 52'

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