East Carolina University held a ceremony on Thursday to break ground for its new indoor facility.
ECU Sports Information has more on this below.
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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information photo)
ECU Athletics and the Pirate Club officially launched construction of the Isley Indoor Performance Center with a groundbreaking ceremony held Thursday, April 24, as part of the ongoing Pirates Unite Campaign.
The ceremony was attended by ECU Chancellor Philip Rogers, ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert, members of the ECU Board of Trustees and Pirate Club Executive Committee members, numerous Pirate student-athletes, head football coach Blake Harrell and the 2025 Pirates football team.
Speakers at the groundbreaking included Pirate Club Executive Director Ryan Robinson, Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert, Pirate Club Executive Committee President Sean Smith, Pirate Club benefactors Sandra Wornom and Van Isley, and Coach Harrell. Each shared their enthusiasm for the future of ECU Athletics and the impact the facility will have on Pirate student-athletes.
The 85,000 square-foot indoor facility will be a premier, all-weather training hub for all ECU sport programs. Key features include:
- 120-yard synthetic turf football practice field
- 580 tons of structural steel
- 2,000 truckloads of dirt to build up the site
- Stormwater holding system capable of storing 320,000 gallons of water
- 36′ x 20′ videoboard, the size of an average 3-car garage
- Six 20′ x ’10 garage doors
- 8,000 square feet of wall padding around the entire field
- 68′ ceiling clearance at the highest point above the field
- LED lighting, scoreboards, clocks, sound system, and custom graphics
The facility will be constructed on the site of the current multipurpose turf adjacent to the football practice facility. Once completed, it will provide a state-of-the-art training environment accessible to all ECU sport programs. The project is slated for completion in October 2026.