Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1158434
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2019 19 BY LOU SOMOGYI All photos by Mike Miller A lthough the name "Irish Ath- letic Center" is as basic as it gets, the newly opened Notre Dame football facility now provides a much needed element to the university's overall athletics department. A tour of the 111,400-square-foot edifice (price not revealed) was given to media members Aug. 14, two days after the Fighting Irish football team staged a pre-practice workout there for the first time. Since Sept. 30, 1988, Notre Dame has held its indoor practices for both the spring and fall at Meyo Field inside the Loftus Sports Center, which then expanded into the Guglielmino Ath- letics Complex in 2005 to house all the football offices, sports medicine, etc. However, in the last 31 years the Fighting Irish athletics department has expanded significantly, and prac- tice time inside the facility often had to be split from the crack of dawn to the late evening hours among foot- ball, men's soccer, women's soccer, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, baseball and softball — plus intra- mural activities on occasion. The new structure is primarily a football facility and is prioritized as The main entrance to the Irish Athletic Complex has a lobby that includes the Fighting Irish leprechaun logo from last year's Goodyear Cotton Bowl and an elevator to the second floor, which is primarily for recruiting visits and media access to practices when they are open. The stairwell to the second floor highlights numerous outstanding distinctions achieved by the Notre Dame football program since its start in 1887. The Irish Athletic Complex was built on one of the three outdoor fields at the LaBar Practice Complex, but the football team still has close access to the other two outdoor fields.