Finishing Foster
As the weeks and months of the Fall 2023 semester continued to fly by, the furious activity of cranes and heavy machinery over the Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion and around the Jim Turner Family Champions Plaza worked around the clock to complete the state-of-the-art fieldhouse as the new home for Baylor’s national champion men’s and women’s basketball teams.
When the remarkable facility opened January 2024, thousands of fans filtered through to cheer the Bears to victory. Throughout the spring and beyond as the season concluded, the attention could turn fully to the significant work to be done in the “back of house” to finish out the adjoining Jay and Jenny Allison Development Center, which houses premium team spaces for both programs and the Bob R. Simpson Performance Center.
Jay and Jenny Allison Development Center
A quick walk off the concourse and a few steps off the Mark and Paula Hurd Floor, the Allison Development Center fills out the remaining footprint of the 223,547-square-foot facility.
Providing a private entrance for the student-athletes and coaches, separate practice courts, dedicated locker rooms, team lounges and meeting spaces, office facilities for coaches and administrative staff, and sweeping views of the Brazos River and Downtown Riverwalk development, the Allison Development Center offers an elite and unprecedented experience for each of these championship programs.
Bob R. Simpson Performance Center
The Bob R. Simpson Performance Center is a shared sports performance space that will serve the significant work of supporting student-athlete health and wellness.
The Simpson Performance Center is a 6,000-square-foot training space that features an 18mm PLAE training surface with six inlaid platforms; six Power Lift racks, six Keiser Performance Trainers utilizing compressed air; a turf training area and lanes between racks, a Boost treadmill and a medicine ball wall.
Across the hallway from the Simpson Performance Center, top-of-the-line athletic training and treatment facilities include hydrotherapy space, nutrition amenities and more.
Team Spaces and Locker Rooms
With a dedicated suite of locker rooms, coaches and staff offices, meeting rooms and lounges, both the men’s and women’s programs have moved into their new digs, allowing each program to build out their unique identities within the cohesive design of the facility.
Separate practice courts featuring touchpoints to each program’s core messaging — Greater Than and 1 John 4:4 for the women; Culture of JOY and Proverbs 27:11 for the men — provide professional-caliber training space for the student-athletes.
New Era
Baylor basketball has certainly come a long way since playing its home games on an outdoor court at Carroll Field — which also happened to be the on-campus home for Baylor football — 15 years in the Rena Marrs McLean Gymnasium, a 35-year run at the crosstown H.O.T. Coliseum and 36 years in the Ferrell Center.
Today, the Foster Pavilion kicks off a new era in Baylor basketball. Foster joins McLane Stadium, Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium and the cornerstone homes for Baylor baseball, softball, soccer and tennis that make up the Julie and Jim Turner Riverfront Athletic Park along the Brazos River.
“Facilities like this don’t just happen,” said Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack B. Rhoades IV. “It takes a shared vision and commitment to excellence for our athletics department and our 500-plus student-athletes, the Baylor Family and the city of Waco.”