Iowa Central digs in for sports performance center
It will house football team, sports medicine
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The new home of the Iowa Central Community College football team achieved its first down Friday morning.
But instead of 10 yards to go it will be at least a year of construction time to create the new Center for Sports Performance on the Fort Dodge campus.
The $13.9 million building will house the football team plus the sports medicine, pre-physical therapy and athletic training programs.
College leaders plus many former football players who returned to Fort Dodge for the annual team reunion, gathered Friday morning to break ground for the new facility.
"This center will be a place where our students become stronger, faster, healthier and more confident,” Athletic Director Guy Horn said.
"It's impact will go beyond weights, workouts and competition," he added. "This center will help young people develop skills, discipline, team work, perseverance and confidence to pursue their goals."
Will Shupe, a former Triton football player and the son of coach Paul Shupe, is leading the effort to raise money for the center. Will Shupe was a middle linebacker who played on the undefeated 1978 national championship team. He went on to play football for Drake University in Des Moines.
"I'm excited to try to help raise the money to help support building it," he said. "I think it's going to be a great addition to Iowa Central. It's going to draw more players as they recruit for more players from around the world."
None of the money generated by the $35 million bond issue made possible by voters in November 2025 will be spent on the Center for Sports Performance. The college will borrow money via a revenue bond and use revenue from campus housing fees, along with donations, to pay off the debt.
But the creation of the new center does dovetail with the projects to be paid for with that $35 million bond issue.
One of those projects is a major renovation of the Applied Science and Technology Building to create more room for multiple programs such as dental hygiene. But the football team now occupies the basement of that building, and college President Jesse Ulrich said none of the planned renovations can happen until the football team is out of there.
The Center for Sports Performance will be a 25,000 square foot, two-story building at the south end of the campus near the practice field.
It will house the locker room and coaches' offices for the football team. It will also house classroom space for sports medicine, pre-physical therapy and athletic training. There will be room for academic advising for athletes. A 200 seat auditorium will also be in the building.
Ulrich said the building will face west. He added that it will have glass walls on its west and south sides that will be illuminated with blue lights at night.
He said construction will start this fall and take a year and a half to complete.
Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge, is the general contractor.