CEDAR FALLS - While late spring and summer are opportunities for college coaches to get some needed rest and relaxation, University of Iowa athletic director Gary Barta has a full agenda.

Now that the $89 million Kinnick Stadium renovation project is complete, Barta is focused on upgrading the indoor facilities.

Barta said Monday night during the annual I-Club Outing at the Park Place Event Centre that he and fellow administrators are working with architects and creating a plan for a basketball practice facility that could cost nearly $45 million.

"In the very near future, we'll go to the Board of Regents and ask for permission to proceed," he said. "We're getting to the point where we know what's going into the building, what it's going to look like and what it's going to cost and how we're going to pay for it.

"It's not just a practice building. Certainly, that's a critical element, but it will also have fan improvements included, along with improving strength and conditioning areas and meeting rooms.

"It's a pretty comprehensive project."

Barta, who replaced Bob Bowlsby as Iowa's athletic director in August 2006, isn't certain of a completion date, but expects the project to take "a little over two years" once it's approved by the Board of Regents.

In addition, Barta said constructing a new indoor football practice facility and improving the Jacobson Athletic Complex are high on his priority list. However, that project is in the preliminary stages. Barta is uncertain of the cost or how it would be funded.

Even though new turf was installed at "The Bubble" - the team's indoor football practice facility since 1985 - less than three years ago, the inflatable structure is seen as outdated.

"I think what we have right now is pretty good, and there's no reason we can't be successful with that," Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz said Monday night. "Everything we have is functional.

"Unfortunately, the downside of college athletics is that it's become a real arms-race mentality."

Ferentz illustrated that point with his office.

"It's very nice and functional, but a lot of coaches would be embarrassed to have an office like mine," he said. "That's the world we're living in. I'm not sure I'm fond of that mentality, but it's more toward recruiting."

The university did receive a $5 million donation from Dale and Marilyn Howard of Iowa Falls last month for the athletic projects.

"All these projects are self-funded," Barta said. "There's not general fund dollars used, so we have to raise it all. That's another part of the equation in how we're going to pay for it all."

Aside from facilities, Barta is working on possible contract extensions and raises for women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder and wrestling coach Tom Brands.

Bluder's team won a share of the Big Ten regular season title this past season, and Brands led Iowa to a national title in just his second year as head coach.

According to published reports, Brands is making $99,750 - eighth among Division I head wrestling coaches and more than $60,000 less than former Iowa volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick, who went 9-71 in Big Ten action the last four years.

"We've been through the process of sitting down with both coaches," Barta said. "In both of their contracts, there are some things I'd like to change.

"There's no timeline. It's important but not urgent."

MORE ON BRANDS: Despite winning its first national wrestling championship since 2000, former coach Dan Gable said the Hawkeye program is "still not all the way there."

"He's still got people to move forward," Gable said.

Brands agreed with that assessment during the team's banquet Sunday.

"He made an interesting point by saying, 'We had two national champions and won a team title, but on Gable's scale, we're only a fifth of the way,'" Gable said. "That makes sense a little bit.

"The thing I like is, Tom's not just satisfied and laying back and putting his feet up."

Gable said that can, and should, inspire the entire athletic department.

"You just need a team that everybody can look up to," he said. "Brands and wrestling will gladly be that team, but if it was football or basketball at that same level, which is harder to do, that would bring everyone's mentality up.

"We would love to see one of those two sports just go to a level that keeps us motivated more than we are. That said, it's hard to believe someone can be more motivated than Tom Brands and his athletes."

Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com