The Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, considered one of the finest facilities of its kind in the nation, underwent a renovation in the summer of 2009. The renovation, overseen by Davis Architects of Birmingham, Ala., included the removal of the tennis practice facility to make the building a complete open space to be utilized for practice by baseball, football, soccer and softball, when inclement weather or extreme temperatures prevent those teams from practicing outdoors.
The facility's 130+ yard field makes it the largest collegiate indoor practice facility in the nation under one roof. Hank Crisp Indoor has 97,000 square feet of clear space, measuring 20 percent larger than a typical college football field.
As part of the 2009 renovation, a new artificial field turf system was installed by Polytan of Calhoun, Ga., a company with over 40 years of experience in the field. Polytan's turf system is also used by the Chicago Bears of the National Football League in their indoor facility, the Walter Payton Center.
Another addition in 2009 was the installation of the state-of-the-art WavecamTM system. The camera system, which suspends from the ceiling of the facility, operates similar to that of the sky cam systems used by network broadcasts of college football games. The system gives the football coaching staff superior vantage points to breakdown plays compared to traditional standard practice video.
The facility is fully heated and air conditioned which is an unusual feature in most indoor practice facilities.
The Hank Crisp Indoor Facility is connected to the football complex by the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields. It is located directly west of Coleman Coliseum in the Alabama Athletics Complex.
