Clemson hopes to open indoor facility this month

After nearly a two-year wait, Clemson is on the verge of moving into its indoor practice facility. In fact, the school hopes it will be ready in time for the Tigers' game with South Carolina on Nov. 24. 

"They're starting to put on the finishes touches," said head coach Dabo Swinney told OrangeandWhite.com. "They're grading it right now, and hopefully the turf will be here Monday. They've told us they think we're going to be in there the week of the South Carolina game, or maybe just a hair earlier."

Announced in January 2011, the facility will boast a regulation-sized, artificial surface field complete with a coach's tower and video platforms. Garage-style doors will give the team the option of holding open-air practices on days with favorable weather. The project was expected to cost $10 million when it was announced.

The indoor facility is built on top of the Tigers' existing outdoor practice fields. Which means that in the meantime, the team's existing practice field real estate has been downsized. Like a family forced to vacate its home for a hotel room so the house can be fumigated, things have gotten cramped.

"Our fields are just torn up right now and are in terrible shape because we've been limited," Swinney said. "Two fields are hard to manage when you're talking about big athletes, big bodies.

"We've really just had one field - Field 3 - to do all our competitive work. It's just a dirt pile out there."

Below is a video released by the architecural firm with artistic renderings of the facility.