Jacksonville State University Football Operations Center and Dining Hall

To capitalize on their growing athletic department, Jacksonville State University (JSU) needed a new football operations facility complete with an adjoining dining hall and dormitory. JSU went the traditional hard-bid route for their original contractor bids, and though this strategy resulted in a great design, the plan was also $40 million over budget. To get the project back on track with a feasible design, JSU brought on a program manager to help ensure that the project would stay on budget.

The program manager recommended pivoting to a design-build approach and hiring Brasfield & Gorrie as the design-builder for the Football Operations Center and the dining hall. This partnership would set JSU up to have a completed design and a locked-in guaranteed maximum price in time to secure funding for the project. Our project team knew that the schedule would be a challenge, so we held weekly internal design meetings with subconsultants and brought our subcontractors on board early to make up for long lead times on critical mechanical equipment.

As the design-builder, we prioritized cost and priced every component meticulously to stay on budget. This fast-tracked project was a collaborative process from the very beginning, ensuring that we had access to the design team and wouldn’t have to deal with red tape. We didn’t just meet a demanding deadline—we delivered two top-quality facilities while staying within the project parameters, which helped us secure an additional JSU project just a year later.