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A $5 million donation to be used for women’s sports at Colorado State University was allocated to improve facilities for nearly all women’s sports on campus.

While CSU’s new soccer and softball complex will have the most visible impact on fans, other parts of the donated project are aimed at improving facilities across the sport.

The gift, through the Bohemian Foundation, was described by CSU as “the largest gift dedicated solely to women’s athletics in the history of Mountain West.”

CSU Athletic Director Joe Parker takes a look at how the funds will be spent and how the related projects will be spent.

New Soccer/Softball Complex

Plans for the new soccer/softball complex were first announced in 2019, but when COVID-19 struck, the project was sidelined along with other campus capital projects. Plans for that have been reinstated, but the costs involved have now climbed from what Parker says is an $8 million he’s a $10 million project.

One of the millions of dollars from the Bohemian Foundation has been put into the project and construction is underway. Both the softball and soccer fields are fenced on campus just south of Moby Arena.

Click here for details of each competition.

Football

• The stadium will remain in much the same location as it is today, but a grandstand and press box will be built next to it.
• Lights can be installed for night games.
• An old synthetic turf practice soccer field along Shields Street has been demolished. A lawn will be placed on the site and the area will serve as a soccer practice field.
• Parker said he hopes to build a “team building” area within the facility as well. It will be an area where teams can watch movies during practice and will also house the team’s restrooms on match days.
• The field is grass, and a new irrigation system has been installed on the playing field and practice field.

Football is currently in season and the new facility is expected to be built in time for the fall 2023 season.

soft ball

• Strengthen the earthen walls surrounding the home plate and embed the special bleachers. Parker says it has concrete risers with bench seats on top. A new press box will also be installed.
• Chainlink fences are replaced with nets to enhance fan visibility.
• The current dugout will be removed and replaced with a new dugout with team restrooms.
• Under current plans, softball facilities are likely to leave natural turf in the outfield.
• “If things go according to plan, the facility will be ready for next spring’s season,” Parker said, noting that current supply chain issues could change the timeline.
• Lighting will also be installed for night games.

“It’s one of the consistent things that our students have really been asking for,” Parker said of the facility’s lighting. “It’s for practical reasons, especially in softball, where the weather can cripple the schedule. Being able to turn on the lights and extend the playing days would make a big difference.”

Original plans for the soccer/softball complex included a fan pavilion, but it has been shelved for now due to costs.

locker room change

A bohemian gift also influences the changing of the changing room music chairs. New men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms were built at Moby Arena this summer.

This leads to what CSU calls the “second phase” of locker room construction. When the basketball team moves to a new location, those spaces will be “relocated and repurposed” for soccer and softball on the south side of his Moby on his ground floor.

Once softball moves to a new locker room, it will open up space for expanding the volleyball locker room.

Nomadic sports (track and field, men’s and women’s golf, women’s tennis) do not have permanent locker rooms, but space is available for storing gear and personal items when using facilities such as Moby’s weight room. Parker said swimming and diving locker rooms could also be beefed up once soccer moves to new spaces.

Overall, the project directly impacts nearly all women’s sports.

“It’s something that really, really has a direct and lasting impact on our women’s program,” Parker said.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle twitter and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.