The new Alabama basketball facility went through the next step of approval needed for the building to become a reality Thursday.

The physical properties committee for the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees met Thursday and voted to authorize the latest part of Stage IV, which meant approving a construction contract for what is called Package C: the construction of the building foundation for the new basketball facility. The full board of trustees will meet Friday to officially approve the next step.

That comes two months after the committee approved Package B, which included site and utilities.

The board broke the packages into two in order to expedite the process. That’s why construction has already started in the Coleman Coliseum parking lot, even before Stage IV approval officially happened by the physical properties committee in September.

UA will look to have the new facilities fully operational by 2026. The project has a price tag of $58.67 million, with about $56.95 million for the upgrades.

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Thursday’s vote was the latest step toward building the new training and development facility for men’s basketball. The new gym for Nate Oats’ team will be connected to the current practice facility for the men and be 48,883 gross square feet.

Once the men‘s team moves over to the new facility, the women‘s team will move into the practice facility Oats’ team is currently using.

The addition of a new facility is a vital step for a program competing with the nation’s best in basketball, fresh off a Final Four and firmly in the hunt for a national championship this season.

“The practice gym is the coach’s classroom,” Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne told The Tuscaloosa News in June. “It’s where they teach and they develop. We’re doing this right now to take a very significant step for our basketball programs and then allowing us to navigate the waters that we’re in in college athletics right now. Then realizing the arena still has to be addressed.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.