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Named after Cal Poly alumnus and NFL Hall-of-Fame coach and broadcaster John Madden, the $45 million <a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/football_operations/">John Madden Football Center</a> construction is pushing into the third quarter and planning for an opening in Winter 2026.



The 35,000-square-foot facility will become the new home of the Cal Poly football team, accommodating its training and regular-season needs and helping to recruit top-quality student-athletes to campus.



The center will feature a new team locker room, weight room, coach offices with support spaces, team meeting rooms, training and medical support spaces, a student-athlete lounge with nutrition and hydration stations, lobby and entrance spaces with access to the stadium&#8217;s south end and parking.



Designed with a heavy focus on creating a holistic student athlete experience, the center will feature a state-of-the-art medical center with therapy and hydrotherapy pools and a facility that can be used for everything from the treatment of a sprained ankle to addressing certain potential emergencies.



With the recovering student athlete’s mental wellbeing in mind, the north side of the building will open to Spanos Stadium with the help of large sliding doors on the ground floor to allow team members receiving treatment to continue to be part of team practices.



To help build comradery and a team atmosphere, the student athlete lounge will be equipped with large screen TVs and gaming consoles as well as nutrition and hydration stations.



And with a significant nod towards history, and the student athletes who came before, the entire building was designed to incorporate the Mustang Memorial Plaza as the centerpiece to the main entrance.



A remembrance of the victims of the 1960 plane crash which took the lives of 16 players and the team manager, the plaza was a special place for John Madden, as many of his friends were on the flight.



The Mustang statue at the center of the plaza faces the main entrance to the building.



As part of the Cal Poly Master Plan and in support of making room for student success, the facility will be equipped with a 130-seat team room, which will also be used as an academic lecture hall in the off season.



Additionally, the project is part of the <a href="https://ceqanet.opr.ca.gov/2023110679" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">South Campus Infrastructure Renewal</a> project, which includes repairing and replacing a sanitary sewer, storm drainage, gas and electrical service, as well as fiber communication relocation and broadcast streaming to Alex G. Spanos Stadium.



The estimated completion for the John Madden Football Center is January 2026.

Group of construction workers in yellow vests and hard hats standing inside a steel frame structure under construction.

John Madden Football Center Construction Update

With many students and faculty away during the summer, Cal Poly will continue the hard work of pushing Learn by Doing forward with new and enhanced campus amenities, buildings, facilities and some significant capital projects.



Less foot traffic during the summer offers a perfect opportunity to perform impactful work and maintenance, such as student housing and the student success center. These projects, in support of the&nbsp;<a href="https://masterplan.calpoly.edu/docs/cal-poly-campus-master-plan-abridged.pdf">Cal Poly Master Plan</a>, are designed to enhance the quality of university life, support academic achievement and provide resourced facilities.



To help the Cal Poly community navigate campus this summer, we’ve compiled a list of construction projects and <a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/parking/lot_closures/">affected roads and parking lots</a>.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/vista-meadows/">Vista Meadows</a> The faculty and staff housing project located on the corner of Slack and Grand is actively under construction. The project will create 33 single-family homes for faculty and staff purchase. Summer construction impacts will include intermittent road impairments on Slack Street, allowing the underground and overhead utility installations and follow-on paving activities.&nbsp;Similar intermittent lane closures will occur at the Slack and Grand intersection, accommodating the utility tie-in locations. The Grand Avenue entrance will be resurfaced in the late summer resulting in lane closures. As the utility work is complete, the project will transition to foundations and framing activities for the new homes.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/football_operations/">John Madden Football Center</a> Construction on the Madden Football Center continues.&nbsp;As a reminder, this project forms a new and expanded football clubhouse/facility. The superstructure is nearing completion, with the project transitioning to mechanical and electrical infrastructure and interior finish activities later this fall. Construction impacts on the campus community will be similar to the current effects, with construction vehicles entering and exiting the site.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/water-reclamation/">Water Reclamation Facility (WRF)</a> The Water Reclamation Project provides sustainable solutions to the campus water infrastructure. The reclamation treatment plant will process the campus&#8217;s sewer water, allowing grey water to be utilized as an irrigation resource. The project is adjacent to the swine unit and will have little impact on everyday campus operations. Intermittent lane and California Boulevard road closures are scheduled for lift station upgrades and utility connections.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/water-infrastructure-improvement/">Water Infrastructure Improvement Project (WIIP)</a> The WIIP expands the campus&#8217;s domestic and fire water infrastructure in alignment with the campus master plan and growth of the Cal Poly campus. In broad terms, the project increases the capacity of water stored in holding tanks at the top of the hill with upgrades to the distribution system to campus buildings. The bulk of the summer work will focus on reconstructing the storage tanks and pump house adjacent to the tanks. Impact to campus includes intermittent noise and construction material delivery traffic.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/housing-program/">Cal Poly Student Housing Project (CPSHP)</a> The student housing project is the largest campus project and will continue in phases for multiple years. This project expands the current housing stock by 3100 to 3800 new residential beds with up to 8 new buildings. The project is located on the north mountain site behind the existing red brick residential halls. The first building of the program is actively under construction and includes site enabling work. The project consists of modular construction units beginning in September, with the first building’s modular units stacked by the end of 2025.&nbsp;Summer construction impacts include replacing the underground infrastructure and connections on Perimeter Road. Impacts also include the ongoing construction traffic to and from the site.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/kennedy-library/">Kennedy Library</a> Kennedy Library, scheduled to reopen Monday, Sept. 15, will be substantially completed by summer. Summer impacts will include move-in and transition to occupancy activities in mid-July.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/plant-sciences/">Plant Science Complex</a>, <a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/animal-health-science/">Animal Health Center</a> The Plant Science and Animal Health project combines two buildings, providing additional resources to educate CAFES-related fields. The project is located on Highland Drive near the railroad overpass. Construction traffic entering and leaving the site and intermittent noise are the only project impacts expected during the summer. The planned completion of the projects is winter 2026.



<a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/student-success/">Student Success Center</a> The Student Success Center is a project in the planning stage that will construct new and expanded programs to improve student success and ongoing student enrollment growth. The new building will be located on the existing H-4F parking lot between Perimeter Road and Truckee, adjacent to Fisher Science Hall. Expect intermittent impacts beginning in summer to Perimeter, Village and Truckee roads accommodating utility enabling work for the site.



Parking Updates



The H-4F parking lot between Perimeter and Truckee roads, adjacent to Fisher Science Hall will be partially closed this summer for utility line work. The lot is scheduled to fully close in mid-September as construction on the Student Success Center starts.



The Grand Avenue Parking Structure is receiving an LED retrofit. This update will be an ongoing project throughout the 2025-26 academic year and will help make this major parking facility much more energy efficient.



The H-11 parking lot on Via Carta near Building 10 will come back online when the temporary study structure is removed in preparation for the opening of the Kennedy Library.



For up-to-date information visit Transportation and Parking Services <a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/parking/lot_closures/">Parking Lot Closure webpage</a>.



Cal Poly is also engaged with the City of SLO collaborating on <a href="https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/public-works/construction-and-traffic-updates">active projects in or around campus</a>, and with Cal Trans, aligning on <a href="https://roads.dot.ca.gov/?roadnumber=1">night closures construction work on Highway 1</a>.



For the latest on campus construction projects, visit the <a href="https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/planning-capital-projects/project-news/">Project News web page</a>.

Two people organizing mostly empty white bookshelves in a brightly lit library aisle with one fully stocked shelf.

Tag: capital projects

John Madden Football Center Construction Update

Construction Projects to Look Out for This Summer