The future Alabama basketball facility is going to cost the Crimson Tide less money than originally anticipated.

The cost dropped by about $4.6 million, according to the revised budget scope presented to the physical properties committee for the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees, who met Thursday in Huntsville. The physical properties committee approved the revised budget Thursday. The full board of trustees will meet Friday to officially approve the revised project budget.

The price tag for the new facility was set to be $58.19 million, but will now be $54.6 million. The construction bid on Package A was lower than previously estimated.

“Very favorable (construction) bids received on the project,” said Mike Rodgers, the assistant vice chancellor for construction management.

Construction is already underway on the facility, being built next to Coleman Coliseum. Construction is expected to finish by 2026.

Funding will be provided through a mix of UA central reserves, Crimson Standard cash and general revenue bonds, Rodgers said.

The new building will be about 48,883 gross square feet, and the men’s basketball team will use it for training and development.

The women’s team will then move into the facilities in Coleman Coliseum that the men’s team is currently using.

“The practice gym is the coach’s classroom,” Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne told The Tuscaloosa News in June 2024. “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.”

The men’s team under coach Nate Oats is fresh off a season that ended in the Elite Eight. Meanwhile, the women’s team’s season under Kristy Curry ended in the Round of 32 to Maryland.

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