Mitch Barnhart shares timeline, vision for new basketball facility and entertainment district

When asked for the reason behind his push for a new basketball practice facility on campus, UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart was quick to clear things up — or redirect the focus, rather.

The drama of Coach Cal’s very public request back in 2022 leading to a campus civil war, only for Mark Pope to get what his predecessor couldn’t just a year into the job, has folks missing the forest for the trees. This new project is a part of a grander vision that could make the University of Kentucky a destination school and Lexington a destination city in ways that extend beyond any one sport or program.

It’s not just a celebration of basketball under Pope, it’s a celebration of potentially creating something typically seen in professional sports towns. That’s the goal with the in-development entertainment district, which will overlap with the visionary multi-use facility that includes the new gym — among other UK HealthCare Sports Medicine ambulatory spaces and sports-related research areas.

“It’s not just that,” Barnhart said of the timing of the basketball practice facility on Tuesday. “I think people are supremely focused on that because obviously that is the headline piece, but the reason that we’re in conversation is because we’re talking about an incredible multi-use district that gives us a chance to anchor a variety of thoughts and processes into one concept. 

“I don’t know that this (gym) happens singularly, if we do it by itself — or if we do anything by itself. But to have an opportunity to wrap things around it and create an energy about it of different things is a wonderful thing to think about.”

UK says the overall objective and campus master plan is to create a lively, walkable hub of activity centered around Kroger Field and Memorial Coliseum featuring retail shops, restaurants, cafes, food trucks, outdoor and indoor entertainment venues, hotel lodging, academic student-centered services, collaborative spaces, public green space and event gathering.

The UK Board of Trustees approved further study of an entertainment district in June while the Champions Blue LLC’s Board of Governors endorsed the pre-design and programming phases for the multi-use facility on Tuesday at Barnhart’s request for resolution. The UK BOT will then vote to approve the recommendation on Thursday, officially kickstarting the development of schematic floor plans, conceptual renderings and a rough order of magnitude cost estimate. Those pre-design and programming phases will cost $1 million with a timeline of four to six months for getting a plan finalized.

“We’re going to go see what the possibilities are. People are going to bring us concepts as it relates to all of those pieces. And I want to put them all together,” Barnhart said. “The concept is twofold. One is, does it help all of our teams accentuate the ability to practice and compete? And two, does it create a space for us to be able to do some things that create ongoing revenue for us?”

Barnhart compared Kentucky’s vision to what the Milwaukee Bucks were able to accomplish with the Deer District outside Fiserv Forum or the downtown facilities in Indianapolis surrounding the Pacers’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It could also resemble other projects blending world-class practice and training facilities with healthcare spaces, namely the Green Bay Packers with Titletown Sports Medicine & Orthopedics, the Atlanta Hawks with the Emory Sports Medicine Complex and the Cleveland Cavaliers with the in-development Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center.

Prices range accordingly, the Hawks’ 90,000-square-foot complex coming in at $50 million while the Cavaliers’ 210,000-square-foot facility, set to open in 2027, is part of a massive $3.5 billion project. The latter will advance 35 acres of riverfront in Cleveland to bring 2,000 residential units and 850,000 square feet of office space — beyond restaurants, retail and entertainment.

That’s what these next four to six months are for: Kentucky deciding just how big it wants to dream here (and how it will pay for it).

“That’s why the concept was worth thinking about. Nothing’s done yet,” Barnhart said. “We’re not sure if it’s going to even be affordable for us to do this. So lots of things to think about, but we’re working our way through it, and we think that it’s exciting. I’m hopeful in about four to six months, we’ll get some really quality information to be able to make some decisions and see if we can go forward. And then, clearly, you’ve got to be able to fund it. 

“Can you fund it? Can you make it work financially? And so those are all major questions that are yet to be answered.”

Until then, it’s no more than an idea they’re hoping can become a reality. What happens if they nail down an affordable plan they all like? What’s the timeline from there, generally speaking?

The entertainment district and multi-use facility featuring the basketball practice gym can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and as we all know, the bigger the concept, the longer the construction. Fortunately, the school isn’t new to breaking ground on projects, so Barnhart can take an educated stab at front- and back-end completion targets.

“Six, eight weeks max. We can probably get it all done in six weeks,” the UK AD joked.

In all seriousness, expect anywhere from a couple of years to a half-decade.

“No stinking idea,” Barnhart continued. “We’ve done building projects before, so my gut says you’re probably a year in design and a year to a year and a half, probably, in construction — depending on what it is. The scope being what it is, if it’s as big as we think it can be, it could take a while. But I have a unique enjoyment of watching things come out of the ground. It’s pretty cool. So I’d like it not to take five years. …

“I think if we’re efficient and we’ve got some really cool concepts, I think we’ve got some really, really high-level people that are going to be interested in helping us get there. I think pace of play, we can move it along.”