South Dakota State University officials and lead donor Dana Dykhouse are scheduled to break ground Saturday on the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center to be constructed directly north of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

The groundbreaking ceremony is planned for 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the north end zone of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

Construction is scheduled to begin in October and will mark the first stage of a master plan to dramatically modernize athletic facilities at SDSU.

Last fall, Dykhouse, a Sioux Falls banker and former Jackrabbit football player, presented seed gifts totaling $6 million from his family and Sioux Falls businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford. The donation set in motion the construction of the first major athletic building on campus since Frost Arena in 1973.

Targeted completion date for the facility located in the north end zone of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium is November 2009.

The 30,000-square-foot building will be built of brick, precast concrete, and glass, and will feature a unique butterfly roof, where both ends are higher than the middle.

The second floor facing the football field will have an outdoor deck offering panoramic views of the stadium and game-day action below, to be used by athletic department donors and special guests. Members of the football coaching staff also will use the area for recruiting functions.

The Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center is being designed by Koch Hazard Architects of Sioux Falls, along with Kansas City-based HNTB, a leading designer of collegiate athletic and recreational facilities. Assisting in the preparations of the building are West Plains Engineering, Inc., Structural Engineering Associates, Banner Associates and Brian Clark & Associates.

Each of the coaches’ offices in the building will feature tall glass windows offering views onto the football field. The building’s interior will include state-of-the-art technology with rooms for editing and viewing game film, and walls will be decorated with colorful artworks and photographs highlighting great moments in Jackrabbit sports history.

The Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center will also house an academic center equipped with study areas, computers, tutors, and other educational aids for all SDSU teams.

Besides housing a new locker room for the Jackrabbit football team, a well-equipped weight room for strength and conditioning will be a welcomed component of the facility. Athletic training and rehabilitation areas also will be located in the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center.

The building is being designed to allow for expansion to include coaches’ offices and meeting rooms for other Jackrabbit sports teams in the future.