AUBURN | College athletic programs across the country are going to take a financial hit of some kind with the coronavirus pandemic canceling spring sports and perhaps even more.

But that doesn’t mean everything has to come to a screeching halt, including Auburn’s plans for a new football-only facility.

“Right now we are full steam ahead on the football facility,” Auburn athletics director Allen Greene said in a teleconference Friday. “Obviously as things change on our campus and in our country and around the world we will audible as we see fit, but we have been given the directive to move forward, full steam ahead.”

One of the first steps in building the new facility will be choosing a site. Possibilities include the area around the current Watson Fieldhouse and Biggio Drive, which is adjacent to the current practice fields, or the old track, which is at the corner of Biggio and Samford Ave. There’s also space in the Beard-Eaves parking lot.

“We have not selected the site yet,” Green said. “That is in discussion. Our hope is to make a decision by the end of this month.”

The project to build a new Football Performance Center was approved by the Auburn Board of Trustees in September. Over $30 million has been raised including a $10 million donation from Walt and Ginger Waltosz. Two architecture firms have been chosen for the facility in Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood of Montgomery and HOK Architects of Kansas City.

Greene added that current athletic construction projects including player development buildings at Plainsman Park and Jane B. Moore Field, and renovations to the East suites in Jordan-Hare Stadium are continuing.

“Well, as of right now, there's no change in the timeline,” Greene said. “If we defer to our university position on capital projects, they're still moving forward. Again, things change so rapidly that it's hard to tell what tomorrow's going to bring. But we'll continue to press forward as long as we're able to.”

The baseball addition, which will include batting cage tunnels, evaluation spaces and restrooms, began in January and is scheduled to be completed in October. The softball improvements, which includes an indoor field, restrooms and a retractable nets for batting tunnels, started last October and is scheduled to be completed in June. Phase II of the East suite renovations began in December and is scheduled to be completed in July.