Broncos to build new headquarters on current facility property

It will still be called the Centura Health Training Center. And it will still have the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse. But beyond that, everything about Broncos headquarters is poised to change.

Tuesday morning, the team announced that it would build a new headquarters building in the area west of the current practice fields — where fans currently park, gather and sit on a grass berm to watch training-camp practices.

The building will be 30-percent larger than the current headquarters building. It will cover three stories, with an underground parking garage built underneath. This will allow the Broncos to roughly maintain their current total of parking spots despite losing a significant chunk of surface area to the new facility’s construction.

Construction is expected to cost $175 million.

PLAYER SURVEY REVEALED ISSUES WITH BRONCOS FACILITY

The Broncos moved into their headquarters in the Dove Valley business park in 1990 after training on 56th Avenue in Adams County from the Lou Saban era — which began in 1967 — through the 1989 campaign.

The building generally served the team well. However, as the business of football evolved, the Broncos strained to ensure the building — known as the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre, in honor of late owner Pat Bowlen’s father — kept up with the times.

There were some functional issues that affected the day-to-day operations. The locker room, for example, is believed to be the smallest everyday locker room in the NFL. It remained that way, even after multiple expansions that created additional space in nooks and crannies.

In the NFLPA survey, the locker room received a D-plus grade — tied for 22nd in the NFL. Player feedback included notes that there were not enough showers or bathroom stalls.

THE BRONCOS OUTGREW THEIR OLD BUILDING

Another design flaw was in the location of the locker room itself — at the center of the first floor of the two-story building.  This made it impossible to go from one end of the first floor to the other without having to go upstairs — unless one went through the locker room.

The expansion of the facility also ensured that key aspects were not near the locker room. The fieldhouse sits on the opposite side of the practice fields from the locker room. The weight room is across a parking lot. Now, the Broncos will be able to consolidate operations to create a more user-friendly environment for the players, which is more common of facilities being built around the NFL.

That fieldhouse will remain as part of the construction. The Broncos opened it in November 2014.

The Broncos also moved many of their business operations to what is now known as Empower Field at Mile High as the business aspect of the NFL grew. This created an environment within the organization in which a gulf grew between football and non-football departments. Now, business operations will be centered on the third floor of a common headquarters.

“Having both our football and business operations on the same campus will foster a championship environment in pursuit of our goals on and off the field,” CEO/owner Greg Penner said in a statement.

WHAT BECOMES OF BRONCOS TRAINING CAMP?

The team announced that training camp would remain open to fans during the construction process, which is expected to last two years and be complete in time for the 2026 season. The team will erect temporary-seating areas for fans.

The current facility will be razed and replaced by a new grass berm from which fans can watch practice. This will ensure that fans can view morning and midday camp sessions without having to stare into the sun, as has been the case since the club erected the berm and plaza in 2015, using earth moved by the construction of the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse to create the berm.

Prior to that, fans watched training-camp practices on a low, sloped hillside covered in evergreen trees until 2013. In 2014, fans could not attend training camp because of fieldhouse construction.

As revealed by the renderings, the fan-viewing area will stretch the width of three football fields, which are oriented on an east-west alignment. The players/coaches parking lot will be replaced by a third practice field running parallel to where the two current primary fields sit.

A LOCAL CONNECTION

In a press release, the team cited that the building would have a “contemporary style reflective of Colorado.”

“Our vision is to create a new home for the Denver Broncos that reflects our values of winning and teamwork with a modern Colorado design,” Penner said in a statement. “While we considered several options to modify our current facility, we decided to do this the right way by building a new player-centered headquarters with an efficient layout and the latest amenities.”