BY BEN KENNEDY '05

Illustration courtesy of Sports Information

Head football coach Jimmye Laycock '70 has been a fixture at his alma mater for more than 25 years. The building named in his honor will be a fixture on campus for many more years to come.

In September, ground was broken on the Jimmye Laycock Football Center, a privately funded, 30,000-square-foot facility that will house lockers, offices, weight rooms and other amenities for the William and Mary football program.

The center was designed by HOK Sport, the architectural firm responsible for the New England Patriots' Gillette Stadium and the Norfolk Tides' Harbor Park. Named for the longtime Tribe football coach, the Laycock Center will be located next to Zable Stadium on the current Montgomery Family Practice Field and will provide numerous upgrades for Tribe football and William and Mary athletics in general.

Those upgrades also mean a few temporary inconveniences. Fans coming to Zable for a game will find the green tailgate parking lot and northwest stadium gate closed for construction preparations. Fans should seek other venues for parking and tailgating.

When completed, Tribe football's new home will benefit the entire William and Mary sports program. For the first time, football can practice on the newly installed FieldTurf in Zable Stadium without fear of ruining the field for gameday. This frees up space across campus for other teams to practice. The building itself will consolidate football locker rooms and offices from locations in Zable and William and Mary Hall, says Director of Athletics Terry Driscoll.

"The turf makes us more flexible," adds Driscoll. "[The Center] focuses and concentrates the program all in one place."

The building's entrance will also feature a Tribe football hall of fame, showcasing the program's 113-year history. There should be ample space there for the team's past glories, and even more space for those of the future.